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

Couldn't resist.

I do a weekday only rental on one room and I keep all other 4 bedrooms locked and the living room locked when we’re not there.. He rents a (huge) bedroom which also has a sofa and TV in, and he has access to kitchen and bathroom.
I’ve never considered that he has any right to see in the other rooms as he’s not renting those.
I suppose I would show him if he asked but I’d think it odd.

Tell her not to watch The Haunting of Hill House!

I have been in holiday lets where a locked room was kept for storage. It is pretty standard.

They are renting the whole house as a group on the same tenancy agreement rather than renting rooms individually If that is the case then they are fully entitled to full use of all the rooms in the house, or a discount on the rent!

BUT, if I were you I would be wary of relying on a 'friend of a friend'. That information doesn't sound right.

I say that because in your OP you said that the LL offered the house as a 5-bed, with a cheap room rate for the box room, which was refused, not needed. That suggests that they are NOT paying for that room but are renting the REST OF THE HOUSE as a group.

Maybe they could ask the landlord for clarification!

When I was at uni (20 years ago) we had a locked room. There were 5 of us sharing and it drove us mad. We pretty much broke in one day and it was just stuffed full of furniture and other stuff belonging to the landlord. Didn’t really bother us after that 🤣

I don't blame the LL to be honest.
3 of us rented a 3 bed house with an extra small box room when we were at uni and we let another one of our friends move in to the box room and charged him rent.
The letting agency were suspicious and did "random checks" for the whole year. We maintained that friend was housemates boyfriend and that the room wasn't used for a whole year.

I would feel guilty but the letting agency were pants. We had a broken boiler and a rat in the kitchen for ages which they did nothing about