Selling a House with a Lodger

Taking in a lodger is one of the most practical ways to supplement your income while you own your home. But when the time comes to sell, the presence of a resident lodger raises questions that sellers sometimes overlook until the conveyancing process throws them into sharp relief: What are you legally required to disclose? How much notice must you give? Can you conduct viewings? And what happens if the lodger does not want to leave?

This guide answers all of those questions. It also covers how a lodger differs legally from a tenant, what the Rent a Room Scheme means for your sale, and the practical steps you should take to ensure a smooth transition. For a broader look at selling a property where someone else lives there under a formal tenancy agreement, see our guides on selling a tenanted property and selling with sitting tenants.

Lodger vs tenant: the legal distinction that matters

The single most important legal concept when selling with a lodger is the distinction between an excluded occupier (what a lodger is) and an assured shorthold tenant (what a tenant under a modern letting agreement is).

A lodger is someone who lives in a room in your home while you also live there. Because you share the property with them, they do not have exclusive possession of the whole or any defined part of it in the way that a tenant does. Under the Housing Act 1988, they are classified as an excluded occupier and are outside the protection of the assured shorthold tenancy regime.

A tenant under an assured shorthold tenancy, by contrast, occupies a property from which you are absent and has full statutory protections including:

• A minimum two-month notice period via Section 21 ('no-fault eviction')
• The right to remain until a court grants a possession order
• Various grounds-based rights to challenge eviction under Section 8

For sellers, this distinction is crucial. A lodger can be asked to leave on reasonable notice — typically one month — without a formal court process, as long as the arrangement does not amount in practice to a tenancy. A tenant's departure requires more careful handling. If you are unsure which category your occupier falls into, the nature of your arrangement (whether you live there, whether they have a key to the whole property, whether there was a formal AST agreement) will determine the answer.

Notice periods: what you must give a lodger

There is no statutory minimum notice period for ending a lodger arrangement. Instead, the law requires you to give 'reasonable notice'. In practice, the courts treat this as equivalent to one complete rental payment period:

• Weekly rent: four weeks' notice
• Monthly rent: one month's notice

If your lodger agreement specifies a longer notice period, you must honour it. Notice should be given in writing with a clear date by which the lodger must vacate. Keep a copy, send it in a way that creates a record (email is sufficient), and note the date of service.

You do not need to wait until the lodger has left before putting the property on the market. Many sellers give notice shortly before or at the same time as they instruct their estate agent, which usually allows the lodger to leave before serious viewings take place. Given that the average time from accepting an offer to exchange of contracts is around 12 to 16 weeks, giving notice at the point you accept an offer is also typically sufficient — but giving earlier notice reduces the risk of complications closer to completion.

Disclosing a lodger on the TA6 form

The TA6 Property Information Form asks whether anyone other than the seller will be in occupation of the property at completion. You must answer this honestly. If your lodger will still be in residence at the time of completion, you must disclose this. Even if you expect the lodger to have left by completion, best practice is to disclose that a lodger is currently in residence and confirm that vacant possession will be given.

The specific points to address in your TA6 replies are:

• Occupier status: confirm the person is a licencee (lodger) and not a tenant under an AST
• Notice: confirm that notice has been given and specify the expected date of departure
• Vacant possession: confirm that the property will be sold with vacant possession on the completion date
• No proprietary interest: confirm that the lodger has no beneficial or legal interest in the property and is not registered on the title at HM Land Registry

The buyer's solicitor will typically ask for written confirmation of the lodger's notice to quit and may ask to see the lodger agreement if one exists. For a full guide to what you must disclose when selling, see our article on what to disclose when selling a house.

The Rent a Room Scheme: tax position and sale implications

The HMRC Rent a Room Scheme allows you to receive up to £7,500 per year in lodger income tax-free, provided the lodger occupies furnished accommodation in your home while you live there. It is one of the most generous tax reliefs for homeowners and does not require you to register or apply — you simply elect to use it on your Self Assessment tax return.

What happens to the scheme when you sell?

When you sell and vacate the property, the Rent a Room Scheme simply ceases to apply because you no longer occupy the property. There is no balancing charge or clawback. On your Self Assessment return for the tax year of sale, you report the rental income received up to the date the lodger left, and the £7,500 exemption applies pro-rata to that period. Your accountant or tax adviser can confirm the exact position.

Capital Gains Tax and the Rent a Room Scheme

Using the Rent a Room Scheme does not affect your entitlement to Private Residence Relief (PRR) when you sell your main home. PRR exempts from CGT the entire gain on your only or main residence. The key question for CGT purposes is whether the lodger's room was used exclusively for business letting at any point, which would apportion that part of the property out of PRR.

In most residential lodger arrangements, the lodger uses their room as living accommodation, not as a dedicated business premises, and the HMRC position is that PRR is not restricted. However, if you have consistently rented a room purely as short-stay or holiday accommodation rather than a permanent residential room, you should take advice from a tax accountant before assuming full PRR applies. HMRC's guidance on this is set out in their Capital Gains Manual at CG64850.

Letting relief: no longer widely available

Since April 2020, letting relief on CGT has been restricted to situations where you share occupation with your tenant or lodger. A lodger in your home while you live there does technically qualify for this condition, but letting relief is now capped at the lower of £40,000, the PRR amount, or the gain attributable to the letting period — and given that most lodger arrangements will be fully covered by PRR anyway, letting relief rarely produces any additional CGT benefit in practice.

Managing viewings with a lodger in residence

Conducting viewings when a lodger is in residence requires practical cooperation. As a homeowner, you have the right to enter common areas of your own home at any time, but you do not have an automatic right to enter the lodger's bedroom without their consent unless your lodger agreement specifically allows it.

To manage viewings smoothly, you should:

1. Speak to your lodger early. Explain that you are selling and discuss how viewings will work. A cooperative lodger makes a significant difference. Most lodgers understand and will be accommodating, particularly once they have been given formal notice.
2. Agree a notice period for viewings. Twenty-four hours' written notice (via text or email) per viewing is a reasonable arrangement that balances your needs with the lodger's right to quiet enjoyment.
3. Agree access to their room. Buyers will want to see every room. Get the lodger's agreement (in writing if possible) that viewings may include their bedroom at agreed times.
4. Consider whether the lodger should be present. Some sellers prefer viewings when the lodger is out. Others find it more natural for the lodger to be present and to answer questions about the property themselves. Discuss this with your estate agent.
5. Keep the room tidy. A cluttered lodger's room can put buyers off. Gently raise this with your lodger and offer practical support (extra storage, for example) to help them keep their space presentable.

For more detailed guidance on running viewings effectively during a sale, see our guide on how to handle viewings.

What if the lodger will not leave?

In most cases, a lodger given proper notice will leave on the agreed date without incident. However, if they refuse, you have limited self-help remedies. You cannot:

• Physically remove the lodger or their belongings
• Change the locks while they are out
• Cut off gas, electricity, or water to pressure them to leave

Doing any of these things without a court order constitutes illegal eviction under the Protection from Eviction Act 1977, even for an excluded occupier. The penalties are significant and include criminal prosecution and civil liability.

If a lodger refuses to leave, your options are:

1. Seek mediation. A calm, written communication explaining the legal position and the consequences for the lodger (as well as possible financial incentives to leave by a certain date) often resolves the situation without legal proceedings.
2. Apply to the county court for a possession order. Because lodgers are excluded occupiers, the court procedure is simpler than for AST tenants, but it still takes time — typically six to twelve weeks from application to hearing — and involves court fees and potentially legal costs.
3. Notify your buyer's solicitor and estate agent. If a possession dispute threatens to delay completion, your solicitor will need to manage the buyer's expectations and possibly negotiate a delayed or conditional completion date.

The best way to avoid this scenario is to give notice early — ideally before you start marketing the property — and to maintain a positive relationship with the lodger throughout the process.

Does having a lodger affect buyer interest?

The short answer for most residential buyers is: not significantly, provided you make clear that vacant possession will be given on completion. Buyers purchasing a home for their own occupation are primarily interested in the condition, price, and location of the property. A lodger who is known to be leaving before completion is unlikely to deter serious buyers.

That said, there are some practical considerations to be aware of:

• Presentation. A room occupied by a lodger may be furnished, decorated, or cluttered in a way that makes it harder for buyers to visualise as their own space. Professional photography may need to be timed when the room is at its tidiest.
• Open days and block viewings. If your agent wants to hold an open house event, managing this with a lodger in residence is more complex than for a vacant property. Discuss whether the lodger can vacate for the day.
• Investor buyers. A buyer purchasing the property as a buy-to-let investment may actually be interested in retaining the lodger arrangement or the Rent a Room Scheme income. If your lodger is reliable and the arrangement profitable, this could be a selling point for certain buyers.

Documents to gather before marketing

Having your paperwork in order before you go to market reduces delays and makes it easier to respond to the buyer's solicitor's enquiries quickly. For a lodger sale, the key documents to locate are:

• Lodger agreement (if one was signed) — this confirms the licence terms, the notice period, and the absence of any AST status
• Written notice to the lodger — your signed and dated letter or email giving notice to quit
• Confirmation of no deposit protection — lodger deposits are not covered by the statutory tenancy deposit schemes (Deposit Protection Service, MyDeposits, TDS), but you should confirm you have not used one in error
• Rent a Room Scheme documentation — your Self Assessment returns showing use of the scheme (only relevant if the buyer's solicitor raises an income tax query)
• Title register and filed plan from HM Land Registry, confirming the lodger is not registered on the title

For the full list of legal documents you will need to sell, see our guide to documents needed to sell a house.

Timeline: practical steps for selling with a lodger

Sources

• GOV.UK — Rent a Room Scheme (hmrc.gov.uk)
• GOV.UK — Lodgers: your rights and responsibilities (gov.uk/lodgers)
• Shelter England — Excluded occupiers and lodgers (england.shelter.org.uk)
• Citizens Advice — Lodgers: ending the arrangement (citizensadvice.org.uk)
• Protection from Eviction Act 1977 — legislation.gov.uk
• Housing Act 1988, Part I — legislation.gov.uk (assured and assured shorthold tenancies; excluded occupiers)
• The Law Society — TA6 Property Information Form, 4th edition, 2020 (lawsociety.org.uk)
• HMRC Capital Gains Manual, CG64850 — Private Residence Relief and letting (hmrc.gov.uk)
• HMRC — Rent a Room Scheme: HS223 Self Assessment helpsheet (gov.uk)

Frequently asked questions