Moving partner in

Landlord Discussion Legal
1

I don’t know if anybody can help. I have a wonderful tenant in my property and she would like to move her partner in although I am quite certain he’s been living there for sometime. She would like to continue being responsible for the finances. At present she is on a rolling contract as I will be selling the property later this year which she is aware of. Please can anyone provide me with guidance as without credit checks, references etc, I am not happy for him to be formally on the contract. Can I say he can reside their informally but I am not happy to proceed with amending the contract ? It seems pointless to change anything given I will terminating this come autumn/winter. Will he have any rights living there informally?

Thanks in advance for any help.

2

Sorry but would not use the term informally, this could very well bounce back on you if she leaves and he stays, suggest you do full due diligence on the partner and get his name legally on the contract.

3

If the additional person is more than a temporary guest as specified by a good tenancy agreement and you are aware of this (preferably in writing) and you have agreed, then best to get them on the tenancy agreement. Clause 9.39 in the Openrent tenancy agreement mentions guests and how long they can stay.

4

Thank you both, that’s helpful. As you can probably tell I’m not by any means a professional in this area.

5

Many LLs on here would strongly advice that you raise your level of knowledge if you feel/know you lack it. Getting it wrong can be very time consuming, expensive and emotionally draining. Others have suggested the NRLA and Landlord Law.

6

I’d probably just give the tenant authority to have them as a Permitted Occupier, although you would still have to do a Right to Rent check on him and rrmember not to accept any rent from him.

7

My contract would specify they has to obtain landlords permission for another person to live there. I would not grant that for an adults unless they became joint tenants.
I was stung by this many years ago when i was much greener and a tenant invited someone else to stay.
The tenant did a runner with unpaid rent - and the "guest " simply said I had no contract with him and refused to pay any rent. i effectively ended up with squatters!
Don’t leave yourself open to this !
.

8

You were lucky. If they had paid rent you would likely have created a tenancy with them and you would have struggled to ever get them out.