Lodger agreement
When should I use this agreement?
Most tenancies in the private rented sector have to abide by the Protection from Eviction Act 1977. This means that you must have a court order to repossess the property if they do not leave at the end of a notice to quit/notice seeking possession.
However, certain types of agreement are known as 'excluded agreements' because they are excluded from these protections. In these cases, the landlord is entitled to regain possession without a court order by peacefully evicting the excluded occupier.
When do I have a lodger?
To take a lodger -
- You must share living accommodation with the lodger
- You must be using the property as your principle home at the start and end of the agreement
If you do not meet these conditions then you will normally have an assured shorthold tenancy and you should use our AST agreement instead.
If you live in the same building but do not share accommodation with the tenant, then this will not be a lodgers agreement. Instead it will be a non-assured tenancy.
Renters’ Rights Act
The Renters' Rights Bill, the most significant set of changes to the PRS in over 30 years, completed its passage through parliament on 27th October 2025 and is now the Renters' Rights Act.
The legislation doesn't apply to your tenancies yet though. The legislation will not come into force until 1 May 2026. From that date, the Act will:
- Abolish Section 21;
- Change the notice periods and grounds available for Section 8 notices;
- Change the type of tenancy you can offer;
- Ban rent in advance before the tenancy is signed;
- Only allow rent increases via a Section 13 notice;
- Change advertising practices; and
- Significantly strengthen local authority enforcement powers.
The rest of the of the Renters' Rights Act, including the private rented database and the Decent Homes Standard, will follow at a later date.
The advice and resources on this page is currently accurate but will be outdated on 1 May 2026.
The NRLA is currently preparing a suite of replacement guides and tenancy documents to help you manage the transition smoothly.
For further information on the Renters' Rights Act and its details, please see our dedicated Renters' Rights hub.
Purchase your NRLA Lodgers Agreement today for just £9.50
Gain total peace of mind that your tenancy agreement complies with all relevant legislation. Not only that, but if there any updates to our tenancy agreement following your purchase, you'll have 90 days to access the updated version via your guest membership.
Includes completion instructions.