Renting to multiple individuals

cgwils

Have a house up for rent. I was called by an individual saying she would like to rent with a 3 others, who all work in the same place. I am puzzled as how the contract should be written: renting to one of them and recording the names of the other three, having that person responsible for paying the rent and other responsibilities, or getting the contract with all four people? What else do I need to know? What happens if one leaves? Any advice is appreciated.

johnnyskeleton

cgwils wrote: »

Have a house up for rent. I was called by an individual saying she would like to rent with a 3 others, who all work in the same place. I am puzzled as how the contract should be written: renting to one of them and recording the names of the other three, having that person responsible for paying the rent and other responsibilities, or getting the contract with all four people? What else do I need to know? What happens if one leaves? Any advice is appreciated.

Maybe speak to a solicitor for all the ins and outs but either is a valid way to lease it. Whoever is named on the lease has the legal responsibility, but you has landlord have duties to all tenants. As a non legal but practical piece of advice, most landlords prefer a joint lease as it makes things simple and you widen the net.

A lot of tenants probably prefer to be named on the lease as well. Certainly I wouldnt be happy wiqth a situation where i was one of three tenants but only one was on the lease (especially if that one was me).

If one leaves they can assign their portion of the lease to another person. If they dont, they are still liable for the rent. Indeed, all three tenants may be jointly and severally liable to pay the rent.

The_Conductor

Normally a situation such as you've described- would include a clause stating that all tenants (named x,y,z) are jointly and severally responsible for the lease and its obligations- aka if one (or more) tenants decided to up sticks and move- the remaining tenant(s) are still responsible for all the rent.........

You *do not* want a situation where you have a group of people who are imagine they are separate leases with you.

cgwils

That's great and thank you johnnyskeleton and the_Conductor!

Does anybody have a sample contract for this type of rent?

Laura_A

I rent with other people and they way the landlord did it was that I took the lease on the whole apartment so all responsibilities are with me and then I sublet the spare rooms and took deposits etc from them - that way the landlord only has to deal with one person so your not bombarded with calls from 4 different people about potentially the same issue

Cuddlesworth

Laura_A wrote: »

I rent with other people and they way the landlord did it was that I took the lease on the whole apartment so all responsibilities are with me and then I sublet the spare rooms and took deposits etc from them - that way the landlord only has to deal with one person so your not bombarded with calls from 4 different people about potentially the same issue

On the other hand, you can rent out each room individually with common use of the kitchen, bathroom, living room and a clause to keep the whole apartment clean. This means you can replace tenants as you see fit(not letting them just add another person in themselves), you can inspect the property whenever you want as the common areas are not leased to the tenants. It lets you keep track of who is paying what. If you keep the bills in your name, no risk of disconnections and if any tenant turns out to be a huge issue you can move back in and put them into a licensee situation at the end of their lease.

Mrs OBumble

Cuddlesworth wrote: »

On the other hand, you can rent out each room individually with common use of the kitchen, bathroom, living room and a clause to keep the whole apartment clean. This means you can replace tenants as you see fit(not letting them just add another person in themselves), you can inspect the property whenever you want as the common areas are not leased to the tenants. It lets you keep track of who is paying what. If you keep the bills in your name, no risk of disconnections and if any tenant turns out to be a huge issue you can move back in and put them into a licensee situation at the end of their lease.

I'm not 100% sure how this is legal any more.

If a bedsit (in which you have your own bed/lounge/kitchen and shared bathroom) isn't legal, then how can it be legal to have only your own bedroom and have to share everything else?

Lux23

Mrs OBumble wrote: »

I'm not 100% sure how this is legal any more.

If a bedsit (in which you have your own bed/lounge/kitchen and shared bathroom) isn't legal, then how can it be legal to have only your own bedroom and have to share everything else?

Are they not legal again?

Gasherbraun

cgwils wrote: »

Have a house up for rent. I was called by an individual saying she would like to rent with a 3 others, who all work in the same place. I am puzzled as how the contract should be written: renting to one of them and recording the names of the other three, having that person responsible for paying the rent and other responsibilities, or getting the contract with all four people? What else do I need to know? What happens if one leaves? Any advice is appreciated.

Why over complicate matters? you have a property to rent and a group of four people interested in renting it. Put all four on the lease as tenants. They will all them have joint and several liability and you have more surety of who is living in your property.

Obviously whichever way you end up doing this make sure you get references for each individual as well as PPS numbers (to register with PRTB) and photo ID.

You will find a lease on Irishlandlord.com - not sure of current cost but will be a lot less than if you get a solicitor involved.

Mrs OBumble

Mrs OBumble wrote: »

I'm not 100% sure how this is legal any more.

If a bedsit (in which you have your own bed/lounge/kitchen and shared bathroom) isn't legal, then how can it be legal to have only your own bedroom and have to share everything else?

As I've mentioned before its how the houseshares I've been/am in operate and I know other people living in similar arrangements. Now the LL never enters without permission but all the rest is similar, no contract or lease, everyone responsible for their own rent, bills in LLs name, one month notice to move out etc.