Landlady presence in the house when renting the rooms

_Penny_Dreadful

anselld said:

There seem to be multiple suggestions to change the communal door lock, however if this is a HMO (it sounds like it is) with individual room tenancies then the Landlady is legally entitled to enter the communal areas of the building.  It is a bit rude to do so without good reason but it *is* legal. 

The Landlady may or may not be dodgy in other respects but please do adequate research before confronting her with a bunch of opinions from t'Internet.

Whilst the landlord can enter the communal areas the landlord should be reasonable about when and how often they come to the OP’s home. It would be one thing if the landlord was coming round to carry out maintenance but hosting people in the OP’s home not so much. 

silvercar

Pages_Tenant said:

pinkshoes said:

Pages_Tenant said:

Hello,

it’s in England.

the house has 3 bedrooms and all 3 bedrooms are rented on a permanent basis, we all live here all the time. The rent is paid monthly via bank transfer.

We only have verbal agreements and some texts to confirm the amount for the rent. I requested a written document, but she said it’s not needed as she’s happy to have an informal agreement.

We did not speak to her yet. But will have to, as she’s more and more around. It didn’t use to be like that at first.
I would not want to see myself be asked to live the house. 

She might be happy to have an informal agreement but she also needs to obey the law!

Has the house had a gas safety check done? Has your deposit been protected? Have fire regulations been met for an HMO?

What do your housemates think of this arrangement? 

I'd be tempted to change the lock on the front door, giving each of your housemates a key. You can change it back at a later date if you need to. 

At the very least I'd change the lock on your bedroom door. You do NOT need to inform the LL you've done this and the LL shouldn't even find out. 

Is the LL paying the bills?

Bills are included. 

The informal agreement part came about after I moved in, as she kept delaying the formal agreement. Then and I accepted the situation, but now things have started to be more difficult.

thank you for your reply.
I will look into changing the lock on my room. This solves part of the problem.
still not sure how to approach her about the regular visits to the house. 

Given you post as ‘I’ not ‘we’ it suggests you are all on individual contracts for your rooms and have communal areas eg the kitchen. If this is true then the property is an HMO and the landlord/ landlady is entitled to enter the communal areas. There are obligations on the landlady that she may not be keeping to, how much you want to stir the pot may depend on how happy you are with the state of the property and the rent. 

_Penny_Dreadful

Pages_Tenant said:

I live in a 3 bedroom house, all rooms are rented and the la flash lives elsewhere.

Speaking to the other tenants, we figured out she comes around the house 3-4 times a week during the day. Sometimes she leaves her cat in the house while she’s out running errands in the area. Others times she entertains people (when tenants are home or not) in the living room, they also use the toilet and kitchen facilities. 

She has keys to the rooms as well. 

Is this acceptable? I don’t feel at ease with all this. Had I known this I would have not moved here.

I have not spoken to her yet, as I wanted to ask some advice first.

thank you. 

The easiest solution would be to serve notice and leave.  However, should you want to tackle your landlord that will really only be successful if the other two tenants are in agreement with you and willing to work with you. 

Whilst your landlord can enter the communal areas (since you each have your own AST rather than a joint AST) what she is doing (the cat and hosting people) sounds like harassment to me and interference with your right to quiet enjoyment of the property. 

https://england.shelter.org.uk/housing_advice/eviction/harassment_by_a_private_landlord

anselld

km1500 said:

only true if they each separately pay their rent for each room ie there is a communal area

..  yes, that is what I said, "individual room tenancies".

gwynlas

Certain councils only require registration of a HMO when there are more than three rooms let. The landlord can state thta they are maintaing the communal  areas with  regular visits. Unless you are barred from these areas whlst she ntertains you have little to complain about as HMO rooms are le on license rather than ASTs

silvercar

gwynlas said:

Certain councils only require registration of a HMO when there are more than three rooms let. The landlord can state thta they are maintaing the communal  areas with  regular visits. Unless you are barred from these areas whlst she ntertains you have little to complain about as HMO rooms are le on license rather than ASTs

HMO rooms are still let as ASTs, but the landlord has the right to enter communal areas.

35har1old

silvercar said:

gwynlas said:

Certain councils only require registration of a HMO when there are more than three rooms let. The landlord can state thta they are maintaing the communal  areas with  regular visits. Unless you are barred from these areas whlst she ntertains you have little to complain about as HMO rooms are le on license rather than ASTs

HMO rooms are still let as ASTs, but the landlord has the right to enter communal areas.

Might not be a HMO but a multi let depends on council area 

_Penny_Dreadful

35har1old said:

silvercar said:

gwynlas said:

Certain councils only require registration of a HMO when there are more than three rooms let. The landlord can state thta they are maintaing the communal  areas with  regular visits. Unless you are barred from these areas whlst she ntertains you have little to complain about as HMO rooms are le on license rather than ASTs

HMO rooms are still let as ASTs, but the landlord has the right to enter communal areas.

Might not be a HMO but a multi let depends on council area 

3 unrelated people living together and sharing facilities (kitchen and bathroom) is a HMO in England. It is not a large enough HMO to be subject to mandatory licensing but it is still, according to the Housing Act 2004, a HMO.  The local council may deem a HMO with 3 unrelated people as requiring a selective licence.