Unreasonable landlord invading my personal space - advice needed please

[AHK92]

Hi all,

I'm hoping this is the right place to post this as I would like some advice on tenant's rights.

Last week I moved into a house-share in London where I have just started my first job. The house is spotless, and although I thought the landlord was slightly OCD when I did my viewing, I really thought nothing of it.

Since moving in last Thursday, things have been a nightmare. I came home after work on my first day and my bedroom door was wide open, flat against the wall. All the windows had been shut, all my electrical items unplugged and (I'm 99% sure) my pyjamas had been picked up, folded and put on the armchair.

I asked the landlord whether he had been in my room, and he replied, quite matter-of-factly, that he maintains a 'no internal door closed' policy around the house. Meaning, that I am not allowed to shut my bedroom door. Every time I return home, he has done the same thing. It is infuriating, and I feel quite violated. There are two other young girls like me in the house, and he does the same thing to them. The thing we all have in common was that we were vulnerable, and desperate for a room.

I've challenged him twice and he said there is to be no compromise about this. Obviously I feel deeply unsettled that he walks around my room continually when I am not in the house; but my question is, is he permitted to do this as the owner of the property? I've tried to research it online and I don't think I have any rights to put a stop to this.

I want to move out asap obviously though I've paid him a month's deposit and one week's rent. I wouldn't have ever moved in if I had have thought I wouldn't be entitled to any privacy, nor micro-managed by an obsessive man. His house rules are insane - no guests unless he is allowed to meet them first by prior arrangement (!), if I have someone to dinner then all the flatmates and the landlord have to be invited to the table too etc. He wanted me to sign all these rules, but I haven't.

So my questions are; is he allowed to maintain this strange no-door-closed policy? Can I report him for it? I have a feeling that he does this to a lot of people who move in, desperate for somewhere to live, then find he is impossible to tolerate and are forced to vacate as soon as possible. I don't want him to get away with doing this to other (it seems, exclusively) girls. If I'm not allowed to shut my door, and he moves and looks at all my stuff, then what am I paying for?

Any advice would be gratefully received, it's an upsetting situation. Thanks all.

[Jumblebee]

No really good advice but that is fucking weird I'm sorry but he sounds like he's a bit of a pervert-insisting young women keep their doors open at all times? When changing? Sleeping?! I think you need to move out ASAP!

[Greenoes]

Bumping for you OP - this sounds sickening. Hope you can get out soon and work out a way of warning others

[BranchingOut]

That sounds very odd.

The problem is that as you are a lodger rather than a tenant then the situation is less clear-cut. I think that he may be able to set some rules around guests and usage of common areas, however you should have a reasonable expectation of privacy in your bedroom.

I suspect that you might have to leave.

[tripethelightfantastic]

Sorry - no advice but deffo sounds dodge. Bump!

[sanfairyanne]

he sounds like a pervert. just move out as soon as possible. what did you sign about the deposit? i would focus on getting that back

[middlings]

Did you sign a tenancy agreement OP? If you have exclusive use of your room, it's pretty standard that he doesn't have the right to enter it without your permission. If I were you I'd talk to the Citizens Advice Bureau. They should be able to help.

But I would also agree with other posters and just get out as soon as you can. Was the room particularly cheap?

I once rented a room in a house where the landlord had gone travelling, and I was living with others who had been there for a while. He came back earlier than expected, and came to the house without my knowledge and went into my room. I only knew because he complimented me on how tidy it was and how it looked better the way I had arranged it than it had before! That didn't stop me from being extremely annoyed.

[TranmereRover]

if you're renting a room within a house you're more likely to have a licence to occupy rather than a tenancy; unfortunately one of the main differences between the two is what's called the right of "quiet enjoyment". that's the thing which says a tenant only has to allow a landlord enter on notice, but with a licence to occupy, an open door policy is perfectly permissible.
It is however bonkers so you need to get the hell out as soon as you can. And start leaving really offensive donkeyporn open on the floor

[loudarts]

If you are a lodger you have no exclusive right to any of the landlords house, unfortunately including your bedroom. If you are a tenant you have every right to put a lock on the door to stop the landlord entering.

[SavoyCabbage]

Does he live there as well? What, if anything, have you signed?

[LaurieFairyCake]

Yes, you're a lodger not a housemate

It's fine for the landlord not to have strangers in his house, I wouldn't when I rented a room.

The not being able to shut your door is not on IMO - if it was me I would keep a locked box with personal
Items in it in the room and leave the door open when I wasn't there - I assume you are 'allowed' the door shut when you're actually there?

Frankly I'd move out if it doesn't suit

[Siarie]

m.england.shelter.org.uk/get_advice/private_renting/private_renting_agreements/houses_in_multiple_occupation

[Siarie]

Ah I see your lodging so the above won't apply.

[Siarie]

In which case this is more relevant

www.adviceguide.org.uk/wales/housing_w/housing_renting_a_home_e/housing_subletting_and_lodging_e/housing_lodging_e/what_rights_do_lodgers_have.htm

[AHK92]

Thanks everyone for all your advice. I haven't signed a tenancy agreement; the only thing I've been given are ordinary print-outs of rules and a description of the room etc. The landlord wanted me to sign these but I said I wanted some time to read through because all the crazy rules were on there, plus they don't have any real details about finances on them. He did give me these pieces of paper at the same time as he asked me to pay him the deposit; I must add that this was an extremely rushed move which has probably blinded me of a bit of common sense in panic to find somewhere to live.

[juliascurr]

I had a ll like that - no fun when they can come in your room without warning when you are IN BED
no dignity for the poor

[specialsubject]

why is the word 'poor' relevant?

there is much less protection for lodgers than there is for tenants. The good news is that you can shift at virtually no notice.

so do that. This won't get better. You saw the house rules which just shout 'nutter'.

[rainbowinmyroom]

You need to move ASAP. This man is scary.

[Greengrow]

Some lodgers share rooms so exclusivity of the room is not a given although it sounds like he is very very strange indeed and the sooner you can get out having given notice and got any deposit back the better.

I don't think he's broken the law sadly.
I live with 2 adult children. I open their doors when they rae out because I want light and air in and I hope it will encourage the cleaner to clean their rooms (I never snoop on them - we have huge protection of each other's privacy in this house by the way). However with you it is a landlord. Most landlords would go out of their way to maintain privacy. The few weeks we had a live in nanny which is similar to your set up in a way no way would I have left her room open or gone in without her permission as a matter of common decency. Your landlord sounds like an absolute nutter.

You haven't signed his papers. You have paid and had the papers so possibly they include a notice period which might apply. Check all that and try to find somewhere else as soon as you can.

[Huppopapa]

You need to be out.
You need to get your deposit back.
More than that you probably cannot do.
Ask him which of the two mandatory schemes (insurance or custody) he has used to protect your deposit and remind him that the minimum penalty for failing to do either is three times the deposit.
Then tell him you will be content to walk away without issuing a claim for such a penalty to be imposed if he refunds your deposit within two hours.
Note the word 'probably' above. I tend to the view that even though the concept of quiet enjoyment is rather loose in the case of lodgers, there must come a point where a course of conduct such as you have described amounts to harassment. Moreover I can imagine the Pollis being quite willing on the basis of your description to go and issue him with a warning under the Protection From Harassment Act. You might therefore wish to indicate your intention to get the Feds all over his sorry ass if he does not play nicely, return your deposit and let you get the Hell out. That is not blackmail: if you do not have your deposit you cannot move, you will be compelled to stay, and you will require the protection of the Act. If you get the deposit back in its entirety you can leave without a backward glance.
PM me if this sounds like gobbledygook!

[LisaMed]

I'm not sure that the deposit needs to be protected if the OP is a lodger, the rules are quite different so it may be worth checking on that.

OP - I suggest that you really, really focus on finding somewhere else because from the sound of it the landlord will make your life a living hell if you try and challenge his rules, and those rules are impossible to live with.

Good luck.

[Huppopapa]

(Psst. LisaMed. I didn't say it had to be protected. I merely advised asking him to say whether it was and to put the frighteners on him. Seems fair in the circumstances...)

[pluCaChange]

What about trying a house-share with the other lodgers?