If the person renting your room lives in your own home and shares the kitchen, bathroom or living room with you or your family, they're almost certainly a lodger, not a tenant. Lodgers have far fewer legal protections: you can usually end the arrangement with reasonable notice, you don't have to protect their deposit, and because a letting by a resident landlord isn't an assured tenancy, the Renters' Rights Act tenancy rules don't apply in the same way. If you let rooms in a house you don't live in, the people renting them are normally assured tenants, with the full set of rights. Separately, the Rent a Room scheme lets resident landlords earn up to £7,500 a year tax-free.
This guide explains how to tell which you have, and what changes as a result.
Three common situations
1. A lodger who shares your home
You live in the house as your only or main home, and the person renting a room shares facilities such as the kitchen, bathroom or living room with you or your family. GOV.UK says they're likely to be an excluded occupier. The legal basis is in the Protection from Eviction Act 1977, section 3A, which sets out when a tenancy or licence is "excluded". Sharing only a hallway, stairs or storage space doesn't count as sharing accommodation for this test.
2. Someone in your home who doesn't share your living space
You live in the house, but the person renting doesn't share a kitchen, bathroom or living room with you or your family. GOV.UK says they're likely to be an occupier with basic protection. They have more protection than a lodger: you need a written notice to quit and, if they don't leave, a court order.
3. A tenant in a house you don't live in
You don't live in the house. You let the rooms to people who each have their own tenancy, or to a group on one joint tenancy. They're normally assured tenants. Since 1 May 2026, most private assured tenancies in England are periodic, there's no Section 21, and you can only end the tenancy using a ground for possession. See periodic tenancies: what changed.
Why the resident landlord rule matters
A tenancy granted by a landlord who lives in the same building is generally excluded from being an assured tenancy under section 1 and Schedule 1 of the Housing Act 1988. Broadly, you must have lived in another part of the building as your only or principal home when you granted the tenancy and ever since, and the building must not be a purpose-built block of flats. The details matter: if you move out, or if the house is converted into separate flats, the position can change. If you're unsure, take advice.
What changes for a lodger
Notice
For an excluded occupier, GOV.UK says you only need to give reasonable notice, which is usually the length of the rent period: a week if they pay weekly, a month if they pay monthly. It doesn't have to be in writing, but writing avoids arguments. You don't need a court order to end the arrangement. GOV.UK says you can change the locks once they've left, but you must return any belongings they leave behind.
For an occupier with basic protection, GOV.UK says you must serve a written notice to quit. The notice period depends on the agreement but is often at least four weeks. If they don't leave, you need a court order to evict them.
Deposits
GOV.UK says resident landlords are not legally required to protect a deposit with a government-approved scheme. That's because the protection rules apply to assured tenancies, and a letting by a resident landlord isn't one. Good practice is still to give a receipt, agree deductions in writing and return the deposit promptly. For tenants, the rules are very different; see tenancy deposit protection.
The Renters' Rights Act information sheet
Most landlords had to give existing tenants the government's information sheet by 31 May 2026. GOV.UK says you do not need to give it to lodgers.
Right to Rent
Right to Rent checks apply to adults living in the property as their main home. GOV.UK's Right to Rent guidance says you must check that "a tenant or lodger" can legally rent, and the Home Office code of practice sets a lower civil penalty for a lodger (up to £5,000 for a first breach) than for a tenant. See Right to Rent checks.
Safety
Gas safety duties apply to landlords who let accommodation under a licence or a lease of less than seven years. HSE's guidance for landlords lists rooms let in private households as covered, so a lodger in your home is included. The smoke and carbon monoxide alarm regulations exclude a tenancy where the occupier shares a toilet, washing facilities, kitchen or living room with the landlord or the landlord's family (GOV.UK Q&A booklet), but working alarms are basic common sense in any home. See landlord safety certificates.
Bills and council tax
GOV.UK says that as a resident landlord you're responsible for council tax and can include part of the cost in the rent, and that you can only charge the amount you've paid for gas and electricity plus VAT. See bills in a shared house.
When your home becomes a shared house
GOV.UK warns that your home may be classed as a shared house (the legal term is HMO) if you let rooms to more than two people. That's because the Housing Act 2004 and its regulations treat a home occupied by the resident landlord's household and no more than two other people as not an HMO. A third lodger can change that, and bring extra safety requirements and possibly a licence. See shared house licensing.
The Rent a Room scheme
How it works
The Rent a Room scheme lets you earn up to a threshold of £7,500 a year tax-free from letting furnished accommodation in your home. The threshold is halved to £3,750 if someone else also gets income from letting rooms in the same home, such as a partner. You don't have to own the home; resident landlords who rent can use it too. If your receipts are under the threshold, the exemption is automatic.
The main conditions are that the accommodation is furnished and that it's in your only or main home. It doesn't apply to a house you don't live in, to a home converted into separate flats, or to space let as an office or for a business.
Above the threshold, or opting out
If your receipts from the room go above the threshold, you must complete a tax return. You can either pay tax on the amount above the threshold, with no expenses deducted, or work out your profit the normal way, deducting expenses. HMRC's helpsheet HS223 explains the choice. The normal way can make sense if your expenses are high. HS223 says receipts include what the lodger pays for meals and services such as cleaning or laundry, as well as rent.
It's not for rooms in a house you don't live in
Rent from rooms in a house you don't live in is normal property income. If that's you, see Making Tax Digital for landlords for how the new digital record-keeping rules may affect you.
Worked example
Names and figures are made up.
Chris owns two properties.
Home: Chris lives in a three-bedroom house and lets one furnished bedroom to Ana for £600 a month (example figure), including bills. Ana shares the kitchen and bathroom with Chris. Ana is a lodger and an excluded occupier. Chris gives Ana a short written lodger agreement, takes one month's deposit with a receipt, and agrees that either of them can end it with one month's notice. Over the tax year Chris receives £7,200 (example), below the £7,500 threshold, so under the Rent a Room scheme that income is tax-free.
Second house: Chris also owns a five-bedroom house nearby and lets each room on its own assured periodic tenancy. Chris doesn't live there. The tenants there are assured tenants: their deposits must be protected, rent increases go through Form 4A, and Chris can only end a tenancy on a ground for possession. The rent is property income, not Rent a Room income.
A year later Chris takes a second lodger at home. With Chris's household plus two lodgers, the home still isn't a shared house in the legal sense (an HMO). If Chris took a third lodger, it could become one, so Chris would check with the council first whether any licensing or extra duties would apply. Chris's Rent a Room threshold also stays at £7,500 in total, not £7,500 per lodger.
A written agreement for a lodger
There's no prescribed form of lodger agreement, but a short written agreement saves arguments. It usually covers:
- the room, and which parts of the home the lodger can use;
- the rent, what it includes, and when it's due;
- any deposit, and when it will be returned;
- house rules: guests, smoking, quiet hours, use of the kitchen;
- how much notice either of you will give.
Keep it simple and fair. A lodger agreement can't turn a tenant into a lodger if the facts say otherwise.
Common mistakes
- Moving out but keeping lodgers. If you move out, your lodgers may become tenants with much stronger rights.
- Calling a tenant a lodger. The label in the agreement doesn't decide it; the facts do.
- Claiming Rent a Room on a house you don't live in. The scheme is for your own home.
- Forgetting the notice in writing. Even where it isn't required, writing it down avoids disputes.
How Rentap helps
Rentap is built for houses let room by room that you don't live in, where each room has its own tenancy, rent and history. If you have a lodger in your own home, you can still use it to keep the rent, payments and deposit records for that room, and to split shared bills. Rentap doesn't decide whether someone is a lodger or a tenant, and it doesn't work out tax. See rent tracking and pricing.
Related reading: tenancy agreement for a room and the glossary of letting terms.
Sources
- Rent a room in your home (GOV.UK)
- Rent a room: your lodger's tenancy type (GOV.UK)
- Rent a room: ending a letting (GOV.UK)
- Rent a room: rent, bills and tax (GOV.UK)
- Rent a room: shared houses, or HMOs (GOV.UK)
- Rent a room: full guide, printable (GOV.UK)
- The Rent a Room Scheme (GOV.UK)
- HS223 Rent a Room scheme helpsheet (HMRC)
- Protection from Eviction Act 1977, section 3A (legislation.gov.uk)
- Housing Act 1988, section 1 (legislation.gov.uk)
- Housing Act 2004, Schedule 14 (legislation.gov.uk)
- HMO regulations 2006, regulation 6 (legislation.gov.uk)
- Smoke and Carbon Monoxide Alarm (England) Regulations 2015, Schedule (legislation.gov.uk)
- Gas safety: landlords and letting agents (HSE)
- The Renters' Rights Act information sheet 2026 (GOV.UK)
- Renting is changing: guidance for landlords (GOV.UK)
- Check your tenant's right to rent (GOV.UK)
- Smoke and carbon monoxide alarms: Q&A booklet for landlords (GOV.UK)
Last checked: 10 October 2026. This guide is general information, not legal advice.