Lodger
A lodger is someone who rents a room in your own home and shares living space with you for example kitchen, bathroom or living room. In most cases a lodger is a licensee or an excluded occupier, not an assured tenant or assured shorthold tenant, because you also live in the property as your main home.
From a landlord’s perspective this has important consequences:
You usually do not fall within the full private rented sector regime for that lodger arrangement. For example, most possession rules under the Housing Act and the Renters’ Rights Act will not apply in the same way.
You can normally end the arrangement by giving reasonable notice, as set out in the licence or lodger agreement, without going to court for a possession order, but you must never use or threaten violence to evict.
Many “PRS” requirements (for example like deposit protection or prescribed forms of notice) do not apply, but general duties on safety, discrimination, harassment and privacy still do.
Where you let self-contained accommodation and do not share living space, the occupier will usually be a tenant instead, with full private renting rights. As the Renters’ Rights Act tightens regulation of standard tenancies, the contrast between a lodger in your home and a separate let becomes sharper, so it is essential to document clearly what is being rented and who lives where.
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