Housemate’s boyfriend moving in-split rent?

[Lampyshady]

I live in a flatshare with 3 others. One of the girls has a much bigger room and an en-suite and pays a bit more rent and the other 3 of us share a bathroom and pay a bit less. Girl with big room has asked if her boyfriend can move in and share her room for about 6 months, and said we’d split the bills by 5. We all said we’d think about it. He’s here a lot anyway and has been going through a very hard time and we get on well so it wouldn’t be so bad-and we’d still be sharing a bathroom between 3 so it wouldn’t add to bathroom waiting times.
We suggested that he should pay rent and the girlfriend said oh he’s going to pay half of my rent so it’s fair. I think this is unreasonable, since there will be 5 of us in the house/using the kitchen etc so I think the rent should be split by 5 and the rent should be lowered for the rest of us too as a result of having one more flatmate.
I think it’s unfair that they will get to live in a nice house, in a big room in an expensive city for half the market rate, with the convenience of having their partner with them, while the rest of us pay nearly double and have the inconvenience of living with more people.
Their argument is that the rent is per room and it is only 1 room they are renting so as long as that room is paid for it’s none of our business/their finances are up to them.
Who is being unreasonable? And is this even legal-we weren’t planning on telling the landlord he’s moved in because it’ll (probably) only be for a few months.

You should also have an agreement in place as to what happens if this doesn't work out.

A couple can change the dynamic and take over

If you all agree that he's going to live there then it should be split by 5 people so it makes it cheaper for you all, as it will mean a change for all living there. Not just pay half of her room. That wouldn't be fair. I imagine if you tell the landlord and he agrees to let him live there he won't agree to a 5 way split but would want additional from the new person, rather than it being cheaper for the others already living there.

Oh sorry didn't realise you're splitting bills 5 ways.

I don’t have exactly the same experience of this as some but I can definitely vouch for the fact that a boyfriend moving in can drastically alter the whole dynamic of a flat/houseshare.

In my sharing days I once lived in a lovely place with 2 others - all women, and we were friendly, ate together etc. One of the housemates met someone and in the blink of an eye he’d moved in and that was it; the easy atmosphere was gone. He somehow took over completely.

(He turned out to be not only terminally boring but a creep who 'accidentally' blundered into other people’s bedrooms, and the rest of us moved out. She married him...!)

But OP I’d be extremely worried about the HMO situation, possible legal repercussions and the LL not being informed.

The same thing happened to me when I was a student. Unfortunately, we didn’t discuss this properly before hand and just somehow moved in. He paid his share of the bills and council tax but didn’t contribute towards the rent of communal areas. In hindsight this was wrong as the kitchen was constantly occupied and there was no chance of having a shower in the morning. He also never made it on the cleaning rota, so they always cleaned together when it was her turn. Fortunately, we had an annual contract nearly all of us moved out at the end. There were some good suggestions on how to increase the rent of her share to include the increased usage of the communal areas.
I think you need to also consider what happens if he stays for more than 6 months and at what point you want him to be added on the contract.
Our landlord didn’t care and we never had any issues. He would have to camp outside to see how many nights he is there to find out. If you put him on the contract he will have the right to stay and you won’t be able to kick him out. A bf can be gone very quickly. In any case your lovely flat share is over if he moves in or not. The dynamic will always change when one of the ladies has a bf. It’s not negative but different. If the relationship becomes serious you might want a new tenant to replace her/them or find a smaller place for the three of you.

The landlord has to be told both for insurance purposes and HMO lettings. The landlord has to decide firstly if they will agree to another person sharing a room and usually will raise the cost of the rent due to wear and tear. The contract should stipulate whether your room has been let on a single person basis. The other sharers would also need to fully agree on another person joining the flat, especially if it is a shared lounge/kitchen arrangement and any utility costs should be split between everyone (council tax also needs to be taken into account if you pay separate). It is classed as a sublet and definitely has to be notified to the landlord as they could get in trouble and you in turn could lose your tenancy.

She’s right. If you didn’t like him and didn’t want him being there then that’s a different issue, but as far as the finances go, rent is per room - he has no access to your rooms so why would he pay a portion of the rent?
As for bills, everything split 5 ways of course as he’s using extra utilities.
He’s likeable and having a hard time, it won’t cost you any more as he’ll pay his share of the bills, why do you need to profit from it? Can’t you just be nice? It won’t cost you a penny.

Can’t you just be nice?

Oh Jesus, spare us, the #bekind brigade are here.

Nothing is free in this world, petal. He needs to pay for the roof over his head.

You aren't being unreasonable. He's using the lounge and kitchen and contributing to mess. But regardless they must tell the landlord - it's his property and if I was a landlord I'd be cross if I found out and it is illegal. This actually happened to me twice in two properties. First one: flatmate very politely asked if his gf could move in his room, he told the landlord who agreed and said it was up to us to come to an agreement rent wise and to come back to him but I moved out soon after anyway but a completely different tenant was never ever there so it evened out so I wouldnt have asked for more rent had I stayed and he was such a nice guy.
The second time I dont know if anyone told the landlord but both parties were moving out in 6 months time so everyone let it slide- the bf had sold his house so he was living there whilst they house hunted together. For some reason this time it built up resentment as he was in all the time, she was a bit inconsiderate generally but had had a lot of rows with one girl so maybe had a f it i'll suit myself attitude. She asked us and in fairness we agreed but it felt a bit forced upon us you know where you feel put on the spot, whereas I personally would have offered more rent unless like in the other example the house was a flat mate down a lot. She also did stuff that took the p around that time adding fuel to the fire. Looking back we should have insisted on him contributing something as it ended in a really tense feeling house for 6 months

Once he moves in, it is perfectly reasonable for him to have his pals around and you simply won't have any say.

If the dynamic is good now, I wouldn't be allowing one CF person change it.

It reminds me of a colleague who's flatmate moved the boyfriend in by stealth to her flat that she was renting a room out of, and then atempted to "book the kitchen" for Saturday nights couples meals.

The colleague had had enough and gave her notice and wouldn't be convinced to rescind it.

Insurance, council tax and fire safety would be my major concerns.

You need to tell the landlord - or your flatmate does.

Talk to the landlord.

5 people live there so it should be split 5 ways. It was her choice to move her boyfriend in not yours.

Why should they pay the same to share a room as you do to have a room to yourself. You rent per room, with an adjustment for quality/size of room.

@LadyinRead

From what I understand, a landlord can run an HMO (ie Flatshare) for up to 4 people without needing a special licence. If a fifth moves in, then the LL would need an HMO licence and if I remember correctly, support from the planning office.

An HMO is three or more unrelated persons. So technically it is already an HMO, and presumably licensed as such. (This could easily be checked with the Council.)

True that it's an HMO, but a licence is not required unless five or more unrelated people are sharing (may possibly be local variation, but that's the general rule). So in the OP's case, it would make a massive difference to the LL.

Can we just forget all the stuff about what's fair or nice or kind or anything and bear in mind that it is not legal for the OP's friend to invite a fifth person to live there, even temporarily?

As this is a four-bed house, the LL will not have an HMO licence. An HMO licence is required to let a property to five unrelated adults. The LL cannot agree to this even if s/he wanted to, so the entire discussion is irrelevant.

@HuntingCuns

Can we just forget all the stuff about what's fair or nice or kind or anything and bear in mind that it is not legal for the OP's friend to invite a fifth person to live there, even temporarily?

As this is a four-bed house, the LL will not have an HMO licence. An HMO licence is required to let a property to five unrelated adults. The LL cannot agree to this even if s/he wanted to, so the entire discussion is irrelevant.

This supposes that everyone lives their lives by the letter of every law or contract that they sign. Which is naive in the extreme.

@HuntingCuns I agree with you that it's not legal and shouldn't happen but OP's housemates is clearly a CF who is going to do this by stealth anyway. Obviously OP can and should alert the landlord but the question the OP asked was what would be a fair rental split and there's no harm in answering that question.

It's definitely not fair for the whole rent to be split 5 ways. 3 of the five are getting a private room for themselves and 2 are getting only a half share of a room.

It's definitely not fair for the 2 sharing a room to just pay half each of the same rent that room would have with single occupancy. That results in the only person saving any money being the roommate whose room/boyfriend it is. The other 3 are going down from a 25% share of the communal facilities and spaces to a 20% share and that's a significant difference that ought to be reflected in the rent. When you house share you don't just rent your own bedroom, you rent a share in the house and it matters that the sharing should be fair.

This kind of over-occupation happens all the time. It shouldn't, but it will always carry on happening.

I think the rent should be split five ways. When you are flat sharing with a couple, there is a tenancy for them to monopolise or dominate the communal areas (film night, cooking electorate meals for each other) so, while they share their bedroom they will likely make more, and more disruptive, use of the kitchen and living room.

If I was sharing a flat with some girlfriends I would not want a man to move in. No matter how much I liked him. Completely changes the dynamics of the flat share. And once he’s in he can invite his mates round…
No way. Personally, i would sit down and Al, tell her that you really don’t want to have a man in the flat on a permanent basis and if she wants to live with him, maybe they need to find their own flat

Ok - fair point @NumberTheory and @BuanoKubiamVej It is very true that there are lots of people slithering around doing stuff they shouldn't. In this case, though, another member of the household could/should inform the LL as they are also risking eviction if the LL finds out by other means!

What have you ended up do OP?

I'd not want him to move in. The fact the couple havent offered any financial benefit to the other housemates just shows what they are like (CF!)

Is the big bedroom she has twice the size of the smallest bedroom?

If so then you could count her room as two and splint the rent by 5.

You are daft if you don't deal with this properly now.

There is a point where an extra person feels like a lot of 'extra' in the house.

The difference between 3 and 4 might fell a lot less than 4 and 5.

How do you manage with laundry and the fridge etc. how many seats on the living room?

I'd say it won't work.

I want to know how many shelves there are in the fridge? 👀👀

There are never enough.

@londonrach

You need to tell the landlord as breaks your tenancy. You no reason to agree to this. The others three and you decide if you want it if landlord agrees

I agree. There may be a maximum occupancy and most rental agreements state that all over 18's must be named on the tenancy. Really they need to find their own place as this will become an issues further down the line