Is that the time…I should be leaving…
I don’t know if it is just me but I feel like my friends are beginning to lose their grip on time. I don’t mean the ‘I will be 5 minutes’ ruse, which I seem to fall for every time, but the day-to-week ratio. Two weeks ago I had an old friend drop in’…he’s still here. I seem to recall at some point following his arrival my partner commented that he ‘could stay as long as he liked’. I assume that this was just her attempt at being friendly and she didn’t expect him to still be here two weeks later…I don’t think.
In any case, it got me thinking about those of us who actually expect a new person to join their household perhaps as a means of making a bit of extra money or, as I suspect in my other half case, watering down the existing occupants of the property. Whatever the reasons inviting someone new into your home is a big decision and should not be taken lightly. It is true that, if you are the landlord and it is your main residence, a lodger that you have taken in is likely to be what is known as an ‘excluded occupier’ which means that they have very few rights regarding remaining in the property. You can of course grant the lodger more rights than they would automatically be deemed to have in law, for example, you may grant the lodger a licence to occupy with a requirement that you need to give them 3 months notice to leave whereas without any form of written agreement the law requires the landlord to simply give the lodger reasonable notice.
This all sounds simple, but as with all these things, an agreement is only as reliable as the parties entering into it and I am finding time and time again that the lodgers are receiving the notice and basically refusing to leave. Although the lodger has no right to remain the fact of the matter is that not all landlord’s feel up to evicting the lodger especially when they have made it clear that they do not want to leave. This is where we may be able to help. Unlike our usual evictions where we would be seeking a Court order for possession before the eviction takes place, with no need for the court order, we can just come along and evict the lodger. If you do have a situation where a guest has overstayed their welcome and you cannot get them to leave why not contact us here at Shergroup and see if we can help…if my friend stays much longer I will certainly be giving my colleagues a call!
