Tenant has sub-let a room – help!!

Hi Claire

Fear not, your unwanted occupier has virtually no rights and you certainly don’t need to give two months notice, even if your tenant has granted a tenancy or taken a deposit.

All the law requires you to do in these circumstances is to give “reasonable notice”. There is no legal definition of this but the accepted practice is two weeks. If they have not moved out after this time you are perfectly at liberty to gather up their belonging and have the locks changed when they are out.

Your tenant, on the other hand, does have rights but that doesn’t sound like it is a problem from what you have said..

Good luck.
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Also your tenant has to cover ALL your costs including lost rent, while the “other” person is removed.

Personally I think your tenant has been sensible, much better then not paying you the rent!

sub letting happens a lot and we turn a blind eye to it on the whole if the property is not overcrowded and being looked after.

The BIG problems starts when your tenant is not living at the property and is letting all the rooms out as a HMO!

Yes, quite. Why is there a problem with the tenant having a lodger/sharer, out of interest?

Reply to the comment left by “Jerry Jones” at “10/03/2015 – 13:37“:

I presume it could be a problem if the lodger/sharer took the number of occupiers into HMO licensing territory.
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Reply to the comment left by “Mark Alexander” at “10/03/2015 – 13:40“:

Hi Mark,

Needs to be three to be an HMO.

It is my understanding that in such a situation the other person is simply a lodger with a “bare licence” i.e. a permission from the tenant to use the room. That permission can be revoked at any time, and the person can be asked to leave (7 – 14 days notice would usually be “reasonable”). I presume that after that period of time the person is then an unlawful occupier, i.e. a trespasser, and then like Mark says, I believe you have the right to peaceably evict him, e.g. by changing the locks when he is out.

I’m not a solicitor so my interpretation may be wrong………, perhaps the solicitors and barristers on here could confirm whether a lodger automatically becomes a trespasser if they do not leave at the end of reasonable notice?, and whether the actual tenant and/or head landlord can then simply change the locks to evict the lodger?

It’s very unlikely to be a tenancy, as the landlord (in this case the tenant) is living on the premises, no locks have been installed, and facilities are being shared – this is regardless as to whether the letting agreement is written on a standard AST or it’s a proper lodger agreement (lodger landlords often make this mistake as they don’t do their research beforehand and find out the difference). However, if that person (the lodger) is paying rent, and the lodger landlord has given him permission to live there, he has a licence under a contract – he’s more than a bare licencee (which would just be a house guest or visitor).

The standard notice period for a lodger is usually a month – particularly if rent is paid monthly. However, unlike with an AST, this isn’t a hard and fast rule – the notice can be less if agreed, or rent is paid weekly, or the lodger’s behaviour is so unreasonable that the live in landlord couldn’t be expected to tolerate it (in which case, it’s a good idea to record evidence). I believe you will find that most solicitors, including housing law specialist Giles Peaker, would advise that a month’s notice is best, unless one of the situations I’ve set above apply. Google “lodger notice periods”.

Once the live in landlord has moved out, however, the lodger would have no right to remain without the head landlord’s permission.

Reply to the comment left by “Mandy Thomson” at “10/03/2015 – 17:43“:

Hi Mandy

I agree with all that you have said, moral of the story, make sure lodger moves out before the tenant.
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