Where you are letting a room, or a number of rooms, in a property but do not live there yourself, to individuals who have chosen not to live as a group, (i.e. they didn't know one another before taking up residence). If you fall into this category and offer rooms to individuals, an appropriate tenancy agreement should be given for each room that you are letting, usually this will be a Assured Shorthold Tenancy, these can be obtained from most legal stationers, or free from the Government website or from the National Residential Landlord's Association (if you register for Associate Membership).
If you let rooms in this way, there may be local authority regulations that must be adhered to. Copies of these regulations regarding "Houses in Multiple Occupation" can be obtained from your local Housing Department/Environmental Health Office. These rules include specifications for the provision of natural and artificial light, ventilation, water supply and personal washing facilities, drainage and sanitary conveniences and facilities for the storage, preparation and cooking of food. Licensing of HMO’s (Houses in Multiple Occupation) became mandatory from April 2006. In addition your local authority may have introduced additional selective licensing, see London Property Licensing for more information.
Please refer to the following Government website for further guidance.
The landlord should note the student's full name, home address, telephone number, and request to see a copy of their Certificate of Attendance. It is also useful to request a previous landlord reference letter, to ascertain a tenant’s responsibility to pay rent and their behaviour. If the student has been a resident in University housing you can request a reference from Housing Services.
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