Hypothetical question here - if one of the tenants in a houseshare stops paying rent and, as the landlord, I want to serve a section 8 notice, could I just name that one tenant in the notice?
Or would I have to serve the notice for all tenants together, for it to be valid?
There is one rental contract only, signed jointly by all (3) tenants.
Thanks
All tenants have to be named
They should be joint and severally liable. That means that they are all liable for the entire rent. When your rent payment lands, it’s effectively all of them paying together, and although they may not understand the implications of the tenancy agreement they have signed, if one doesn’t pay, the others are on the hook for that non-payment.
You might want to calmly and firmly help the others them understand the implications of that in writing prior to issuing your section 8. Perhaps they’ll be able to help resolve it through some peer pressure. It’s in their interest.
Thanks for the responses.
It is a hypothetical, I’ve just been wondering recently what would happen if one tenant stops paying in the houseshare. Seems harsh on the others but I guess after the section 8 is served and the problem tenant leaves, I could just arrange with the other two tenants to stay on in a new contract.
er… but they’re still liable for the missing rent payments that the other tenant doesn’t pay. Unless they pay you that, I wouldn’t be letting to them on a new contract at all. That’s the point of it being joint and severally liable. It’s not harsh. They signed a contract to that effect.
If it’s a houseshare, you need to consider them as one tenant for the purposes of rent payment (or any other liability), not three.
If it helps, consider it like the council tax my wife and I pay on our home. If I don’t make the payment from my bank account (which is where it usually comes from) and then decide I’m going to vanish to South America, the council are still going to come after her for the missing council tax because we’re jointly and severally liable for it by virtue of the fact that we both live in the dwelling.
You need to give the tenants control over serving notice so that if this happens they can end their liability. The only feasible way of doing this is by letting the tenancy go periodic at the earliest opportunity. Once their tenancy ends you can offer a new tenancy to whomever you want.
This topic was automatically closed 90 days after the last reply. New replies are no longer allowed.