House Rent: Fixed or per person?

I have a 3-bed house rented to three males, who are good tenants. One of them has now told me that his girlfriend moved in two months ago, and requested I add her name to the PRTB registration.

The tenant broke the terms of the lease, which excludes anyone living in the property except the named tenants, without the landlord’s permission.

This provision in the lease might be seen to suggest the tenant simply needs my permission, though in this instance he didn’t ask first. I don’t know, but I presume the tenants expect the rent to remain fixed, with each having less to contribute now.

I haven’t responded to the request yet. My initial reaction is to increase the rent, but not sure if the current lease can be ‘adjusted’, or if it should be cancelled and replaced by a new lease, the latter probably requiring a new PRTB registration.

Question
When the rent is advertised for a house, is it normally independent of the number of tenants (subject to the maximum bedroom capacity, 5 in my case), or is it normally based on the number of tenants, such that it can be adjust later if that number increases?

Social welfare is not involved.

You can't increase the rent, nor do I see any reason for you doing so. Just email the PRTB with the girlfriend to be added on as a tenant. If you don't want her to live there you risk having your tenant move out. Not a good idea.

Did you rent the house as a unit (ie - €1000 per month or per person (ie - €400 per person per month). If you rented as a full unit & if the house can accomodate the extra person, there is no real reason not to allow her move in (ok - she's already there!!).

TBH, the market is bad out there and rents have dropped by about 20% (I got €1200 last year, I have to rerent next month and I reckon I'll do well to get €1000).

The other danger is if you change extra for her and then 2 others move out next month, what you do then...drop the rent in half?

It is not worth the risk of them moving. It will cost you nothing to add her onto the PRTB form. Thanks your lucky stars it is rented to (as you say) good tenants.

It would be worth pointing out that you should have been notified prior to her moving in and request they talk to you before these things happen in future.

While I know an extra person creates a certain amount of wear and tear, but you say the house can accomodate up to 5, so this should already have been factored into the rent. I had one family with 5 kids wanted to rent a 3 bed with one bathroom - the house can cater for 5 but they wanted 7 to live there ("we'll throw some matresses on the ground!!"). I passed : 5 kids can do ALOT of damage....I have kids, I know!!

Thanks Bronte and Sam.

I have no problem with a 4th person living there (or a 5th), but I want to be fair to myself also, if additional tenants warrant additional rent.

However, as the house is rented as a unit, you say additional rent is not warranted.

Yes, I’m conscious of the risk of losing good tenants, which is why I first wanted to ask what the norm is.

I understand the difficult market today, and I also expect the tenants to seek a rent reduction when the lease ends next June!

As you say, I can at least point their ‘error’ in not observing the lease terms.

In general then, and for future reference, do you think the asking rent should be determined by house capacity, and not by the total number of tenants?

do you think the asking rent should be determined by house capacity, and not by the total number of tenants?

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As I said above - would you drop the rent if one of them moved out??

When you were renting it to start off with - did you have different levels of rent depending on how many took the property (probably not) ?

I can see where you are coming from, but the current market is not the time to push tenants - they may have a lease until June, but the real reality is that it is generally not worthwhile chasing tenants who move out early !! PRTB, generally speaking, seem to be a bit of a waste. I had 4 did a runner last year : no forwarding address, none of them working in the same job as when they moved in, none of them Irish residents.....who am I going to chase??
Personally, I rent as a complete unit and try not to get involved if one person moves out. I have actively encouraged tenants to get an extra person if they were struggling to pay the rent - I wouldn't be looking for extra rent, just want to make sure I get the full rent each month.

As I said above - would you drop the rent if one of them moved out??

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Sam, I missed the significance of that point. And, no, I would probably require them to find another tenant for me.

I was interested in reading about your bad experience, I guess I've been fortunate so far.

Generally a house is either rented as a unit (per house so to speak) to a family or gang of friends. And then that unit of people manage the utility bills etc.
Or the house is let per room - each let seperately to strangers, and in that case the landlord manages the utility bills.

If it was rented to a gang of friends then I would suggest that it'd be unfair to increase the rent. I am a renter myself.
If they have an extra person staying there then let them come to some arrangement to divide the rent up between them. They should have asked you first of course.
Obviously if you rent a house to 3 people and suddenly find there are 15 people living there, then there is a problem. These things have be based on what's reasonable and fair and what number of people is the house designed to accommodate comfortably.
Like if a family is renting and then have a new baby - you would hardly put the rent up due to increase in headcount!

Thanks sadie,

Your explanation is also very clear and persuasive.

I have my answer now, thanks to all.

James