OK for owner-occupier with a lodger to go abroad for 3 months?

badger09

I’m not suggesting it’s the best solution but it costs £85.50 for Royal Mail Keepsafe service for up to 100 days. 

NervyBuyer

jj_43 said:

You going to continue to pay 1/2 your share of the bills while away?

I pay all the bills, lodger's rent is inclusive. Nothing will change, they'll keep going out of my account by DD.

Scotbot

badger09 said:

I’m not suggesting it’s the best solution but it costs £85.50 for Royal Mail Keepsafe service for up to 100 days. 

I used that recently and came home to find the mail had still been delivered despite written confirmation of the request 

newsgroupmonkey_

Scotbot said:

badger09 said:

I’m not suggesting it’s the best solution but it costs £85.50 for Royal Mail Keepsafe service for up to 100 days. 

I used that recently and came home to find the mail had still been delivered despite written confirmation of the request 

In the same way, it took nearly a month for my redirection to kick in properly. We were also receiving our vendors mail for a number of weeks even though they'd also set redirection up.
Speaking to the postie, he said that they have to wait for the stickers to arrive and they're quite slow at the moment.

propertyrental

NervyBuyer said:

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Is there any 'legal' problem with this arrangement? Would it affect house insurance in any way?

For completeness, the property is owned outright and lodger pays less than half the market rent for the whole property (i.e. would not be being asked to effectively pay a tenant's rate as the sole occupant).

Thanks!

The legal issue (as I suspect you know) is whether the occupant can validly claim to be a tenant. I've never come across the suggested '6 month rule'. A link would help?
I believe the courts would look at all the facts and then determine whether the property was still the owner's residence or not. That could include considering time spent abroad (yes, as one factor); reason for being abroad (eg work Vs holiday etc); factors you list (address used for banks, HMRC, DVLA, blah blah....; council tax payee; where living abroad (eg hotel(s) Vs a rented house/flat which might then constitute/imply an alternative 'residence'); etc etc
I would not redirect mail which could be construed as evidence on non-residency.
But as others have said there are also practical considerations: 
* huge element of trust so depends how well you know the lodger
* if occupant did claim tenancy/change the locks, going to court to get a determination would be stressful, time-consuming, costly
* insurance should be fine IF occupant is lodger, not tenant.....
* the rent charged is irrelevant.
* having a clearly worded 'lodger agreement' (NOT a tenancy agreement) especially if rent clearly includes all bills (utility, CT etc) would help, though in itself is not conclusive. Though any sensible LL would have one anyway irrespective of the travel arrangement!

Mojisola

You could come home to find the house sold and all your stuff gone - shocking stories here -

www.bbc.co.uk/sounds/play/m001dnfq