One line in the agreement decides more about your year than the rent does. On a joint tenancy, every sharer is liable for the whole rent, and since 1 May 2026 any one of you can end the tenancy for all of you with two months’ notice. On an individual room contract, neither is true. We tell you which one you are being offered before you view, because almost no listing says.
This is the whole ball game and listings almost never say. On a joint tenancy you are liable for everyone’s rent and any one sharer can end the tenancy for all of you. On your own room contract you are responsible for your room and your rent only. We ask, and we tell you the answer.
Most shared houses are HMOs, and many need a licence. An unlicensed house is not just a technicality — it means you can apply for a rent repayment order of up to 24 months of rent. We check the licence register before you view.
Since 1 December 2023 an HMO is banded as one dwelling and the landlord is liable for the council tax, not the sharers. If someone is asking you to pay it on top of your rent in a licensed HMO, that is worth questioning before you sign.
Tenant fees have been banned in England since 2019. No admin fee, no referencing fee, no renewal fee. If anyone asks you for one, it is unlawful.
Areas, budget, move-in date, and whether you want to choose your housemates or move into an established house. Also tell us if you have a pet or claim benefits — both matter, and both are now protected.
Joint tenancy or individual room contract, licence status of the property, what the rent includes, who is liable for council tax and utilities, and how the deposit is held and protected.
Licence on the register, deposit scheme, gas safety certificate, EICR, and whether the person letting it to you is the landlord, an agent, or another tenant subletting — because that last one changes your position entirely.
On a joint tenancy everyone signs one agreement for the whole property. That creates joint and several liability: if a housemate stops paying, the landlord can pursue any one of you for the entire rent, not just for the missing share. The same applies to damage, and to the deposit, which is held as a single sum for the whole house.
Since 1 May 2026 all assured tenancies are periodic, with no fixed term. That gives you flexibility — you can leave on two months’ notice whenever you want. But on a joint tenancy it cuts both ways: a valid notice to quit from any one joint tenant ends the tenancy for everybody. The rest of the house cannot override it. If your housemate takes a job in another city, everyone is technically out unless the landlord agrees a new tenancy with those who want to stay.
A house is a house in multiple occupation where at least three people from more than one household share a kitchen, bathroom or toilet. Mandatory licensing applies where five or more people from two or more households live there. Many councils run additional licensing schemes covering smaller shares, and the boundaries differ from borough to borough — so the same house can need a licence in one place and not the next.
Licensing exists to protect you. A licensed HMO has to meet standards on room sizes, amenities, fire safety and management. If the property should be licensed and is not, you may apply to the First-tier Tribunal for a rent repayment order — and since the Renters’ Rights Act came into force the maximum has doubled from 12 to 24 months of rent. Licence registers are public, and we check them before sending you anything.
This changed on 1 December 2023 and a lot of listings have not caught up. HMOs are now banded as a single dwelling rather than being split room by room, and liability sits with the landlord rather than with the occupiers. Where the property is an HMO, sharers should not be receiving individual council tax bills.
That does not stop a landlord building the cost into the rent, which is lawful and common — but it should be stated as part of an inclusive rent, not added afterwards as a separate demand. If you are asked to pay council tax on top of your rent in a shared house, ask whether the property is an HMO, and check the position with the council before you agree to it. Full-time students are separately exempt in any event.
Since 1 May 2026, section 21 ‘no fault’ eviction is abolished. A landlord now needs a stated ground to seek possession. Rental bidding is banned — a property must be advertised at a stated rent and the landlord cannot accept more than it, which matters most in exactly the kind of high-demand room market where sharers compete. Rent in advance is capped at one month, so nobody can demand six months up front from someone without a UK guarantor.
Rent can only be increased once a year, on two months’ notice, and you can challenge it at the First-tier Tribunal. A request to keep a pet must be answered within 28 days and cannot be unreasonably refused. And it is now unlawful to discriminate against prospective tenants because they receive benefits or because they have children.
If your landlord lives in the property with you, you are almost certainly a lodger — an excluded occupier. That means no requirement to protect your deposit in a scheme, no need for a court order to remove you, and no section 21 protections to lose because they never applied. Reasonable notice is all that is required. Lodging can be a perfectly good arrangement, and it is often cheaper, but you should know that you are choosing it.
If the person letting you the room is another tenant rather than the owner, you are a subtenant, and your position depends entirely on whether the head landlord permitted subletting. If they did not, the head tenancy can be brought to an end and you go with it. Ask to see written consent. A useful side effect of the reversal of Rakusen v Jepsen is that a superior landlord can now be liable for the failings of an intermediate one — but that is a remedy after the fact, not a substitute for checking first.
On a joint tenancy everyone signs one agreement for the whole property and is jointly and severally liable — the landlord can pursue any one of you for the entire rent if a housemate stops paying, and the deposit is one sum for the house. Since 1 May 2026 there is a further consequence: a valid notice to quit from any single joint tenant ends the tenancy for everyone, on two months’ notice, and the others cannot prevent it. On an individual room contract you are responsible for your room and your rent only, and someone else leaving does not affect you. Ask which you are being offered before you view.
Usually not directly. Since 1 December 2023 an HMO is valued as a single dwelling and the council tax liability sits with the landlord rather than the occupiers. A landlord can build that cost into an inclusive rent, which is lawful, but you should not be receiving a separate council tax demand in a property that is an HMO. If you are asked to pay it on top of the rent, ask whether the property is an HMO and confirm the position with the council before agreeing. Full-time students are exempt regardless.
You may be able to apply to the First-tier Tribunal for a rent repayment order requiring the landlord to repay rent you have paid. The maximum was doubled from 12 months to 24 months by the Renters’ Rights Act, which makes it a substantial remedy. Licence registers are public, so it is checkable before you move in rather than after. It is also worth knowing that a superior landlord can now be liable where an intermediate landlord is at fault, following the reversal of Rakusen v Jepsen — which matters in rent-to-rent arrangements, where a lot of room lettings sit.
No. Since 1 May 2026 rent in advance is capped at one month. This was aimed squarely at practices that priced out anyone without savings or a UK-based guarantor — students, people relocating, people new to the country. Rental bidding is banned at the same time, so a landlord or agent cannot invite offers above the advertised rent or accept them. The deposit remains capped at five weeks where the annual rent is under £50,000 and must be protected in an approved scheme within 30 days.
If the landlord lives in the property with you, you are almost certainly a lodger — an excluded occupier. Your deposit does not have to be protected in a scheme, no court order is needed to ask you to leave, and reasonable notice is all that is required. That is not a scam, and lodging is often cheaper and more flexible, but it is a materially weaker position than being a tenant and you should know which one you are agreeing to. If the person letting you the room is another tenant rather than the owner, ask to see written consent to sublet before you pay anything.
