Check your tenancy agreement

Names on the agreement

Your agreement should have:

your name and address
your landlord's name and address
the names of all other tenants if you have a joint tenancy
who to contact about repairs or other issues

If your landlord uses an agent, their name and contact details should be on the agreement.

If you rent a room in a shared house, you should have your own agreement.

Other people who live with you

Your tenancy agreement might list 'other occupiers'. These are people who the landlord has said can live with you in the property. For example, your partner or children.

You can usually let other people live with you while you are the tenant as long as your home is not overcrowded.

You should ask your landlord before anyone moves in if your agreement says you have to. Sometimes a landlord's insurance company or mortgage lender asks for this to be in the tenancy agreement.

Visitors and overnight guests

Most assured shorthold tenants can have overnight visitors. If your agreement says that you cannot have guests, that could be what is called an unfair term.

The rules on overnight guests might be stricter for other types of tenancy. For example, if you live with your landlord or in supported housing.

Talk to your landlord if they say you cannot have visitors. They could tell you why and you could ask them to change their mind.

Subletting and 'sharing possession'

Your tenancy agreement might say you cannot 'share possession' of the property.

Sharing possession means doing something like renting a room out to someone else. This is different from just letting someone move in with you.

You cannot sublet any part of your home without the landlord's permission.

Example: letting your partner move in

Dan rents a 1 bedroom flat. His partner is moving to the area and they want to live together.

Dan can ask his partner to move in as the property will not be overcrowded.

He does not have to ask his landlord. But many tenants do let their landlords know if a partner moves in.

There is a term in the agreement that says he cannot 'share possession' of the property. But Dan is not subletting to his partner so this should not be a problem.