The tenancy trail

Answer

Where someone shares living accommodation with their landlord (i.e. rooms such as the kitchen, bathroom and living room –  hallways, corridors, stairs and cupboards do not count), they will normally be known as a lodger and have limited rights.

Even if, technically, they have a tenancy, for example, because they have signed a tenancy agreement for their room and their room has a lock on it and the landlord never enters it.

The most important right that the landlord has is to evict them without having to get a court order (provided no violence is used).  This is because this type of letting will be an excluded tenancy or license under section 3A of the Protection from Eviction Act 1977. This was specifically stated to apply to both licensees and tenancies – where living accommodation is shared with the landlord.

You can find out more about this from the (free) Lodger Landlord website.