Lodger cranks up heating to 25

[Mumskisail]

My partner left a few years ago and I had time off work for burnout and now in a less stressful (lower paid) role so on a tight income. I rent 2 rooms to help cover my mortgage and bills (about 40%).

The house is heated to 18-21 degrees depending on the room / personal preference, using Nest thermostats (called TRVs) on each radiator. It is lowered at 11pm until 5.30am, meaning it's warm for about an hour after going to bed and it heats up for a few hours before the lodgers get up.

One lodger is very happy with this and prefers a cooler room so sometimes turns it down.

But the other constantly overrides this and heats his room to 25. When I've tried to speak to him about it he answers his door in a tshirt and is only wearing normal socks. The rest of us have warm clothes, slippers and big fleece hoodies on winter evenings, and use fleece blankets to stay cosy on the sofa.

We seem to be in a battle of wills. He goes along with my suggested times and temperatures in discussion but has done everything including claiming his radiator and the TRV don't work, disconnecting the TRV but trying to make it look as though it's connected, saying it won't connect and pulling the little pin out with a pair of pliers to force the heating on. He leaves it on all night. The thermostat when it's reading says 25-26.

The other issue in this old Victorian house is that the heating pumping out all night causes banging in the pipes and keeps myself and the other lodger awake, or wakes us up in the night. So we prefer lots of layers and a quiet night unless we're in a cold patch.

I've offered him extra duvets and blankets (his looks thin) and a hot water bottle but he refuses. I've asked him to discuss the times he wants the heating on and to talk about the heating.

He says the temperature reading is wrong so I gave him a wireless thermostat which showed the same temperature as the TRV and showed it was correct.

I've explained about the increasing cost of gas and showed him my bills. I've showed him the temperatures in the rest of the house and that we are comfortable.

This is the second winter we are having these issues. Last year his sister died so I just kept my mouth shut and left him to it but I felt really unhappy.

Do I just suck it up, winter will be over soon and I'm not making a loss. Or do I tell him it's not acceptable and ask him to leave? Or is it better the devil you know, this is the only issue.

A friend suggested a locking cover to go over the TRV, I'm so irritated it's tempting but is that really ethical? And anyway would he then just get an electric heater? I don't go into his room and I would never snoop.

He's a 44 year old man having to rent a room and it must be his sanctuary and private space.

Do I just let him win the battle and chill out?

This contradicts the wrong advice you gave earlier then 🙄

‘Often being 4 weeks’ isn’t the same as legally being required to be 4 weeks.

Please learn to read and comprehend.

Yep, it does.

What advice does it contradict?

That is has to be 28 days.

It doesn’t have to be 28 days.

It should be a week, it doesn’t have to be a week.

Just to reassure everyone, we agreed a months notice either way to end the arrangement and I will stand by that. He'll probably start playing Caribbean music and dancing in his pants at 30 degrees for a month, and I may need earplugs for the pipes, but at least he'll be gone soon enough!

@Quincythequince Often because you and the tenant can agree two months notice either way if you wish. But 4 weeks is the usual time.

Fuel costs are way cheaper in the states.

Okay it does not have to be 28 days, but unless he is paying weekly that is the usual legal notice.

All I can say is brilliant news. You’ve done the right thing there!

Being usual and being legally require aren’t the same.

You said she had to give 28 days.

She doesn’t.

Stop throwing in the word legal randomly!

I said legally she has to give notice and can not just throw him out on the streets as some of you were suggesting.

I think you've made the right decision OP. IME men like this just won't listen to a woman telling them what to do. And they treat you like you're thick. Even if you could agree for a compromise with the heating, leaving it on overnight is keeping you and the other lodger awake. You'd risk losing the good lodger and being lumbered with the bad one. It's not as if you're kicking him out with a week's notice and no warning.

Something is either legally required under a define set of circumstances,
or it’s not.

Its a moot point as OP has clarified his notice period.

But if someone was costing me a lot of money, exacting wilful
deception, breaking rules and generallly causing a bad atmosphere, you are not required to leave them in your house.

It was you who said she can kick him out now, by the way. Which she could do, of course. Which would be illegal.

It was shit advice.

Work out the extra it's costing to heat the house and add to his rent. As it's him that wants it on that high he should pay.

He's leaving in a month.

Well done OP.

Lodgers have almost no rights.
The chances of OP getting I trouble for saying be gone by the weekend, are slim to none.

He is a disrespectful oik who deserves no respect by way of return.

I wouldn’t hesitate to boot him out by the end of the weekend.

He can go and be warm in a premier inn.

Bet he wouldn’t behave this way if OP was, or had big names nearby.

I used to rent out rooms years ago in what seems like a similar house - old property built in 1901. I ran the heating at similar times too ... warm in the evenings and at getting up time. I always made it clear to potential lodgers that I only rented to people with full time jobs and they were given agreements to sign that clearly stated the times the heating came on. However, there were always one or two people who lied and who bought themselves fan heaters which they ran all the time, even when the heating was on. I also discovered that such people often lied about other things too such as not having full time jobs after all. I began by trying to be tolerant towards them but realised in the end that it was better to cut my losses quickly rather than letting things go from bad to worse ...

@Quincythequince If I was your tenant I would take you to the small claims court for the cost of a room at premier inn for a month minus the rent I would have paid you. I would probably win as well. And a very easy legal process to do.

I would definitely look for a new lodger. The lying, tampering with the thermostat, not talking to you to try and reach a compromise, making you and your other lodger feel uncomfortable, making no effort to dress appropriately for winter and just cranking up the heating instead - all these things would mean for me, he needs to go.

I would also be be worried that your other lodger might leave as a result of the behaviour of the lying lodger and then you would have lost the nice lodger and be stuck with t-shirt man and that's the last thing you want. Give him notice and start looking for a new lodger and make sure they are aware of the temperature that you keep the house and that if they want a hot house then your home is not suitable. I personally find a temperature of 18-21 plenty warm enough, any higher I feel uncomfortable, but then I dress in warm clothes and thick socks in winter.

He's just a lodger in ylour own home. He has zero tenancy rights. All you need to is give him notice to quit . Most lodger agreements include 28 days notice.

He has no appeal, no other options other than pack up and leave.