Housemate's boyfriend

hertz

Hi
I took a lease on a small house about 8 months. To sublet a room I advertised and took in a foreign girl who with respect is generally a good clean house mate. This girl met a new boyfriend a few months back and although he is a nice guy spends a lot of time in the house. At first due to my easy going nature I didn't have a problem with him staying over and hanging around the house. My issue is this boyfriend is staying over almost 6 nights a week now and all of the weekend. The house may as well have 3 people living there, not 2. They are a young couple in their early twenties so can be a little immature and loud at times. This girl has said she is leaving at the end of May. Despite the fact it annoys me do I rock the boat and say something?

Just looking for some advise or experiences on this.
Apologises if this is in the wrong forum too.

not even wrong

hertz wrote: »

My issue is this boyfriend is staying over almost 6 nights a week now and all of the weekend.

That's well over what's acceptable and you're entitled to be annoyed. Lay down the law and tell her no more than 2 nights per week.

riclad

YOU should have a tenancy agreement, no subletting, if you have a friend ,2days stay per week is max allowed.
whether you want to get into this is up to you,MAYBE you could say ,2 or 3 days is the limit for him to visit,please keep noise down after 11pm,
if she wants total privacy she should have rented a flat.
YOU NEED a proper tenancy agreement,for a sublet,otherwise you,ll have all sorts of problems re noise,visitors ,boyfriends ,etc
Google tenancy agreement .AFTER all she is just paying rent for 1person.
MAYBE you could consider renting 1bed apartment,cheaper than house rent,more privacy.
SAY no stayovers at weekend .YOU have to be firm.

djimi

At the very least you should be insisting that he contributes a third towards the utility bills; he is essentially living there and should be paying his way. Do not take no for an answer. This alone might start to resolve the issue for you.

odds_on

Because you are renting a room in the house that you are living in (irrespective of whether you are the owner or a tenant), you have a licensee or lodger and not a tenant. A licensee is living in your home only by your invitation, when you withdraw the invitation, the licensee has to leave.

There is not registration with the PRTB with a licensee. As it is your home, you make the rules to suit yourself first, then the licensee. If the licensee doesn't like the rules, she is free to leave.

As regards guests staying over, IMHO, 3 nights a month (I think 2 nights a week is too much) would be enough, otherwise ask for expenses. And certainly do not allow the boyfriend in the house if the girlfriend is not there.

That's just my opinion - make up your own mind from the other posts.

odds_on

riclad wrote: »

YOU should have a tenancy agreement, no subletting, if you have a friend ,2days stay per week is max allowed.
whether you want to get into this is up to you,MAYBE you could say ,2 or 3 days is the limit for him to visit,please keep noise down after 11pm,
if she wants total privacy she should have rented a flat.
YOU NEED a proper tenancy agreement,for a sublet,otherwise you,ll have all sorts of problems re noise,visitors ,boyfriends ,etc
Google tenancy agreement .AFTER all she is just paying rent for 1person.
MAYBE you could consider renting 1bed apartment,cheaper than house rent,more privacy.
SAY no stayovers at weekend .YOU have to be firm.

You cannot have a tenancy agreement with a person who is living in your home and sharing facilities - it must be a licence agreement and is not registered with the PRTB.

A tenant who sublets must leave the property and retains the lease but sublets to a new tenant. The original tenant therefore becomes the "head tenant" and is still responsible to the property owner for the rent.

Motorist

odds_on wrote: »

Because you are renting a room in the house that you are living in (irrespective of whether you are the owner or a tenant), you have a licensee or lodger and not a tenant. A licensee is living in your home only by your invitation, when you withdraw the invitation, the licensee has to leave.

There is not registration with the PRTB with a licensee. As it is your home, you make the rules to suit yourself first, then the licensee. If the licensee doesn't like the rules, she is free to leave.

As regards guests staying over, IMHO, 3 nights a month (I think 2 nights a week is too much) would be enough, otherwise ask for expenses. And certainly do not allow the boyfriend in the house if the girlfriend is not there.

That's just my opinion - make up your own mind from the other posts.

Did she have any contact with the landlord when the room was let. If not it is not a licence arrangement.

petethebrick

not even wrong wrote: »

That's well over what's acceptable and you're entitled to be annoyed. Lay down the law and tell her no more than 2 nights per week.

She is subletting the room so she's in no position to lay down the law. The situation is very common when renting. The best idea is to have a chat with her. Explain that you expect to be able to enjoy your living room/kitchen without guests there all the time. If her boyfriend must stay over often then they should keep to her bedroom. And of course if he has been staying over as often as you say then he must contribute to the bills.

odds_on

Motorist wrote: »

Did she have any contact with the landlord when the room was let. If not it is not a licence arrangement.

And your reasoning? .........

conorhal

I found myself in a similar situation a few years ago, it was a harsh lesson in the fact that there's plenty of people out there more then happy to take advantage of your accomodating good nature, you're just going to have to stand up for yourself.
After two months I presented the couple each with their share of the bills (if this guy is effectively living there, he can pay his share) and told them the situation had to change. They're making a mug of you and will continue to do so, but only if you let them.

Motorist

odds_on wrote: »

And your reasoning? .........

I should say that I suspect it is not a licence arrangement. I have seen a tenant claim a room was sublet to another tenant several times before, when in fact this was not the case as direct contact had been made with the landlord, the landlord had approached the new tenant to sign a lease, sign an inventory, visited tenant in question, had contact over payment details, etc, etc.

Claiming it was a licence arrangement is often used as a nice convenient smokescreen to trample on tenant rights - claiming the new tenant is only they by invitation. Thankfully we have courts and a proper justice system to see through this nonsense when it arises.

odds_on

Motorist wrote: »

I should say that I suspect it is not a licence arrangement. I have seen a tenant claim a room was sublet to another tenant several times before, when in fact this was not the case as direct contact had been made with the landlord, the landlord had approached the new tenant to sign a lease, sign an inventory, visited tenant in question, had contact over payment details, etc, etc.

Claiming it was a licence arrangement is often used as a nice convenient smokescreen to trample on tenant rights - claiming the new tenant is only they by invitation. Thankfully we have courts and a proper justice system to see through this nonsense when it arises.

Yes, if the agreement (verbal or written) is with the landlord then it is a tenancy.

However, if the agreement is with the resident tenant (with or without the landlord's consent) then it is a licence agreement - as in the rent-a-room scheme and it is usually just a verbal agreement. It is not possible to have a tenancy with a live-in landlord where the person renting has the use of a bedroom and shares facilities with a resident landlord.

Fortunately or unfortunately, it is the PRTB who adjudicates and settles most disputes in relation to tenancies except when it is outside the scope of their remit as in the case of tenancy agreements where the tenant has a lease for his bedroom and shares facilities with others who have individual leases for their bedrooms and where the landlord is not resident. In this latter case, the tenant (or landlord) must make a claim through the courts to settle any disputes.

wayfarers

You found her via an advert you placed so its not like you're best mates and she's leaving in May so its not like you'll be best mates forever so yes do say something. She or rather they both are taking the pee whether they realise it or not.