I rent a room in a house. Is the Landlord allowed to just come in to my room when he feels like and move stuff

The landlord lives in the same house and keeps coming in to tidy up despite being told repeatedly not to. So far he's damaged a Drivers suit from Richard Burns when he drove for Subaru, broken a pair of Oakley sunglasses and damaged 2 original 1980's transformers I had. He says that its my fault as I don't keep my room tidy. There are a few clothes on the floor for wash and thats it. I would have thought that he's not allowed to do this. Would I be in my rights to withhold rent to the value of damaged items? Or do I have no leg to stand on?

As you asked this in the UK section refers to UK.

As your landlord lives int he same premises it is possible your what is considered an excluded tenant, as such you have few rights.

You could make a claim in the small claims court, but would probably find yourself homless too.

You are likely to be an excluded occupier if:

you share accommodation with your landlord or
you live in the same building as your landlord and share accommodation with a member of your landlord's family or
you are living in your accommodation for a holiday or
you do not pay any rent for your accommodation
It can be difficult to work out if you are an excluded occupier. Get advice if you are not sure of your status.

Your tenancy might be for set period such as six months (this is known as a fixed term tenancy). Or it might roll on a week to week or month to month basis (this is known as a periodic tenancy).

The rights of excluded occupiers
If you are an excluded occupier you have very few tenancy rights. It is important to remember how easy it is for your landlord to evict you. Because of that it might be difficult for you to get repairs done or resist rent increases.

As an excluded occupier your only right is to stay until your landlord asks you to go or for as long as your written agreement says. Your landlord can evict you by giving you reasonable notice (which can be verbal) and doesn't need a court order.

Your rent
You pay the rent that you agreed with your landlord. If you don't pay your rent your landlord can evict you. If you pay rent weekly your landlord has to provide a rent book.

You and your landlord agree the rent. The landlord cannot increase the rent during the fixed term unless you agree to the increase. If you are a periodic occupier your landlord can increase the rent at any time. You don't have the right to have the rent level set by a rent officer or rent assessment committee.

Repairs
The law says your landlord has to keep the structure and exterior of the property in good repair. This includes:

the roof
guttering
walls (but this doesn't include internal decoration)
windows and doors
Your landlord must also keep the equipment for the supply of gas, electricity, heating, water and sanitation in good repair. Your landlord may have extra responsibilities to repair depending on what your tenancy agreement says.

You are responsible for looking after the property. This might include unblocking a sink or changing a fuse when necessary. You may also have other responsibilities depending on what your tenancy agreement says.

Your landlord must have a valid gas safety certificate for any gas appliances in the property. Any furniture provided should be fire resistant.

If your accommodation needs repairs inform your landlord or agent. If the repairs are your landlord's responsibility and are not done there may be ways you can force or encourage your landlord to carry out the work.

Passing on your tenancy
You have no rights to sublet or pass on your tenancy other than any that are set out in your agreement. If you attempt to pass your tenancy to someone else under any other circumstances your landlord can evict you and the person you attempt to pass the tenancy on to.

How your tenancy can be ended
Your tenancy will continue until it is ended by you or your landlord. This can happen by:

you and your landlord agreeing to end the tenancy (known as surrender)
you serving a valid notice
your landlord taking action to evict you (see below)
It is possible for a tenancy to be surrendered at any time. Get your landlord's agreement in writing if possible to avoid problems later.

If you have a periodic tenancy you have to give whatever notice is specified in your agreement, or 'reasonable notice', which is usually the same as one rental period (ie one week, if you pay the rent weekly). The notice should end on the first or last day of the period of a tenancy, unless your tenancy agreement says otherwise. For example, if your tenancy is monthly and started on the 5th of the month, you can give the landlord notice which expires (ends) on the 4th or the 5th. Check with an adviser if you have any doubts about the dates. Once the notice ends your tenancy ends and you no longer have any right to live in your home.

If you have a fixed term tenancy you will only be able to give notice during the fixed term if your tenancy agreement says it is allowed. The length of notice you have to give depends on what your tenancy agreement says. It is also possible to leave on the day your tenancy ends without giving any notice.

What the landlord has to do to evict you
Your landlord can evict you once you have been given reasonable notice. The notice can be given verbally. You have to leave once the notice expires. However it is a criminal offence for your landlord to use or threaten violence while evicting you.

First of all, do you have any kind of contract / rental agreement? I have rented a room from a landlord before and know that there is NO standard agreement, such as there would be if you were renting a whole flat or a house. Therefore all of those people who are telling you that he has to give 24 hours notice to enter your room are in fact not necessarily correct - you may have your own contract stating this, but there is definitely no general rule.

Unfortunately, no matter what the landlord does to you, you are NEVER within your rights to withhold rent. You are creating all sorts of legal difficulties for yourself here.

I would sit down and have a chat with him about the following points:
- Regarding entering your room - explain to him that you would prefer notice of him entering and that you would prefer that he doesn't do it while you're not around
- Regarding tidiness of the room - this is your business, quite frankly! He has a right to be concerned if, for example, your room was filthy and had food and so on scattered around which might attract pests. Dirty washing on the floor is no-one's business but yours
- If you don't have a contract in place, suggest that one is drawn up now - it's never too late!
- Ask him for reimbursement for items that he has damaged

If you can't come to an amicable agreement, then you're probably going to want to move out. Right now, your situation appears to me that you don't have a leg to stand on legally.

http://www.londonlettingagency.com/landlorddutieslet.html#disturbingtenant

He has to give 24 hours written notice to enter your room.You are allowed to refuse if he doesn't have a urgent and important reason.Get out of there fast

if you rent a house flat or room it is private tell him that you will change the door lock if he does not stop coming in your room it is very private i would not only stop paying rent i would go to the citizens advice.or find another room to rent and clear off with out paying him

I beleived you have to have notice for the landlrd to enter, however if you live with them you might want to check with the CAB - citizens advice bureau

Check your rental agreement. If you have a standard and unaltered six month shorthold tenancy, there's no way he can just wander in and out of your room for non-urgent business.

The fact that you refer to your accommodation as a 'room' suggests that you might not have this kind of tenancy. Are you in a rent-a-room scheme? Are you a lodger?

Whatever your agreement, read the small print. Witholding rent without professional advice to that effect can be tricky as this can hand all the legal cards to your landlord.

i wouldn't say so unless it's in your tenancy agreement that he can or he has given you prior notice......call citizens advice to see what you can do ...you may be able to sue him for the things he has broken in a small claims court ....or there may be some way you can find out the law and show it to him before things get out of hand,but i certainly wouldn't put up with that your room should be private !

He is supposed to give you 24 hours notice unless he has reason to believe there is something wrong - or it's stipulated in your rental agreement. It sounds like you need to move.

This guy is weird. Men don't go into other men's rooms to "tidy up" and stuff doesn't get broken when people clean. This guy sounds like a fruitcake who is looking through your stuff. Get out and always be fully dressed around the house.

He's perving on you from the sounds of it.

I'm on a 2 week rental Ageement it was all verbal in the beging now things have gone sour what are my rights for renting just a room and I wanna move out,but can't move out right away ,do I gave to still pay all the rent half or what,I think I'm stuck!!!

Enter Your Message or Comment

User Name:
User Email:
Post a comment:

Archive: Forum -Forum -Finance - Links - 1 - 2 - RSS - All RSS Feeds
The Causes and the Results. 0.044
Copyright (c) 2011 Financial Crisis Tuesday, May 29, 2012 - Terms of use - Privacy Policy