I have rented an unfurnished two bedroom flat for 7 years, fully furnished by me. I have a flatmate on a short assured tenancy contract renting the other room (even his bed is mine). I asked him in July to move out in October - giving him 3 months - but he is refusing to. Do I have any rights, apart from the landlord serving a Section 21 (which would take 6+ months)? If I leave, does the landlord have the right to evict him as the flat was originally rented unfurnished to me?
It sounds as though you are a tenant and have taken a lodger for the other room. If thats the case and you share communal space, such as bathroom, kitchen and/or lounge, then he will be a licensee, not an AST tenant and you would normally not need a court order to evict him. You would just give him one rent period’s notice and could then change the locks whilst he’s out. The fact that youve given him an AST contract doesnt make him an AST tenant, but it does mean that you now have to follow any additional rights it gives him regarding notice and eviction.
If you dont share any communal space then he will be a non-housing act tenant, with basic rights. In this case, you would need a court order to evict, but he would not be able to defend it.
If you are not sure about any of this or how to interpret the contract youve issued, then I would suggest that you see if the CAB or Shelter will help you understand your options.
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Hi David, thanks for your reply. I realise I wasn’t very clear.
Although I furnished the whole place, the second room tenancy is indeed an AST directly with the landlord for the past 2 years.
It was stupid of us back then as now the ladlord is in a position that if I leave with all my furniture he will just furnish his room and stay in an empty flat as it is the landlord’s problem to furnish the rest of the place to rent the second room out.
So the questions are: do I have any rights given that it’s been fully furnished by myself; and as the landlord rents it as an unfurnished flat do they have the right to end the tenancy for the other tenant when I leave?
Ok, well thats a very different scenario.
- If you are renting the whole property, then how did the other tenant end up renting some of the same space?
Did you request it? - Were you given a different tenancy agreement or just a lower rent on your existing agreement?
- Did the deal explicitly include compensation for the fact that the landlord is renting your furniture to the other tenant? If so, then you cant just remove the furniture.
This is potentially a bit of a legal mess to be honest and may not be simple to get out of.
Yes, it is complicated. I first rented the place with a friend - I had all the furniture but we took individual ASTs. He eventually moved in with a partner and from then on I stayed and the landlord continued renting the second room as a separate agreement. There is no compensation for the use of my furniture.
Naively, I assumed that I had the right to ask the co-tenant to move out whenever I wanted - with the appropriate notice - but I’m now finding out that this is not so.
However, you made me think of something… As he is actively using my furniture, do I have the right to charge him for it? And can I back charge him for it? This would encourage him to move out.
I must say, he has other places to go, he is just refusing to look as nowhere else is as good as our flat so I need to find a way to encourage him to do so…
So in fact you had a room only agreement that includes a licence to use the communal parts of the property and I assume you still have this? If so, then I also assume that the other tenant has an agreement for unfurnished, in which case you can take your furniture away if you wish and forbid him from using it in the lounge, although there might then be an argument about why its in there. You can’t charge him for using it retrospectively. You have equal status to the other tenant and you have no rights over his tenancy.