Renting Individual Rooms In House, Box Room Tenant Has Taken Over Living Room

J

jimmycooker

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I have a 3 bed house with 2 double rooms and 1 single box room. The person in the box room has setup a desk and double monitor PC in the livingroom (i thought they had rented the living room to a 4th tenant when i saw it first). I told the girl she would have to move out if she didn't remove this additional office furniture from the common area / livingroom and she refused / contacted threshold, who in turn told me they would take a case against me if i gave the tenant notice to vacate.

The other 2 tenants say they don't mind, they have double rooms and i haven't raised there rent since they moved in, so they're probably making do with the situation. My concern is one of the double room tenants will move out and i won't be able to re-rent their room, because there is effectively no livingroom in the house at the moment. All 3 tenants moved in separately / on individual contracts.

What can i do, can i get this person out of the house or can i ask the 3 of them to sign a single contract which makes them equally liable if someone moves out? Thanks.
 
This isn't the only house i own.....so 1 tenant on an indivudual contract, paying for 1 box room can effectively take over the common areas, potentially lead to other tenants leaving / me not being able to re-rent their rooms, and there's nothing i can do? I can't make the 3 current tenants sign a new contract for the entire house?
 
How did you find out about the situation, as the others are saying they don't mind what's happening? Don't know why you got involved is what i'm saying, rent was paid, no damage done and we all know there's not much anyone can do in a box room. If she has to work from home? that's how you get paid your rent. Now you're up the swanny, so to speak.
 
What does the individual contract say? Presumably there is some clause for use of shared rooms.


For your next tenancy I would insist on a "joint and several" tenancy where basically they are all responsible for the rent and how they share the house is their business. If one leaves the lease can be "assigned" to a new tenant with everyone's agreement.
 
The girl in question said there was an issue with a thermostatic valve. There's a glass door into the livingroom, as i was walking in i looked in and upon first glance it looked like it had been sublet as another bedroom. The others aren't causing a fuss, but maybe thats because this girl is a bully / they don't want to jeapardise / give up their double rooms and they're just willing to live with it v's trying to find non existent alternative accomodation. It's not fair on them that they don't have a living room / TV to share / use as they please, and i'm sure it will make it impossible to rent the double rooms if / when one of the other girls leave. If she needs to work from home she should have rented a double room with enough space for her personal belongings, not taken over the common areas to the point the others can't use or as she said "they can ask me if they want to use it".
 
This is all there is, it's a standard letting agreement i think:

Let Property
1. The Landlord agrees to let to the Tenant, and the Tenant agrees to a shared tenancy of the
"Property", known as and situated at xxxxxxxxxxx, Ireland, for use as residential premises only.
2. Neither the Property nor any part of the Property will be used at any time during the term of this
Agreement by Tenant for the purpose of carrying on any business, profession, or trade of any kind,
or for the purpose other than as the Tenant's only or principal private / single-family residence.
3. The Tenant will have exclusive occupation of the designated front single bedroom and will share
with the other occupiers of the Property the use and facilities of the common parts of the Property
(including driveway, side access ways, refuse
 
jimmycooker said:
3. The Tenant will have exclusive occupation of the designated front single bedroom and will share
with the other occupiers of the Property the use and facilities of the common parts of the Property
(including driveway, side access ways, refuse
Click to expand...
Well then they are I guess in breach of the tenancy agreement if they have taken over the living room.

This kind of thing is very difficult to prove either way though.
 
NoRegretsCoyote said:
Well then they are I guess in breach of the tenancy agreement if they have taken over the living room.

This kind of thing is very difficult to prove either way though.
Click to expand...
Yes thats my problem, espeicially when the current tenants aren't making a fuss. So say the other 2 tenants moved out, this box room tenant can't be forced to remove the office furniture from the living room?
 
How did you arrive at a situation where rooms are let individually?

If you let the house in entirety then it becomes a tenants problem to fill each room.
 
It wasn't by design, i rented a room while i lived there and then rented my room out to someone new when i left.......this is the first time i've run into an issue where one tenants use of the common areas is likely to put future potential tenants off...
 
You need to document everything about this. She is in breach of tenant obligations by refusing to share a common area. Write / email her first and if there's no improvement serve a formal notice of breach of tenant obligations (use template on RTB website) followed by a 28 day notice of termination ( again refer to RTB website) for breach of tenant obligations, if she still refuses to comply.
If you suffer financial loss, eg inability to rent a double room, document this, and write to her saying you will seek damages via the RTB. If you're going the RTB route, make sure your i's are dotted and your t's are crossed. Plus you'll need to be squeaky clean on landlord obligations such as standard and maintenance of the dwelling.
 
What about her using the property for commercial purposes? I know people generally turn a blind eye to this. But you could use it to your advantage in this instance.
 
PebbleBeach2020 said:
What about her using the property for commercial purposes? I know people generally turn a blind eye to this. But you could use it to your advantage in this instance.
Click to expand...

From a GDPR or Data Protection perspective it must pose some issues. If she is on a zoom meeting or telephone call the other tenants can listen in if they are using the common area/living room.
 
Sue Ellen said:
From a GDPR or Data Protection perspective it must pose some issues. If she is on a zoom meeting or telephone call the other tenants can listen in if they are using the common area/living room.
Click to expand...
They can probably listen in anyway from the landing, or even from their own bedrooms.

Is there enough space in the box room for a desk and chair?
 
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