If as a landlord you have advertised your flat as a whole but have two tenants who are friends who decide to rent it, do you tend to let them set up separate standing orders for their monthly rent similar to if they were in a HMO, or request that you have one standing order for the full amount?
I have said to them that they are jointly liable. I know under RR they would only need give 2 months notice if they wanted to leave, but I said if one wanted to stay and the other go, it would be the one that stays responsibility to find a new tenant to share with and cover the cost in the meantime.
I think this is something to discuss with them. Two separate payments is probably easier for them as they are less likely to have a shared account or be willing to put their £ in somebody else’s account than a couple.
But this does extend to other issues like utility bills - which one pays the electric, gas, water, broadband, council tax ? [Assuming you check they do pay their bills].
So I’d probably ask for one payment for my convenience and allow some flexibility if they request something different.
Again this is for them to decide together and propose to you when one decides to leave because of severally liability - personally I’d think unless they actually end the tenancy I’d think the leaver ought to still be paying their share [at least for the next month, say, just like if they were giving notice], which will incentivise them to help find somebody - making the one who stays liable for the whole rent till they find a replacement means they are at risk of getting into arrears and could be put into financial trouble by the other abruptly leaving.
