Lodger agreements: licence or tenancy, and is one legally binding?

In the UK, a lodger agreement is not treated the same way in England, Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland. The safest reading is jurisdiction by jurisdiction: England uses licence-versus-tenancy principles, Wales filters the arrangement through occupation-contract exceptions, Scotland treats a live-in lodger as a common law tenant, and Northern Ireland has an unresolved tension between consumer guidance and the statutory definition of a private tenancy.

Is a lodger agreement a licence or a tenancy?

A lodger agreement is usually a licence in England when the landlord lives in the same home and keeps genuine unrestricted access for services, but Scotland treats a live-in lodger as a common law tenant from day one, Wales uses a shared-accommodation exception, and Northern Ireland is not fully settled because nidirect says lodgers are not tenants while the 2006 Order’s tenancy definition contains no clear resident-landlord exception. In England and Wales, the label on a lodger agreement versus tenancy agreement is not decisive: Street v Mountford says, “If the agreement satisfied all the requirements of a tenancy, then the agreement produced a tenancy and the parties cannot alter the effect of the agreement by insisting that they only created a licence.” A licence agreement in housing is therefore permission to occupy, not a property right with exclusive possession. GOV.UK puts the practical England point simply: “You may have a tenancy agreement or a licence agreement.” In Wales, a person lives as a lodger if their tenancy or licence falls within the shared-accommodation exception.

Is a lodger agreement legally binding?

A lodger agreement is legally binding in England and Scotland even if it is oral, provided the agreed terms are not overridden by housing law; Northern Ireland should be checked separately because the available authorities do not give the same clear lodger-specific writing rule. GOV.UK’s resident-landlord guide says, “Even if there is nothing in writing, both parties must still do whatever they agreed to, except where this conflicts with their overriding legal rights and responsibilities.” That is why a verbal promise about rent, bills, notice, house rules or deposit deductions can still matter, even though a written agreement is much easier to prove. For England and Wales, the Law of Property Act 1925 also preserves short oral leases: “Nothing in the foregoing provisions of this Part of this Act shall affect the creation by parol of leases taking effect in possession for a term not exceeding three years.” Scotland reaches the same broad contract result by a different route: “writing shall not be required for the constitution of a contract, unilateral obligation or trust.”

What does a lodger agreement have to say, and where do you get a template?

A lodger agreement does not have to follow a statutory template in England, but it should state the room, rent, bills, deposit, notice, access, guests, cleaning, house rules and whether the arrangement is meant to be a licence or tenancy. GOV.UK says, “You can draw up your own agreement, but it is recommended to seek legal advice to ensure that it does not conflict with the duties imposed on landlords and occupiers by legislation, which will automatically override any contradictory terms agreed.” That is the key warning for any free lodger agreement, spare room lodger agreement, live-in landlord tenancy agreement template or resident landlord agreement template: the heading cannot override the facts. GOV.UK does not publish an official lodger agreement template; it says, “Legal stationery companies produce tenancy/licence agreements which have been drawn up using standard clauses.” In England, NRLA sells a lodgers agreement for £9.50, Rocket Lawyer offers a free lodger agreement through a 7-day membership, and Shelter Scotland hosts a sample lodger agreement for Scotland.

Does a lodger with no written agreement have any rights?

A lodger with no written agreement still has rights, including the right not to be unlawfully excluded and the right to whatever notice the law or the verbal deal requires. Citizens Advice says of England, “Your landlord might have given you a written agreement when you moved in, but they don’t have to,” and separately notes, “You might have a written ‘lodging agreement’ - or you might have agreed it verbally with your landlord.” In Scotland, Shelter’s resident-landlord guidance is equally direct: “You still have rights even if you do not have a written agreement.” In England and Wales, unlawful lock-out remains a criminal risk because the Protection from Eviction Act 1977 says a person who unlawfully deprives a residential occupier of premises “shall be guilty of an offence” unless the statutory defence applies. For an excluded licence, no statute fixes a precise reasonable-notice period; GOV.UK’s practical guide says weekly rent usually means one week’s notice, but that is guidance rather than a fixed statutory formula.

Is it still a lodger agreement if the landlord does not live there?

It is not a normal lodger agreement in England if the landlord does not live in the same home, because GOV.UK says, “You are a lodger if you rent a room in your landlord’s home and your landlord lives there too.” For England and Wales, excluded-occupier status depends on the landlord occupying the premises as their only or principal home both just before the grant and when the arrangement ends; the Protection from Eviction Act wording requires that “the landlord or licensor occupied as his only or principal home” the premises of which the shared accommodation formed part. GOV.UK warns that if the landlord stops living there, “their tenancy type may change to reflect that you no longer live there.” Wales has an express shared-accommodation limit: the exception applies only while the landlord continues to occupy the dwelling as their only or principal home. In Scotland, Shelter says the occupier’s arrangement becomes a private residential tenancy, giving stronger rights, if the resident landlord moves out.

What happens if you gave a lodger a tenancy agreement by mistake?

Giving a lodger a full tenancy agreement by mistake does not make them an assured tenant in England if the landlord genuinely still lives there, because the resident-landlord exclusion is in Housing Act 1988 Schedule 1 paragraph 10, not Schedule 3 as Shelter England’s page has stated. The sharper risk is different: if the arrangement gives exclusive possession of residential accommodation for a term at a rent, with no attendance or services requiring unrestricted access, Street v Mountford says it is a tenancy regardless of the paper label. The House of Lords put it this way: “If on the other hand residential accommodation is granted for a term at a rent with exclusive possession, the landlord providing neither attendance nor services, the grant is a tenancy.” In Wales, the paperwork can matter in a different way because the Renting Homes legislation says a person is not a lodger if given notice that the tenancy or licence is an occupation contract. In Northern Ireland, Housing Rights says status depends on the practical arrangements, not only the contract.

Is a room-only agreement in a shared house a lodger agreement or a tenancy?

A room-only agreement in a shared house is a lodger agreement only if the landlord lives there too and the occupier lacks exclusive possession because the landlord provides services requiring unrestricted access; otherwise, in England and Wales, a tenancy agreement for a room in a shared house can still be a tenancy. Street v Mountford gives the core test: “The occupier is a lodger if the landlord provides attendance or services which require the landlord or his servants to exercise unrestricted access to and use of the premises.” The later House of Lords wording is even plainer: where accommodation is granted for a term at a rent with exclusive possession, the grant is a tenancy “notwithstanding the fact that the agreement professes an intention by both parties to create a mere licence.” GOV.UK’s England definition adds the resident-landlord condition: “You are a lodger if you rent a room in your landlord’s home and your landlord lives there too.” Scotland is different because Shelter Scotland says, “Your lodger will have a common law tenancy.”

Can a licence to occupy be assigned or transferred?

A licence to occupy is normally personal and is not assigned or transferred as a property right; if a new occupier is substituted, the usual route is a new agreement or novation. The Law Commission states the common position clearly: “Licences will not normally be transferred to new licensees, except by novation of contractual licences where the original contract is terminated and a new one entered into by the new parties.” That is why a lodger licence does not usually let the lodger hand the room to someone else, and why a landlord assigning a licence to occupy is different from assigning a tenancy. GOV.UK’s resident-landlord guide gives the sale-of-property consequence: “This does not apply to licences, which will generally continue only if an appropriate agreement is entered by the new owner.” A licence may create enforceable contractual promises between the original parties, but it does not normally create the kind of estate in land that automatically binds successors in the same way as a tenancy.

Can you withhold part of a lodger's deposit?

In England, even a lodger’s licence deposit is capped by the Tenant Fees Act 2019 at five weeks’ rent where the annual rent is under £50,000, but a true lodger deposit does not have to be protected in a tenancy-deposit scheme and can be partly withheld for proper deductions such as unpaid rent or damage. The surprise is the cap: the Act’s definition of tenancy includes “a licence to occupy housing,” and Schedule 1 caps a permitted tenancy deposit at “the amount of five weeks' rent, where the annual rent in respect of the tenancy immediately after its grant, renewal or continuance is less than £50,000.” Deposit protection is different: the Housing Act 2004 duty applies to “Any tenancy deposit paid to a person in connection with a shorthold tenancy,” so a genuine lodger licence is outside that scheme. GOV.UK says the landlord “should return either the full deposit or the balance after any deductions at the end of your agreement.” Making the room hard to view is deductible only if the agreement allowed access and the landlord can show a real loss.

Last reviewed September 2026.

Sources

• Street v Mountford [1985] UKHL 4 — “The occupier is a lodger if the landlord provides attendance or services which require the landlord or his servants to exercise unrestricted access to and use of the premises.” Source
• Street v Mountford [1985] UKHL 4 — “If the agreement satisfied all the requirements of a tenancy, then the agreement produced a tenancy and the parties cannot alter the effect of the agreement by insisting that they only created a licence.” Source
• GOV.UK, Renting a room in someone’s home — “You may have a tenancy agreement or a licence agreement.” Source
• Protection from Eviction Act 1977 s.3A — “Any reference in this Act to an excluded tenancy or an excluded licence is a reference to a tenancy or licence which is excluded by virtue of any of the following provisions of this section.” Source
• Shelter Scotland, Taking in a lodger — “Your lodger will have a common law tenancy.” Source
• Private Housing (Tenancies) (Scotland) Act 2016 Sch.1 — “A tenancy cannot be a private residential tenancy if paragraph 8 or 9 applies to it.” Source
• Renting Homes (Wales) Act 2016 s.244 — “A person lives in a dwelling as a lodger if the tenancy or licence under which he or she occupies the dwelling falls within paragraph 6 of Schedule 2 (accommodation shared with landlord).” Source
• nidirect, Letting rooms in your home — “If you let part of your home and also live there, the people sharing your accommodation are lodgers, not tenants.” Source
• Private Tenancies (Northern Ireland) Order 2006 art.3 — “(a)means any tenancy of a dwelling-house except—” Source
• GOV.UK, Letting rooms in your home: a guide for resident landlords — “Even if there is nothing in writing, both parties must still do whatever they agreed to, except where this conflicts with their overriding legal rights and responsibilities (see below).” Source
• Law of Property Act 1925 s.54 — “Nothing in the foregoing provisions of this Part of this Act shall affect the creation by parol of leases taking effect in possession for a term not exceeding three years (whether or not the lessee is given power to extend the term) at the best rent which can be reasonably obtained without taking a fine.” Source
• Requirements of Writing (Scotland) Act 1995 s.1 — “Subject to subsection (2) below and any other enactment, writing shall not be required for the constitution of a contract, unilateral obligation or trust.” Source
• GOV.UK, Letting rooms in your home: a guide for resident landlords — “You can draw up your own agreement, but it is recommended to seek legal advice to ensure that it does not conflict with the duties imposed on landlords and occupiers by legislation, which will automatically override any contradictory terms agreed.” Source
• GOV.UK, Letting rooms in your home: a guide for resident landlords — “Legal stationery companies produce tenancy/licence agreements which have been drawn up using standard clauses.” Source
• NRLA, Excluded agreement for lodgers — “Purchase your NRLA Lodgers Agreement today for just £9.50” Source
• Rocket Lawyer, Lodger Agreement — “Start your Lodger Agreement now and get Rocket Lawyer FREE for 7 days” Source
• Shelter Scotland, Taking in a lodger — “Download a sample lodger agreement (pdf, 134 kb).” Source
• Citizens Advice, What rights do lodgers have? — “Your landlord might have given you a written agreement when you moved in, but they don’t have to.” Source
• Citizens Advice, If you’re being evicted as a lodger — “You might have a written ‘lodging agreement’ - or you might have agreed it verbally with your landlord.” Source
• Shelter Scotland, Resident landlord — “You still have rights even if you do not have a written agreement.” Source
• Protection from Eviction Act 1977 s.1 — “If any person unlawfully deprives the residential occupier of any premises of his occupation of the premises or any part thereof, or attempts to do so, he shall be guilty of an offence unless he proves that he believed, and had reasonable cause to believe that the residential occupier had ceased to reside in the premises.” Source
• GOV.UK, Ending a letting — “Usually this means the length of the rental payment period – so if your lodger pays rent weekly, you need to give one week’s notice.” Source
• GOV.UK, Renting a room in someone’s home — “You are a lodger if you rent a room in your landlord’s home and your landlord lives there too.” Source
• Protection from Eviction Act 1977 s.3A — “(b)immediately before the tenancy or licence was granted and also at the time it comes to an end, the landlord or licensor occupied as his only or principal home premises of which the whole or part of the shared accommodation formed part.” Source
• GOV.UK, Ending a letting — “If you stop living in your home, the tenants can still stay there, but their tenancy type may change to reflect that you no longer live there.” Source
• Renting Homes (Wales) Act 2016 Sch.2 para.6 — “But the exception applies under sub-paragraph (1) only while the person who is from time to time the landlord in relation to the tenancy or licence continues to occupy such a dwelling as that person's only or principal home.” Source
• Shelter Scotland, Resident landlord — “Your tenancy becomes a private residential tenancy, which gives you stronger rights.” Source
• House of Lords, Bruton v London & Quadrant Housing Trust [1999] UKHL 26 — “In Street v. Mountford [1985] AC 809 this House decided that where residential accommodation is granted for a term, at a rent with exclusive possession, the Landlord providing neither attention nor services, the grant is a tenancy notwithstanding the fact that the agreement professes an intention by both parties to create a mere licence.” Source
• Renting Homes (Wales) Act 2016 s.244 — “But a person does not live in a dwelling as a lodger if he or she is given notice under paragraph 3 of Schedule 2 that his or her tenancy or licence is an occupation contract.” Source
• Housing Rights, Tenancy rights — “It depends on the practical arrangements in place, not only what is in the contract.” Source
• Citizens Advice, Check your rights if you share accommodation — “The main difference between a sub-tenant and a lodger is that sub-tenants have exclusive possession of at least one room in the property.” Source
• Renting Homes (Wales) Act 2016 Sch.2 — “A tenancy or licence within section 7, but to which sub-paragraph (2) applies, is not an occupation contract unless the notice condition is met.” Source
• Law Commission, Land Registration for the Twenty-First Century — “Licences will not normally be transferred to new licensees, except by novation of contractual licences where the original contract is terminated and a new one entered into by the new parties.” Source
• GOV.UK, Letting rooms in your home: a guide for resident landlords — “This does not apply to licences, which will generally continue only if an appropriate agreement is entered by the new owner.” Source
• Housing Act 2004 s.213 — “Any tenancy deposit paid to a person in connection with a shorthold tenancy must, as from the time when it is received, be dealt with in accordance with an authorised scheme.” Source
• GOV.UK, Lodger deposits and rent — “They should return either the full deposit or the balance after any deductions at the end of your agreement.” Source
• Shelter England, Return of a lodger’s deposit — “They decide if your landlord should return all or part of your deposit.” Source
• Tenant Fees Act 2019 s.28 — “(c)a licence to occupy housing;” Source
• Tenant Fees Act 2019 Sch.1 para.2 — “(a)the amount of five weeks' rent, where the annual rent in respect of the tenancy immediately after its grant, renewal or continuance is less than £50,000, or” Source