NorthEastLandlord
3 Thanks
10 Posts
We have a house that is currently let to three students. They each have an individual contracts to let their rooms and use of the communal facilities (living area, kitchen, bathroom etc).
One of the tenants moved in last week and moved his girlfriend in with him at the same time. We weren't sure that she was staying at the house with him but this has been confirmed by another tenant. Our contract states that "we let a bedroom and communal areas to you and only you will be allowed to live there". As we had a couple of rooms available at the time that he viewed the house he indicated that he might need 2/3 rooms one for himself, one for his "friend" and one for his sister. He later told me that his "friend" would look elsewhere as the rooms were too small but he wanted to pay a deposit on 2 rooms for himself and his sister which he did. Now he has moved his friend in and she is sharing his room.
His friend is living in the house without our permission. She is not named on any contract, has not provided any personal details and is not paying rent. He is in breach of his contract (we think) by allowing her to live there. They are sharing a very small room with only a single bed which is inadequate for sharing long term (had he asked if they could share as as couple we would have said no anyway). On top of that he is not British and is on a visa to study - we don't know anything about her expect she is also not British and in the worst case scenario she is not entitled to be in the UK.
We emailed and asked him about his friend's living arrangements and pointed out that she was not entitled to be living at the property. He did not respond. We printed the message and wrote a letter to the same effect asking that she leave the property with immediate effect and posted in through the letterbox. We stated that we wanted a meeting to resolve the situation and gave 24 hours notice to meet them at the house tonight.
The situation is causing upset with the remaining 2 tenants as there has been some arguments about how messy they are and leave their stuff around. The girlfriend has responded that their room is small. The point is it is not their room it his her boyfriends room and she should not even be there. I also think she should not speak to a paying tenant like that.
Sorry for the long post but any advice on how we deal with the meeting tonight would be great. She may already have gone which would be great but if she hasn't and refuses to what can we do.