Active discussions

Meet the Other Phone. A phone that grows with your child.

Meet the Other Phone.
A phone that grows with your child.

Buy now

Please or to access all these features

Talk
Property/DIY

Join our Property forum for renovation, DIY, and house selling advice.

Original poster

Lodger query

44 replies

Lodgerconfusion · 04/08/2020 22:00

Hi first time post and looking for advice please...

If I live in a house where the landlord lives part time (comes back at weekends and stays overnight for the weekend as they work away) does that still class me as a lodger?

OP posts:
JoJoSM2 · 04/08/2020 22:02

What else would you be? It sounds like you’re renting a room in the owner’s home.

eurochick · 04/08/2020 22:08

Yes. You live in a property in which your landlord also lives. You are a lodger.

lastqueenofscotland · 04/08/2020 22:28

Yes you are a lodger

RHRA · 04/08/2020 22:29

Definitely.

Original poster
Lodgerconfusion · 04/08/2020 22:57

Sorry they don’t come back every weekend- like once or twice a month. This is because they have temporarily been placed elsewhere for work.

They have a flat they live in there during the week as well. I thought if I asked to put a lick on my door I would become a tenant.

OP posts:
Original poster
Lodgerconfusion · 04/08/2020 22:57

Sorry lock

OP posts:
DespairingHomeowner · 04/08/2020 23:08

Why are you asking this? There must be a wider issue...

RHRA · 04/08/2020 23:57

No asking to put a lock on your door does not equate to becoming a tenant.

Original poster
Lodgerconfusion · 05/08/2020 06:40

I just want to know my legal rights.... in this situation am I still classed as a lodger though the landlord is only spending a few nights here every month.

OP posts:
Original poster
Lodgerconfusion · 05/08/2020 06:40

And am I allowed to put lick in the door

OP posts:
Original poster
Lodgerconfusion · 05/08/2020 06:40

Lock

OP posts:
altforvarmt · 05/08/2020 06:42

Oout of curiosity, on what door are you looking to put a lock?

Toohardtofindaproperusername · 05/08/2020 06:49

Why do you want or think that you are a tenant? A tenant has the right to refuse entry to the landlord. If you dont trust your landlord what stops you from.movjng out and finding your own place rather than searching to be given rights to stop.him her being let back into their own home? What's going on?
You are a lodger in someone else's house.

Toohardtofindaproperusername · 05/08/2020 06:54

Sorry that sounds ht harsh and I see it's your first post. But you are a lodger not a tenant. You live in someone else's house. I'm.sure if you can find this page and post in it you csn and have also done a Google search on what the difference is between a lodger and tenant. What makes you want to be a tenant in a house you are a lodger in. What rights fo you want that you havent got? Sounds like you might need to move out and find yourself a tenancy...

BackwardsGoing · 05/08/2020 07:00

Do you mean a lock on your bedroom door? Even if you were a tenant (which you're not) you would need permission from the LL to do that.

If you want tenants' rights then get a new property and sign and AST.

bevelino · 05/08/2020 07:04

OP, what type of agreement/arrangement governs your occupancy of the property? You are a lodger if you rent a room in your landlord's home and you share facilities such as the bathroom and kitchen with your landlord.

If your landlord only stays at the property infrequently that doesn’t alter your status as a lodger because your landlord is entitled to come and go as they please.

Original poster
Lodgerconfusion · 05/08/2020 07:30

Oh sorry on my own room! Not front door! But the landlord is only here maybe 4 nights a month- how does that not make me a tenant.

OP posts:
BackwardsGoing · 05/08/2020 08:36

Because it's his main residence? His name is on the bills and council tax? Because his mortgage is a residential mortgage? Because you don't have an AST agreement?

Honestly OP how much clearer can it be?

altforvarmt · 05/08/2020 09:34

You're renting a room in your landlord's property, one that he has access to at all times, no matter how frequently or infrequently he actually stays.
You're not renting the whole property. Therefore no number of locks on your bedroom door can change your status from lodger to tenant.

Perhaps you should consider finding another property where you can be a tenant.

FAQs · 05/08/2020 09:38

It might have changed now but years ago when I rented out rooms in my house, if a lock was put on the bedroom doors the person was still a lodger (it was my main residence) but that meant they also had to buy their own TV licence. Could be different now, I’m talking 20 years ago!

Mosaic123 · 05/08/2020 09:48

I would say you are quite a lucky lodger as most of the time you have full use of kitchen, bathroom and, presumably, lounge.

JoJoSM2 · 05/08/2020 11:00

I would say you are quite a lucky lodger as most of the time you have full use of kitchen, bathroom and, presumably, lounge.

Very lucky indeed.

And as above, even if you were a tenant with an AST renting the whole property, you’d still need permission to install a lock or make any other changes to a property owned by someone else.

bigbluebus · 05/08/2020 11:29

No expert but presumably in order to have the rights of a tenant you'd need to have a tenancy agreement. Just because the owner currently chooses to stay only a couple of weekends a month does not mean that they couldn't suddenly start staying every night if their circumstances changed. That wouldn't change your status. Why do you feel you want to put a lock on the door? Surely that's the bigger issue?

snowspider · 05/08/2020 11:47

It depends which property is the landlord's main residence. If the landlord lives out then the op could well be a tenant, by default no contract required. If the landlord is a lodger elsewhere, then maybe the op property is a main residence but if landlord rents and lives elsewhere but retains a room in the op property for own use then it is possibly not their main residence

Need to check with e.g. shelter. As a tenant op would have more rights.

Climbingallthetrees · 05/08/2020 12:16

You’re a lodger. You’ll be paying a lodger’s rent rather than a tenant’s rent. And you get to have the place alone quite a lot of the time. Which is very lucky for a lodger. Why do you want to put a lock on your room?

Swipe left for the next trending thread