Can a Tenant Have Someone Else Move In Without Permission?

My Experience With a Tenant Moving Someone In Without Consent

Fair warning, my experience isn’t tragic. In fact, given the circumstances, it has a fairy-tale ending, so it may not provide comfort to landlords going through a worse case scenario ordeal. But I’m still going to share my story to illustrate how I personally handled the matter to mitigate any potential issues.

So, a couple of years ago my tenant asked for my permission to authorise her friend to move in as a permanent occupant (completely platonic). Long story short, my tenant had a spare room, her friend needed a place to stay, and naturally both would benefit from splitting the bills.

I personally didn’t have any concerns about it, and issued my approval after asking a few basic questions in regards to her friend’s identity. It’s important to note:

• This is a long-term tenant (6 years at this point) that has never caused any issues in the past
• I have a great relationship with my tenant
• My tenant is house proud and takes immaculate care of the property
• Two incomes is better than one

Perhaps these are points you may want to take into consideration when making your own assessment of the situation.

Two years later, I’ve had no issues at all. Everything worked out fine.

What to Do If You Are Happy to Allow a New Occupant

I’m going to tell you what I did, based on the fact I didn’t have an issue with my tenant moving someone else in:

• Issued a new tenancy agreement: since the existing agreement was with the original tenant, I provided a new “joint tenancy”, which made both occupants equally responsible. Basically, I just added both their names to a new tenancy agreement. You can access a copy of the tenancy agreements I used from here.
• Notified my building insurance provider: I’ve heard many horror stories of landlord insurance policies becoming void due to “unauthorised” occupancy, and therefore any future claims could be refused.

  I’m really not sure if policies actually become void under these circumstances, but it’s not worth taking the risk, so I notified my insurance provider of the change in circumstances, and then got them to issue me with a written document confirming it.

  If you have Rent Guarantee Insurance (RGI) in place, you may also want to notify your provider of the change in circumstances.

I didn’t do the following, but you may want to depending on your circumstances:

• Reference the prospective new occupant: before agreeing, you may want to thoroughly reference the prospective new tenant, which can include a meet and greet, checking their credit history and getting references from previous landlords. Here’s a full guide on referencing tenants.

What to Do If Your Tenant Moves Someone In Without Asking

This can be tricky.

Not quite the same, but I once had a tenant home an unauthorised pet dog. That was tricky. Anyways, that’s another story for another time. I digress.

So, presumably, one way or another you have been notified that your tenant has moved someone else in, so this creates two primary issues:

• Establishing Occupancy Status: Determining whether the mystery person is a regular visitor or a permanent occupant (which is often difficult to prove).
• Communicating With the Tenant: How to approach your tenant about the matter.

Honestly, you could just do nothing and plead ignorance, especially if your tenant has a good track record. That’s *probably* not a terrible option.

Or, if you run a tight ship and wish to continue doing so, you could bring it up with your tenant, and explain that you don’t mind, but you do want to update the tenancy agreements to protect yourself.

Many landlords also arrange a routine inspection, as it often unearths signs of new life. It’s extremely difficult to hide all traces of an unauthorised occupant.

What to Do If You Are Unhappy With a Tenant Moving Someone In (Your Legal Rights)

Okay, so if for whatever reason you’re less than amused by your tenant moving an unauthorised occupant into the property, and you’re set on putting an end to it (I’m not here to judge, only to provide potential solutions), you do have a few options.

The reality is that your tenant has likely breached the terms of the tenancy. Generally speaking, most professionally drafted tenancy agreements include clauses that prohibit subletting and unauthorised occupants.

For example, the tenancy agreement I use includes the following clause:

8.1 The Tenant shall not assign, sublet, part with, or share possession or occupation of the Property or any part of the Property, other than with the Authorised Occupiers (if any).

You should therefore check your tenancy agreement to determine whether you have similar restrictive clauses. If not, it may be worth reconsidering the template you are using going forward.

On the basis that your tenant is in breach of contract, you can notify them in writing, referencing the relevant clause(s) that have been breached, and request that the unauthorised occupant vacates the property.

Yes, in theory it sounds straightforward, but in practice it may disrupt your relationship with your original tenant. Obviously, I cannot comment on individual outcomes, as every situation is different, and some landlords are comfortable with being unpopular as long as the rules are enforced. Side note: I’m not one of those landlords; I prefer peace and harmony.

If your tenant refuses to comply – or even if they don’t – they may still be in breach of the tenancy agreement. As a result, you may have grounds to issue a Section 8 eviction notice. If successful, this could lead to possession of the property and termination of the tenancy.

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Right, I’m done.

Hope that’s been useful, and best of luck (with whatever your situation is).

If you have any questions, hit up the comments section below…

Landlord out xo