Excluded occupiers: what rights do you have?

Not everyone in a rented home holds the same legal protections as a standard tenant. An "excluded occupier" sits outside the normal rules on notice and eviction. Here is who counts as one, and what rights remain.

What is an excluded occupier?

An excluded occupier shares their home with their landlord, and misses the protections of the Housing Act 1988. The common examples:

• A lodger in the landlord's own home, where the landlord lives too and shares the kitchen or bathroom
• Someone in a hostel-type set-up where the space is not theirs alone

A lodger under the same roof as the landlord is likely an excluded occupier.

What is the difference between a tenant and an excluded occupier?

A tenant with an assured tenancy holds the right to stay until a court makes an order. A formal legal process must run first: the correct notice served, the notice run out, a possession order made.

An excluded occupier misses these Housing Act protections. The landlord need only give reasonable notice, usually matching how often you pay: a week's notice paying weekly, a month's paying monthly. No court order is needed to make an excluded occupier leave.

Even so, excluded occupiers still have some rights:

• Reasonable notice must come, though writing is not required
• The Protection from Eviction Act 1977 still bites in places. Unlawful force can evict nobody, excluded occupier or not. The landlord just needs no court order.
• The Equality Act 2010 applies. No landlord can discriminate on protected grounds: race, disability, sex.

Do excluded occupiers have any protection from poor conditions?

Yes. Whatever your status, the right to live somewhere safe for your health holds. The Homes (Fitness for Human Habitation) Act 2018 covers all residential occupiers, not just assured tenants.

So serious damp, mould, broken heating, or other hazards in your room should be put right by the landlord, lodger or not.

What if you are asked to leave without notice?

Told to leave at once, with no notice? Hold these points:

• Ask what notice they are giving, and why
• Reasonable notice is owed. For most lodger set-ups, a month counts as reasonable.
• Told to go with no chance to collect your things? Get advice straight away from Citizens Advice or a housing charity

Force, or threats of it, used to remove you means the police. Evicting by force or threats is a criminal offence.

What if you do not think you are an excluded occupier?

Not everyone living near their landlord is an excluded occupier. Renting a whole flat or house may give you the full protections of an assured tenancy, even where the landlord owns other flats in the building. The key question: do you share living space, a kitchen or bathroom, with the landlord in person? If not, you are likely a tenant with full protections.

When should I contact Support for Tenants?

We help tenants with housing disrepair claims. A home in poor condition, touching your health, lodger or tenant? We may be able to help.

Call us on 0800 030 4669. No upfront cost. You only pay if you win, and the fee comes out of the compensation, not your pocket. If you don't win, you pay nothing.

Sources

• Protection from Eviction Act 1977 (legislation.gov.uk)
• Homes (Fitness for Human Habitation) Act 2018 (legislation.gov.uk)