DD and locked room in rented house share

[gameofscrabble]

DD and four friends moving into second year uni house. When they went to view the house the landlord mentioned that he also offered the house to rent as a five bedroom if they were interested, as there is one box room with a single bed that he accepts much less rent on. DD and co said no because there was only four of them so accepted the house as a four bed arrangement. They didn’t see inside the room at the viewing as LL said they didn’t need to if they weren’t a group of 5.

Fast forward to moving in and the spare room door is still locked. LL reiterated what he’d said previously - that the girls had no need to see in there as they were a group of 4. I can completely understand this is probably because he doesn’t want them letting mates stay in the room all the time. But DD and friends have said they feel weird having no idea what’s in the room and they’d like to at least see inside.

Is the LL allowed to keep the door locked? 100% ready to be told that he is well within his rights to do so, we’re clueless when it comes to renting rules etc

To summarise: are DD and friends BU to expect to see inside the room?

I think the landlord is playing it smart. Unless someone can point out a legal reason otherwise, it’s none of their business what the other room is like/has in it. Tell your daughter that the only room she needs to concern herself with is her own.

In other words the6 are being very unreasonable.

There are legal implications to renting a house to 5 rather than 4 people. I actually remember viewing houses while at uni with a 5th locked bedroom.
I’m sure they can ask him to see inside although it’s probably nothing more sinister than him not wanting a 5th person living there rent free.

It depends. What does the contract say? Are they renting rooms individually, or are they renting the property as a whole (joint and several tenancy)?

If the former, I'd say it's none of their business (although would agree it's weird).

If the latter, the landlord is out of order as they are renting the whole property and they have rights to the whole property, not which rooms the landlord sees fit.

At a guess I'd say he's being a bit cheeky and using it for storage and doesn't want to have to move his stuff.

Yeah, of course they are. Incase they decided to move someone else in without them knowing. I can understand your DD worry abit, but if its always locked and not open sometimes then surely its just an empty unsed room?

Maybe it's for insurance purposes, they might have to list how many tennets they have? If the room was avaible it might viod it as it's seen as an avaible room for guests/friends??

I really don't think it's in case they sublet the room. Otherwise you may as well lock up the lounge and any other space in which you could install someone. I've been renting for over 10 years (as a student and otherwise) in several properties and I've never had a situation where the landlord's locked up everything but the bedrooms, bathrooms, and kitchen just in case I decided to squeeze in another tenant. That would be bizarre.

I'd say using it for storage is more likely. A bit weird but I doubt it's anything sinister.

All the specific information to the tenure is in the contract your DD and friends signed/agreed to, it will determine the rules and regulations of renting the space in the property.

I think the question would be if they are renting the whole property as a group on one lease, or if each tenant is renting a single room separately. If the lease is for the whole property, then they should have access to all areas.

Just realised in my opening phrase ‘DD and four friends’ should be DD and three friends.

Thanks so much for all the responses! I’m not 100% sure on the tenancy agreement - DD said it didn’t mention the spare room at all but I will ask her if she wants me to have a read of it tomorrow. I agree with you all that he probably is just using it for storage. He seems very nice and has multiple properties so I guess he knows what he’s doing. The house is lovely so I don’t think DD and friends will cause trouble over this one thing.

It’s good to know you remember similar Turned, I will tell DD it is not an isolated incident!

She said he is coming round to go over the inventory one day next week with them. If she really wants to know what’s in there, like PPs have said, I’m sure she can just ask for a look!

I do know they all signed the same tenancy agreement rather than separate ones if that means anything? They had to sign the document one by one and then scan it to email to the next person

I presume all their rooms have locks so there is nothing weird about the 5th room being locked. They are renting rooms.

I've heard of this happening before. Friends of mine rented a property as 2 bed rather than 3, 3rd bedroom was locked and used by landlord as storage. This reduced the price somewhat, as it has for your DD and friends.

DD and friends would have signed the same tenancy agreement because legally they are bound to pay rent for the property as a whole and look after the property as a whole.

If it’s a 5 bed house and only 3 rooms are being let out, your DD and friends must be quite flush or LL was desperate or you all came to an agreement in reduced rent.

@gameofscrabble if they all had to sign the same document that sounds like a joint and several tenancy to me (although obviously do check). If that's the case, then they should have access to the entire property, including any spare rooms.

It is because the room is locked that make people curious ...
... it could be a haunted room

@ZeroFuchsGiven they may not be renting just rooms. If the tenancy is joint and several then they are renting the whole property between them, whether they use only one bedroom or all five, and should have access to ALL of the property.

Good grief they are students.
They can get a lock picking kit from eBay and spend the next 9 months fruitlessly trying to brake in.

Cheap entertainment. #thinklaterally

Twenty it is a 5 bed house - 4 double rooms and 1 single box room. DD and friends are renting the 4 double rooms

Many years ago DH & I rented a maisonette. We paid for a one bed, but it was actually a two bed. The second bedroom was kept locked as the owner used it for storage. It wasn't any of our business what was in there, though of course we were curious & might have tried to peer through the keyhole once or twice.

Wauden Nail on the head! She’s been texting me all her ideas of what might be inside

Apologies. I was in the middle of writing an apology response but you beat me to it. I got the wrong end of the stick.

No worries Twenty I’m clueless myself. DD sent me a message me asking me about the room and I thought gosh I’ve got no idea

Is he renting it as a house or as individual rooms? If it's rooms, it is totally reasonable, if it's a whole house, it's a bit odd but I guess it's okay if they got a discount because of it. Maybe he is using it as storage, as someone suggested. Or it could be that he is protecting himself from HMO rules. They vary by council but the national law is that you need an HMO licence for a property with 5 unrelated occupants so he may be concerned that he would be fined for illegally running an HMO if they moved a friend into the room without telling him.

Of course, your DD could always tell the landlord that they have a friend who might be interested in the room and ask to view it...