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Question Title: Resident Landlord
| Question: 255 |
| My clients want to let part of their home which had previously been occupied by an elderly relative. It has separately metered services but there are interconnecting doors on both the ground and first floors. Can this be a resident landlord letting.
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| Answer: |
| The question is whether the landlord and tenant's respective dwellings are part of 'the same building' for the purposes of Sch. 1 Housing Act 1988. Different rules will apply to the letting if you let part of the house or flat you live in. Whilst this is a question of fact and each instance will be unique, the general rule is that if you grant a tenancy but are a "resident landlord", then the tenancy will be held to be a licence and not an assured shorthold tenancy. You do not need to share any accommodation with the occupier to be held to be a resident landlord. It is normally enough that you live in the same building (the main exception where an AST letting is still allowed is when the landlord lives in the same building, does not share accommodation, and the building is a purpose-built block of flats). Caselaw gives some guidance and instances where there are interconnecting doors between the dwellings have been considered to part of one building. Yet an annex built in the garden, beside and unconnected to the main house could be let out under an AST as the landlord does not live in the same building. The court will consider the facts in relation to the intention of the section which is to allow the landlord to remove a tenant who lives in close proximity. In this particular case there would appear to be a resident landlord. For further information and some examples of the caselaw see LUJ April 2000 page 19.
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References:
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Pages:
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Hyperlinks:
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Letting Update Journal |
Apr 2000 page 19 |
letting-update-journal.html
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Letting Handbook |
Chapter 6 |
letting-handbook-and-factsheets.html
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For more information, discuss on the Forum
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