Letting room by room

The group renting our house have come to the end of their tenancy and are moving out. However, one of them wishes to stay on but he knows no one else looking for a place. He asked would we consider renting the house room by room thereby facilitating him in staying on. I was wondering what people's view of this is and the disadvantages/advantages. How would we draw up the lease document when the people could be moving in and possibly out at different times and may not know each other? How do we manage deposits and charging for damage to the house and contents? Would each change in the people staying need a new lease agreement to be drawn up and would the tenancy need to be re-registered with the PRTB?

does it not seem a lot more work you are taking on to make 1 tenant happy

perhaps offer him a lower rate of he can fill the house himself and sign the lease himself

get him working for you instead of the other way round

Hi Gar123

Yes, our fear is that it may be more work and hassle than it's worth. On the other hand the rent achieved by renting the house room by room would be a good bit higher (10%+) than renting out the house as a unit.

From experience, it can be an absolute nightmare for the landlord.

Instead of one single tenancy you now have 3 or 4, and if someone stays for 6 months, they have automatic rights to stay there for 4 years.
You'll have people coming and going from the house every 3 to 4 months, and will have to ensure that the accomodation is in rentable condition for each new tenant.

If one tenant starts causing hassle for the others in the house, but it falls short of anti-social behaviour, you are stuck with them for 4 years.
A tenant of ours went through 3 "sets" of other tenants - The tenant being older felt entitled to be "in charge" of the house and was obnoxious/ caused problems for other tenants so that they left in tears.
Also how would you deal with questions from prospective tenants asking what the existing tenants are like - do you lie or do you say "they have 'strong personalities'" etc.

Also some tenants will say "I'm not paying for the electricity for those two weeks in June - I was on holiday", "I don't use the tumble dryer - she should pay more" and "He uses more electricity than me" etc.

Furthermore, once you split the tenancy, it is very difficult to undo it - unless you sell/ do extensive renovations / need it for a family member.

DO NOT DO IT.

At best, allow the sitting tenant the opportunity to sub-let - let him/her have the trouble of looking for new tenants and you are protected.
BE VERY CLEAR TO THE NEW TENANT THAT (S)HE IS SUB-LETTING AND NOT LETTING.

Hi Superman

Yes, definitely the issues you raise are of concern to us and worth considering. However, what if there was one lease (say for 12 months). If a person moves out during this period then s(he) would be responsible for paying the rent until someone else is found. Someone I spoke to has been using this approach and appears quiet happy with it. Ultimately, the people in the house are responsible for picking who lives there and splitting their bills etc. However, would a new lease need to be drawn up if there is a change in personnel? Would the tenancy need to be re-registered with PRTB after each such change? Does this approach solve any of the problems Superman raised?

That is not really a "rent a room" scenario in that case as you have only one lease - so it does solve the scenario outlined above.


Regarding registration, this is taken from the PRTB FAQ:

What do I do if my tenant leaves my rented property?

If your tenant(s) leaves the rented property then it is deemed to be the end of the tenancy. You will need to register with the PRTB the new tenancy within one month of the new tenants moving in. The tenancy registration form is downloadable from this website.

If at least one of the tenants remain in the rented property and the other tenants are replaced by new tenants, then this would be considered an update of the tenancy details. If there is a change of rent you are required to notify the PRTB and when doing so, you are required to advise of any other change of the tenancy details that have arisen in the interim - no fee is payable when providing an update of tenancy details. The tenancy registration form, which is downloadable from this website, can be used for this purpose also.

Hi Superman,

I guess the approach would be based on renting the house room by room but would attempt to normalise the relationship between us and the tenants through a single lease. Many thanks for the info from the PRTB. Anyone else views or experiences based on this suggested approach?

The only thing i can think other than the tonnes of extra hassle is that you have to register every tenancy with the PRTB €70 euro a tenancy. so that increases your costs and people renting a room as someone mentioned generally stay a much shorter time than someone renting a house.

Hi Money Man

I believe Superman already addressed this issue and found that a new tenancy is not required ...

'If at least one of the tenants remain in the rented property and the other tenants are replaced by new tenants, then this would be considered an update of the tenancy details'.

I think it is much more hastle than it is worth.
I have been there and wouldn't be interested in going back to it.
It can be grand while it is going well, then you get new people . personalities clashing etc, just not worth the hastle.