Helen Thring
Marketing & Operations Manager
Helen is Nick’s sister and she successfully set up and established our Lettings Department back in 2013. Having spent much of her career prior to DY working in marketing, Helen now heads up our Marketing & Operations department. This suits her organisational skills, creativity and keen eye for detail perfectly! She loves taking long walks with her Labrador Finn and when time permits, travelling and visiting new places around the globe.
Top of my bucket list is…
To visit more new countries and ultimately, travel round Europe in a camper van.
My guilty pleasure…
Ben & Jerry’s cookie dough ice cream – I’ve got a very sweet tooth, for my sins.
When I was younger, I wanted to be…
Less shy.
If I were a superhero, my superpower would be…
To find a cure for cancer and dementia. Here’s hoping.
On Sunday morning, you can usually find me…
Up bright and early for a dog walk!
You might be surprised to know that…
One of my earliest qualifications as a teenager was as a Clarks trained shoe fitter. Ohh, all those back to school shoes!
26 Oct 2016
People are sometimes confused by the difference between a tenant and a lodger. It is important to know the difference because the rights and responsibilities of the parties are very different.
The five main differences between a Tenant and a Lodger are;
- A tenant has a space which should include a living area including an area to cook and wash. A ‘lodger’ that occupied an annex with a shared access hall, would likely be deemed to be a tenant. However, if they shared a kitchen and living room they might be more likely to be a lodger.
- For a lodger to be a lodger, the landlord must live in the same property for the time during which the lodger is there.
- A lodger must not have a key to a lock on his bedroom door. Whilst you should respect each other’s privacy, allowing a lodger ‘exclusive possession’ might well create a tenancy over time.
- If a landlord provides services such as clean towels, room cleaning or meals then the occupant is likely to remain a lodger. Accessing the lodger’s room once every few weeks to provide a change of bedding might be a great way to enforce this provision – just in case.
- If there is a provision in the agreement that the occupier may be required to move rooms then this might go some way to supporting an argument that your occupier is a lodger and not a tenant. This, however, must be considered against the weight of other facts, including the existence of exclusive possession over time.
It’s important to know the difference between a lodger and a tenant as a tenant has specific legal rights to occupation that a lodger does not. Evicting a tenant without a court order could get you into a lot of hot water, so it pays to know the difference! Also, there are certain tax breaks available to the homeowner, such as the rent a room scheme, which are not transferable to tenants.
If you are unsure on this subject why not call our Bracknell lettings team for a chat on 01344 860121.
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