Money Moral Dilemma: Should I ask my lodger to pay more rent because she regularly has guests?

flaneurs_lobster

Section62 said:

I don't think it is a clear breach.  You've characterised the use of CCTV as "to check what your lodger/tenant is up to" and "snooping", but from what is said in the OP it isn't clear that is the case.

For example, if the cameras send alerts - e.g. when someone is seen approaching the front door - and the OP found out about the lodger's visitors as a by-product of reviewing those alerts, then the nature of the OP's 'monitoring' looks rather different - I think it would be fairly straightforward to 'prove' that checking footage recorded at the time an alert was sent constituted 'security checking'.

If you are correct about HRA 1998 then it seems it would effectively rule out the use of any doorbell camera device which has recording/alerting enabled if there is any person other than yourself living at the property.  Which seems unlikely.

What are the other "many privacy laws" which you think are being broken here?

I think I raised the issue of intrusive CCTV surveillance first.

I may have overread the use of "several" cameras in the OP to mean that at least some of these cameras are internal. If these cameras are all external to the property then there's obviously a lesser risk of intrusive (illegal?) surveillance.

Southendormargate

What a ridiculous question. If they were your guests would you expect to pay higher insurance?

JayD

Clearly we need more detailed information. Most importantly, where are the overnight guests sleeping and are they ever left alone in you house?: Do they use more things than she would? Do they go into areas that you consider private?  Do you have a tenancy agreement and if so,what does it say?

If it doesn't bother you, are you just looking for an excuse to charge her more rent?

And if it bothers you, then more money isn't going to stop you being bothered!

TallGuy2

What is in your "agreement" with her about this sort of thing?

Yorkie1

The HRA does not apply in this situation, as the OP is not part of the state. ICO regulations may be relevant though.

ReadySteadyPop

PennysIntoPounds said:

That's her home, that she pays to live in. It's not weird to have friends.
Why are you reviewing footage of her if nothing bad has occurred? That is a bit weird 🙂
She's clearly not trying to be sneaky if you say she's aware of the cameras.
If your bills have gone up solely due to her having friends to stay then by all means have a pleasant word asking her to chip in more.
If they haven't, then yes it will be entirely your own fault if you end up with no extra income or a terrible lodger.

Agreed, many people would be uncomfortable with the cameras anyway, would it be easy to replace her?

bambixxx

I also have a lodger and have done for 4 years off and on.
Having a lodger in your home is not the same as a tenancy. There is however a valid document which is a licence agreement for a lodger. This means there is a licensor and a licensee ( lodger) and within the Lodger agreement there are obligations for both parties. I obtained my copy from well known website for advertising spare rooms . The obligations are already set out for you and you can also fill in parts of  the template to meets both needs. I find  that both parties feel more comfortable with the licence  and you both know each others obligations.  In the list of printed lodger obligations it states.. "not to allow other persons to stay in the rooms , although the licencee may allow visitors to stay overnight occasionally with the agreement with the licensor." There is no guidance for just visitors. However, I really do insist that my lodger would let me know out of consideration, any visitors arriving and coming into my home. After all, we put in place through vetting and references before we let a room , anyone else is a stranger and we essentially have no idea who they are. I am pleased to hear you have a lovely lodger but this relationship works two ways and I think your lodger is very lucky to have a lovely land lord and should respect that relationship , not have lots of strangers around when you are not home and without your agreement, regardless of any cameras.
It is very common for home owners to have cameras in and around their homes, its obvious that these are for security and not spying afterall they aren't hidden.
It can be difficult but given your good relationship,  I suggest you both have a good chat and make your feelings known to come to an agreement. I really don't think visitors warrant extra charging but overnight stayers are not usually within the licence agreement only on occasion and no more that 1 night unless agreed. Otherwise you would have advertised for couples. Which you don't seem to have, this would then not be unreasonable and would need to be charged for.