Should I ask my new lodger to leave?

[Pugmummy92]

I have recently taken on a male lodger much older than me, he’s in his fifties (I’m 25). I own my own home, just me and my pug living here, and have previously rented one of my single rooms out.

My new lodger only moved in last week, paying two weeks’ rent as he wanted to have an initial trial period. However, since moving in, he appears to have moved half a house worth of belongings with him, despite only renting a very small single room! He has now occupied most of the garden shed, several kitchen cupboards (it was only agreed to have one cupboard and half the fridge), half the understairs cupboard and half my third bedroom too! He is also leaving the heating on constant (even when he’s not at home!)

Another reason for me taking on a lodger was to look after my pug a couple of nights a week, and to feed him should he finish work earlier. He is home earlier than me every day of the week so the agreement was that he feed my dog and let him out etc. before I’m home. He seems to be quite reluctant to do this now he has moved in and has quite a standoffish attitude towards looking after my dog, despite claiming to be a dog lover himself!

AIBU to give him notice at the end of his two weeks’ trial period??

He’s not very easy to talk about problems with, and makes me feel like I am the one creating problems already even after just one week. I just don’t know if I can stand living with someone who takes over the entire house and all my free space, and has no regard for my ever increasing house bills, and isn’t keen on looking after my dog?

Advice please! X

[Mrsmadevans]

Good news then OP Thank God for small mercies!

[paranoidpammywhammy2]

Glad it sounds as if he's not staying.

I've had a few horrendous lodgers. It's difficult to know what they will be like until they actually move in.

I'd say if you pick up on anything even slightly iffy then say no to them. But people always put on a good show when you first meet them.

[MrsCrabbyTree]

Even though lodger is moving out and it the grand scheme of things, it doesn't matter now, but do you think he only needed accommodation for a couple of weeks as he had to leave his previous room and then had nowhere to live till he moved overseas? It appears very convenient that he wanted a trial period, only paid two weeks and now tells you that he has to leave. Sadly, my cynical side believes you were used.

[peachdribble]

Yep, get rid!
Make sure you have a witness when you tell him,
And someone lined up to ‘help’ him move back out in case he decides to be...reluctant. Sorry for the stress you must be going through op.

[Herbalteahippie]

Get him out

[Puffycat]

He’s gotta go! Trial period was a good idea so now it’s adios, if he’s that much of a pain in such a short time it’s only going to get worse!

[JanKind]

I’m with Annie on this give notice to move out as soon as possible. Have someone with you until he goes and change the locks

[lalalalyra]

In future OP you really, really must always speak to the last landlord/house-owner. ESPECIALLY if they've only lived there a short time.

[NameChange30]

Sorry OP but for someone who “works in landlord and tenant law” you have a remarkably strange way of going about this.

Firstly he’s not a tenant, he’s a lodger which makes him an excluded occupier.

As PPs said, by law you only have to give “reasonable notice” so why on earth you would allow 4 weeks notice on the agreement I don’t know. 4 weeks is a long bloody time to have someone living in your home when you don’t want them there. That’s why the law is what it is.

I suggest you revisit your lodging agreement, perhaps allow one week’s notice in the first month and two weeks after that?

Also if you ask for a month’s rent in advance that’s what they have to pay, they can’t just decide to give you two weeks instead

[NameChange30]

www.gov.uk/government/publications/letting-rooms-in-your-home-a-guide-for-resident-landlords/letting-rooms-in-your-home-a-guide-for-resident-landlords

[Teacher22]

Give the man his notice before he turns dangerous.

I would share with someone nearer your age and insist on your lodger renting storage space if they have too much to fit in one room. Also, have a list of dos and don’ts with red line boundaries.

If you hired a (teenage?) dog minder/walker you would not have to put up with unacceptable compromises in your own home. It would be worth the money for the peace of mind.

[YimminiYoudar]

Glad to see he is leaving.

Regardless of notice, his excessive scattering of property is simply not on.

His volumes of junk have no tenancy rights and no notice period. Tell him that any items that are not in the specific spaces he is entitled to (his room and 1 kitchen cupboard) will be treated as abandoned and either sold in ebay or donated to charity.

Especially do not let him leave any stuff at all with you when he does move out.

I agree you need to be a bit less naive next time with lodgers.you need references ESPECIALLY from any situation where they were only there a short time - assume everyone has some traits that make them difficult to live with, make it your business to find out what those traits are and one accept a lodger whose difficult traits are known and tolerable.

[Adnerb95]

Sounds like a great result for you, OP.

One caution - I would make it clear that any of his belongings which have not been removed by the end of the trial period will be taken to the tip after a grace period of 7 days.

[CuriousaboutSamphire]

AnotherEmma You would be quite right, but OP did say that she had an agreed license.... and that gave 4 weeks as a notice period. That is quite normal for live in landlord and lodgers, to give the otherwise excluded tenant a little bit of security.

But I do agree that, having got the legal bit in place, OP should never skip the referencing again!

[LexieLulu]

Woohoo!

You're better than me OP. I would have took all dumped bags/belongings and put them in his room.

Can you get keys/locks on doors?

[meercat23]

I think the pp who suggested that the lodger only ever wanted somewhere to dump his stuff for a couple of weeks might be spot on. He probably rightly thought that the OP would not agree to that so came up with the two week trial period. That it itself was a colossal cheek, not up to him to unilaterally decide to vary the original agreement

I also agree with the poster who advised the OP to make sure he doesn't try to leave anything behind while he finds somewhere to put it or you might be finding yourself providing free storage for an unspecified period.

Regardless of what kind of formal agreement, there are always some who will manipulate the situation for their own benefit without regard to what is fair or reasonable to you. May be worth more detailed questioning of the current situation and future plans of the next proposed lodger? Hope this one is gone as soon as possible with as little further trouble as possible.

[justilou1]

Lucky! I was going to suggest you double his rent to account for the extra room he's decided to take up with his crap.

[OJZJ]

Looks like you were right TempusEejit
Only needed a temp stop over for 2 weeks to store his stuff before he dumped it at his mates and shot off abroad
Big relief but would do an inventory and have someone there the weekend away invade he disappears with valuables (probably cross posted with someone I usually do )

[Gemini69]

wow.. that was an unexpected win/win

[TempusEejit]

Glad it's getting sorted OP



remembers nobody likes a smart arse

[ralfeesmum]

If he's in his fifties and your only twenty-five then I bet he's under the impression that you're young enough for him to walk all over and treat like a kiddie!

He's domineering, probably veering towards mysoginistic, has over-stepped too many boundaries already and is clearly after taking over your home, making HIS rules and reversing the roles and turning you into a lodger in your own property!

He's got to go.

[surgeryadvicepls]

I think you have handled the whole thing a bit strangely. You never had a conversation about his stuff taking over your house did you? Hopefully by now you have figured out an actual move out date for him, where you will be present. Again keep valuables locked away and draw up a clear inventory, you never know what may ‘accidentally’ go missing. Make sure the payment terms are clear and that he has already paid rent for the period in which he’s still at your place.

[FifiVoldemortsChavvyCousin]

You said you didn’t check the last reference as he had been there only for a short time. That is the very reason you should have checked. Make sure you do so in the future.

[HeebieJeebies456]

i'd charge him for the extra storage....and give him definite notice to leave/excuse of new lodger lined up - it wouldn't surprise me if his plans fail/change at the last minute

[SunnyCoco]

With respect, I think you should consider some assertiveness training