Hi there lovely people,
Can anyone advice me please.
A tenant has moved in a friend without telling me. The question I have is - Will I need to have a separate shorthold tenancy agreement with the new person. I think he is helping my tenant pay his rent.
Will I need to do Id checks with this new tenant? Can a tenant have a friend living with him without needing a contact for them?
Your help is greatly appreciated.
If you are in agreement with him being there it would be sensible to have him down as a named occupier only.
Effectively he has permission to be there but has no rights and can be required to leave at anytime by either you or your tenant.
They need to pass a right to rent check.
Also depends who else is living there, if anyone, and if this tips you over into HMO territory
Firstly check that the property is not now statutorily overcrowded or the new person is not sleeping in a room unsuitable as a bedroom. If so you must demand they rectify this or leave.
If you now know formally, (ie undeniably) that there is a second person living there then you should conduct a right to rent check on them as you may otherwise be at risk if the person has no right to rent.
I would agree with Mark10 that allowing the tenant to take this person as a permitted occupier only would be in your best interest as you dont know them or their rental history. This means you cant accept rent from them directly, only from your tenant but they acquire no tenancy rights. If they pay your tenant then they become his lodger and your tenant would have certain legal obligations. I would suggest you mention this to the tenant but then leave it to them to sort out.
Im sure this happens all the time . Single people meet somebody and they move in or a friend moves in to help pay the rent . As long as the rent is paid on time , its best to remain blissfully ignorant of it . What you dont know about is beyond your control and doesnt cause any stress .
Agree happens very often. Rent still paid
inform your insurance company that you have a permitted occupier
Hi David122,
This is really helpful. All I know is that the tenant has a friend moved in. It’s a 2 bed property so no issues of overcrowding. I’d do a right to rent check and then inform the insurance company.
Many thanks to everyone else for their responses.
Some great advice above. If the additional person is staying for some time, you might want to give some consideration to additional wear and tear to the property. Consider an increase in rent if necessary.