Your rights as a lodger

There are some important differences between tenants and lodgers – particularly when it comes to what rights you have in the property.

Tenancy agreements and contracts

A tenant will generally have more rights than a lodger, because they have a tenancy agreement with their landlord – usually an Assured Shorthold Tenancy (AST).

With lodgers, it’s slightly different – your landlord will most likely have a licence with you instead of a tenancy agreement. This document will set out the conditions of your stay in their property, and outline any house rules.

Your landlord also doesn’t need to serve you a standard notice period (like with tenants) if they want you to move out – they’re only required to serve ‘reasonable’ notice. This is usually 28 days, but it can be shorter.

There's also no minimum term required by either party by law. So if keeping your life flexible is more important to you than security of tenure, then living as a lodger may work well for you.

Privacy

Being a lodger means you’re living in the landlord’s property with them, so you don’t have exclusive rights to any part of it. You also can’t exclude your landlord from the room you’re staying in – so you shouldn’t fit a lock on your door.

Deposits

If you’re a lodger, your landlord isn’t legally required to protect your deposit under a tenancy deposit scheme, but they can do so if they choose.

Your landlord’s obligations

Live-in landlords don’t have as many obligations as live out landlords (unless the house is classed as an HMO), but they should still have annual gas safety checks done and be responsible for keeping the property safe and free from health hazards.