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Mislabelled as a lodger: tenant status walkthrough 2026

Some landlords write 'lodger agreement' on a document and assume that settles the question. It does not. Whether you are a lodger (excluded licensee) or a tenant (with full statutory protection) is a question of legal substance, not the label on the page. If the landlord does not actually live in the property, you are very probably an assured tenant whatever the agreement calls you. Here is the tenant walkthrough, with an assert-status letter template.