Lodger’s room is almost self contained?

Interesting
On your description I would say that your lodger is not a lodger but a tenant as it's all self contained.
So rent would be income not rent a room scheme.
So all right to rent/paperwork etc should have been done and S21 needed to end tenancy
But this is based on your description and is my opinion

Lodger have very little rights

You can give notice based on how they pay Thier rent ie weekly/monthly

No court order reqd

Reply to the comment left by Chris Bradley at 27/01/2023 - 12:07
I would say he's a lodger

Reply to the comment left by SteveFowkes at 27/01/2023 - 12:11
If the room or rooms are self contained with their own access and no facilities are shared with the owner of the house, then I would say tenant. Having a shared door and corridor is like in any block of flats. The description says there is no need for the person to enter the rest of the home occupied , so there is no sharing of facilities

I agree with Chris Bradley, this sounds like a property that can be used entirely self contained (utilities supply aside), and as such I think there is a real risk that this could be considered (in law) to be a tenancy.

If it is considered to be a tenancy, then you are in serious trouble because you have not issued a tenancy agreement or any of the prescribed documentation, which would then make it virtually impossible for you to lawfully evict the person, as well as potentially opening yourself up to multiple fines or civil penalties.

I would strongly suggest that you seek proper legal advice from a qualified solicitor that specialises in landlord and tenant law, as they may be able to help you remedy your paperwork, prior to attempting any sort of eviction process.

I thnik you need to be very clear here
"the room is more or less self-contained."
Is it self-contained.or not? Can he access other parts of the house or not?
Also you mention a contract, but you do not make specific the type of contract, please confirm the type of contract, Iwould guess it is a form of lodgers contract but in Legal matters guessing only leads to problems.
Can you also confirm if you took a deposit? If you did where that deposit is?

Do you keep the shared door locked from your side?

Does your "lodger" have access to other areas, not including the garden, as and when they want?

If yes to the 1st and no to the 2nd then not a lodger and you should have issued an AST with rent inclusive of bills I think.

Do you claim under the Rent a Room Scheme? If so may qualify.

Without seeing your agreement what did you term it? It should be I would have thought either an "Excluded Occupier Licence" or if you did a "Lodger Agreement" it should be noted in it that "The Landlord hereby grants the Lodger a licence and personal right to live in the Accommodation [ie the areas of the property which are for the lodger eg Bedroom 2] and to use the Shared Rooms [listed] concurrently with the Landlord."
Just my thoughts

Thank you for everyone’s kind advice. Here is more information about our situation:

The room is a spare room downstairs opposite to our living room. It has two accesses: one is an interior door goes directly into our main house and living room. Another one is a backdoor goes into our side garden. The room wasn’t built for self contained flat/unit hence doesn’t have its own meter/post address and proper kitchen, only a few electrical appliances like a toaster and a microwave etc. There is no oven in the room hence we provide oven shared in the main house anytime if arranged. We also provide floor cleaning services once a month. The lodger insists to clean by herself and hasn’t asked for the oven so far.

Our contract is a standard lodger agreement and states that we can both end our contract anytime as long as a month notice is given. The rent is double room price in a shared accommodation. Our income is in line with the Rent a Room policy. We didn’t charge anything like a studio/self contained apartment.

According to the government website: in law, a resident landlord letting is one where the landlord and the person he or she lets to live in the same building. This includes conversions where they live in different parts of the same property (however long ago it was converted) we are the resident landlords .

https://www.gov.uk/rent-room-in-your-home/your-lodgers-tenancy-type

The dispute was we went into the room twice without giving our lodger 24 hours notice.

On the first occasion, she left the window open and went away for a 7 days holiday. We had to close the window in a stormy night. Besides, anyone breaks into the room can potentially break into our main house by breaking the interior door. The room is on the ground floor and has sky windows, any small person can easily sneak down and break in.

On the second occasion, she again, went out for work but left the window open, heating on, and the backdoor unlocked. We are told by our insurance company if doors are unlocked we won’t be able to get any compensation for any damage. So we locked the door.

The lodger claims we don’t have right to enter her room without her permission.

The trust is broken. The lodger claims she found our foot prints or whatever in her room. Which is all her imagination.

We will have to give her 4 weeks notice to leave. Do we need court order to move her in the worst case?

Reply to the comment left by B R at 27/01/2023 - 15:08
It does sound like the room could be used as self-contained accommodation if she chooses to do so, e.g. she could in theory permanently lock the connecting door (into your part of the house) and always access the room from the garden entrance. She has cooking facilities and bathroom facilities. If you bricked up the doorway between your part of the house and her room it would in effect be a studio flat.

Ultimately, only a court can decide whether it is a self-contained property (so a tenancy) or a room in a property with a resident landlord (occupancy licence). If a tenancy, then you will need a court order to evict her, and there are lots of criteria you have to have fulfilled before you can do this.

You should pay for some proper legal advice, from a legally qualified and experienced specialist. It's potentially complex, and if you get it wrong then it could cost you a small fortune.

Reply to the comment left by B R at 27/01/2023 - 15:08
On the information here, it stills seems to me that she is a tenant, not a lodger.
You may be a resident landlord in the building but the fact she needs to use your oven by arrangement means she doesn't share facilities so isn't a lodger.
I would seek legal advice from a specialist