9:41 AM, 9th August 2023, About 2 years ago 22
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Hello, my situation is a bit complex and I hope I will get some answers here. I was leaving alone in my 4 bedroom house and took on some lodgers to live with me.
In 2020 I got a job in another country and spent time going back and forth to my house in London. I did not change my lodgers’ status but I assumed by then they were considered tenants.
Now in 2023, I am back and I am living back in my house in which I have got my room. Now that I am back do I give them a new tenancy agreement? If yes then as tenants or lodgers?
Thanks,
Flore
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RoseD
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Member Since September 2022 - Comments: 198
16:08 PM, 9th August 2023, About 2 years ago
Sorry I should have stated my comments related to all questions raised not just on this one thread. I do take your point and fully agree with your thinking. It’s a hard life as Freddie Mercury eloquently put it!
Flore-anne Nevry
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Member Since August 2023 - Comments: 7
16:14 PM, 9th August 2023, About 2 years ago
Thanks so much for all your answers so will that mean that now that I back and living permanently with them They are no doubt that they are lodgers?
Thanks
DPT
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Member Since October 2020 - Comments: 1048
16:28 PM, 9th August 2023, About 2 years ago
It’s not easy for the occupants to claim that their status has changed from licensees/excluded tenants, (depending on what was shared) to AST tenants. They would have to show that it was not your principle home for a period, so would depend on where-else you were staying and the circumstances. If this was your only home and you continued to receive mail there, be on the electoral role, be registered with the local GP, keep most of your clothes there etc, then I’d assume they remained lodgers. If by any chance they did become AST tenants, then you moving back in would not alter that.
GlanACC
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Member Since March 2023 - Comments: 1429
16:38 PM, 9th August 2023, About 2 years ago
I strongly advise that you now get a written agreement. Google SAMPLE LODGERS AGREEMENT , plenty of examples to use and get it signed. It is in your interest to do so.
DPT
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Member Since October 2020 - Comments: 1048
17:34 PM, 9th August 2023, About 2 years ago
Reply to the comment left by GlanACC at 09/08/2023 – 16:38
Why do you think its in his interest to have a lodger agreement?
GlanACC
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Member Since March 2023 - Comments: 1429
18:09 PM, 9th August 2023, About 2 years ago
Reply to the comment left by David at 09/08/2023 – 17:34
It makes the situation absolutely crystal clear. If he has to evict the encumbents then there will be no ‘mould or disrepair’ issues as if he had an AST. It really is common sense and 10 minutes work.
also
If you plan to take in a lodger, you’ll have to check their immigration status before renting the room (have you done that ?)
RoseD
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Member Since September 2022 - Comments: 198
19:35 PM, 9th August 2023, About 2 years ago
And around around the whole process goes!
Simon F
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Member Since October 2020 - Comments: 188
20:03 PM, 9th August 2023, About 2 years ago
Flore, It sounds like you retained a room for yourself at all times and there was no period when they has possession of the whole property. If they had accrued tenancy rights then that would be only for individual rooms, not together as joint tenants of the whole. I wouldn’t say it’s advisable to give a new agreement on tenancy basis, but if you do then it should be separate agreements for each person.
David Houghton
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Member Since October 2022 - Comments: 396
21:41 PM, 10th August 2023, About 2 years ago
You moved back in, presumably you didn’t ask their permission to move back in did you. Which means they are lodgers. Formalise it with a lodger agreement (license) and forget all about it
DPT
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Member Since October 2020 - Comments: 1048
15:55 PM, 11th August 2023, About 2 years ago
Reply to the comment left by GlanACC at 09/08/2023 – 18:09
Licensees have very few rights and in the most extreme circumstances can be excluded immediately from the property. A lodger agreement certainly clarifies what each party can expect, but it will benefit the lodger far more than the landlord because its likely to give them additional contractual rights that they don’t have without it. Therefore I must question whether its really in the landlords interest.
I dont really understand the relevance of your last paragraph on right to rent, but to answer your question, I dont take lodgers.