Jump to content

Recommended Posts

Hi all,


My lodger has been staying with his girlfriend in North London since before lockdown. However he has just messaged me to say that he would like to come back and stay chez moi at some point this week. His belongings are here, and I haven't charged any rent in this period.


Anyway, I am not sure from the regulations if he is even allowed to do this. Can anyone advise, or point me in the direction of someone who can advise?


all the best

Since you cannot make him homeless during covid (https://www.gov.uk/government/news/complete-ban-on-evictions-and-additional-protection-for-renters) I think his position with you does not fall into the ban on 'overnight stays'. The fact that you have not charged him rent (good on you) does not obviate his contract with you.


I think you could require him not to use any 'common parts' (other than the entrance) he has with you for a period - perhaps 7 days - when he has come back to protect you from infection (I am assuming that you are not an at risk or shielded person).


This may be one for citizen's advice, but clearly his is an unusual circumstance for which general 'rules' cannot apply.

Those are reasonable points, and we are supposed to be fighting the virus with "solid British common sense". But I think your first expectation should be for him to stay where he has been, unless there's a good reason otherwise. How practical is it to avoid sharing common parts? Maybe NHS 111 or whatever it is?

ok then no one broke any regulations then - but it's his main home so it would not come under the "overnight ban"


Also, you can if you wanted to, and hopefully not, evict him as lodgers do not fall under the protection granted by government regulations in halting evictions for 3 months due to the pandemic.


if you were to evict him you would just have to abide by the contract you have with him - written notice. As he is an excluded occupier you wont need to go to court.


short answer is that there is no regulation preventing him from coming back and it should be between you two to find an agreement on what is most sensible.


hope that helps

Hi Wee Quinnie,


You don't say whether he is planning to come back to stay permanently or whether he just wants to stay a night or two and if so, why.


As far as the rules are concerned:

If permanently I think it is fine. He's essentially returning home rather than staying away. Moving house is also allowed http://www.legislation.gov.uk/uksi/2020/350/regulation/6/made (6L) and students are allowed to return to the family home for the duration of lockdown.


If just for a night or two it's different and really depends why he wants / needs to do this. I think there would need to be a very good reason.


How you feel about it is a different matter & I guess that depends on your own risk factors.


I think it would be fair enough to ask him to take extra precautions for a period of time before returning (median incubation period is 5 days but it can be up to 14).


Once he is back you might want to keep 2 metres apart for another period &/or ask him to do some extra cleaning. More info here https://www.germdefence.org/index.html


But that is very much down to your personal feeling.

i do not think you have understood the spirit or intent. that is for people staying over away from the main home.

even though he has been away from his home for a period - agreed by LL - his main home is still that. returning to your home is not part of the overnight regulation. might be wrong - but it would go against housing laws and regulations.


if he comes and goes, again when he goes away from his home then he is in theory breaking regulations, not when he comes back. but again how this is enforced, who knows...


it's about the relationship between you and the lodger, legally the only thing you can do is evict him by giving him valid notice, but hope it does not come down to that.


Hope you find an agreement anyway

I think much will depend on your own personal feelings and aversion to risk. If you think the risk of him having it is low, welcome him back - if you're worried, tell him no or tell him if he does he needs to self isolate.


He hasn't been part of your household during lockdown and given people are being discouraged from being in anyone's house (the advice on BBQs is to stay outside and only use the toilet and then return outside immediately) you would be perfectly right to say you don't feel comfortable with it.


It's the same approach to second homes where people are being encouraged to stay put and not travel back and forward to a second home.


It is a difficult one as it is his main home but what was the reason he stayed in North London - everyone knew we were heading into lock down so it couldn't have come as much of a surprise - let's be honest it wouldn't have been difficult to get back? It wasn't like he was stuck on the other side of the world.


Is there any background as to why he wants to come back now - did he fall out with his girlfriend or will he be going back and forward to hers over the coming days and weeks? ;-)

Rockets - am waiting for him to ring me for a chat - all will be revealed.

I have mixed feelings - I am very nervous about the whole virus thing, and am unsure to what extent he will be willing to meet my requests, but I will put all of this to him in advance. He is a lovely guy, but is one of these people who wanders around in a bit of a dreamworld, so I am anxious about him forgetting to wash his hands, also there is no way to be sure to what extent he will be social distancing outside my house...

If i had to guess, i reckon he thinks he will be able to stay over at the gfs a coupla times a week. I am guessing on all of this though. God, I hate being the one who has to crack down!!


BTW- thanks everyone who has contributed to the thread.

There are so many imponderables here and many questions related to potential risk e.g.


Would he be going out to work every day with the potential to become infected? This could be an issue if he is a bit dreamy and forgets to observe guidance.


If not going out to work, is he likely to self isolate in his room for 7 -10 days?


Difficult to gauge but is he likely to go back to his lady friend?


Just a thought but she may have CV19and he is escaping before he gets it too.

Just to update you all, Mr WQ spoke to the lodger. He didnt ask about the gf situation, but explained that ws are still strictly observing lockdown, not going out, no visitors, etc etc,and in coming back he would have to observe same, in order to minimise risk for all of us. Lodger then said, "So effectively i would be in strict lockdown with u? *Pause* I will get back to u in a coupla weeks...but i will look for other accomodation... "


Reading between the lines, i think our views on lockdown adherence do not coincide.Fair enough, when i was his age i wouldnt have wanted this situation either"

At least you know where you stand now, and have so far maintained safety/know that you'll be able to continue to do so.

Perhaps not surprising that he expected to be able to come / go whenever. People do seem to park the need for maintaining measures when it doesn't align with their social or other preferences !

Create an account or sign in to comment

You need to be a member in order to leave a comment

Create an account

Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!

Register a new account

Sign in

Already have an account? Sign in here.

Sign In Now
  • Latest Discussions

    • Walking last Friday early evening anywhere near where the bottom end of Lordship Lane meets the Goose Green roundabout, one would have been directly confronted - as I was - with this scene: Outside the East Dulwich Tavern an impenetrable phalanx of pushing yobs, shouty louts and selfish yahoos pressed outward from the open doors of this establishment, past the curtilage (the land in front of and owned by the business), all across the public right of way, to the kerbside. This was the situation all the way along, end to end. I watched as passersby, old people, children, parents with buggies, people just going about their business, were forced by these booze-sucking bellowing scumbags onto the road - where, at that hour, traffic rushed endlessly off the roundabout. We have, I realised, somehow become so used to this revolting spectacles as to believe it to be inevitable. It is not. This is why I'm dropping this post. Enough really is enough. This roiling boozy blockade represents a total failure by all the responsible authorities - the licencing authority, for example - but most of all (yet once more, again, as ever), by Southwark Council. Two very different comparisons to give you some perspective: 1. The Kings Head pub on the corner of Albermarle and Stafford Streets, London SW1. Here too, patrons like to drink and chat outside on a warm evening - why should they not. But here, on the latter side a line marks the curtilage on the pavement. Drinkers remain, respectfully, in good order, within the line, watched, quietly and carefully, by a security guard. I wager good money this arrangement is a condition of this pub's licence. 2. The Blue Brick is a cafe in the quiet backstreets of East Dulwich, on the corners of Fellbrigg and Shawbury Roads. Until a few months ago, about half its covers were tables out on the pavement. They bothered nobody. Oh! But they extended all of several centimetres too far into the footpath, so into fearless action swang Southwark Council officers - and now these tables are gone. Result, eh? "Well you see," some wiseacre said to me, "There needs to be a complaint." Not actually true, but for sure this is all too often how local authorities get pushed to do what they should be doing. Hard to think why a complaint trumps, say (and god forbid!) a child being injured on the road. In which circumstance, of course!, Southwark would swing into noisy, virtue-signalling, belated action. But in any case let this post be considered a big, very definite COMPLAINT about this prolonged abuse of our public right of way. I invite readers who agree with me to add their voices. Oh, and all those wee local ward councillors might get off their chufties, defy their party managers, and actually help sort this scandal out. Thanks for reading, Lee Scoresby
    • Hi there, I saw that Google lists the park opening time as 7:30am, but I was wondering if it might actually open earlier than that - maybe anyone who’s out running early or passing by has noticed?  
    • We are thrilled to announce that Little Stars Creche in Dulwich will be opening its doors on 28th April and we would love to invite you and your little ones to an open day where you can meet our team and visit our wonderful setting.  Little Stars is a fun creative space for children aged 2 to 4 years to enjoy whilst parents and carers get some well needed time to catch up on life! We are so excited to bring this much-needed service to the community, and we want to thank all the wonderful parents and carers for participating in our recent survey. Your feedback was invaluable in shaping Little Stars and ensuring it meets the needs of local families. For full information about Little Stars and a detailed schedule please visit our webpage here: Little Stars Crèche We can’t wait to meet you and your little stars soon!
    • Avoid any 2nd hand vehicle with the Ford petrol 1.0 Ecoboost engine and the Petrol 1.2 PureTech engine that can be found in Peugeot, Citroen, Vauxhall.... (you need to mention price for advice)
Home
Events
Sign In

Sign In



Or sign in with one of these services

Search
×
    Search In
×
×
  • Create New...