As the title says really, but a little bit more complicated. Not sure where I stand.
I live in a shared professional flat with four people. The previous occupant of my room fell out with said flatmate, and left. I moved in 6 months into the tenancy, and when renting the room, said that I did only need the room for the 6 months as I will then be moving to another city.
My plans have changed, and I now need to be in this city for another 12 months. The other flatmates are keen to sign the contract for another 12 months, but the one flatmate (who is head tenant), has made it very clear that my room is not available to renew the lease on. This is because her best friend will be moving in with her partner. She has even announced that the said friend will be moving some things into the sitting room ahead of her tenancy.
Now I know I told them that I only needed to be here for the 6 months, and they probably made plans. But as this is a shared rented flat (none of the tenants own it), surely I have as much of a right to live here next year than they do? The other flatmate often treats the flat like it's hers, and dominates the communal areas.
A reason I want to stay on, is that the flat is a very good deal, and moving somewhere else would easily cost £100 extra a month. Good flats here are very hard to come by. One of the other flatmates is not sure if she will sign again for 12 months, as she doesn't want to live in a four bed flat with five people. Legally speaking too, it is against the HMO lisence and the tenancy, but the flatmate was told that she would pay less council tax as they would only announce four people living there.
Obviously I wouldn't want to live in an environment I'm not welcome in, but I do think it's a bit cheeky...