Room rental or lodger agreement template
Room and shared areas, rent and bills, deposit, house rules, privacy, the landlord’s duties, ending and moving out. A sample contract you can read in full, edit in QuoteBill and sign online with a secure link.
Sample — review with a lawyer · Simple electronic signature with an audit trail
Who it is for
For someone who rents out a room in their home, and the person who rents it, when both want the rent, bills, deposit, house rules, privacy and notice settled in writing. Not for a whole home.
Rules on notice, deposit protection and removing an occupier differ by country, and a lodger may have the same protection as a tenant that cannot be waived; those rules override this sample.
What it covers
14 clauses, in this order. Each one is in the sample text below, and you can edit, remove or add clauses before you send.
1. Purpose
What the agreement is for: the Landlord lets one room in a home, with shared use of named areas, to the Lodger. It is not a lease of a whole home.
2. Room and shared areas
Blanks for the home, the room and its furniture, the shared areas, whether the Landlord lives there and the other occupants. Both sides record the condition at move-in in an inventory or photos.
3. Term
A start date and a choice between a fixed term that then runs month by month, or month by month from the start, until ended under the clause on ending.
4. Rent and payment
The rent comes from the price schedule or a blank and is paid monthly in advance. It changes only by agreement or lawful notice of at least a set number of days, during which the Lodger may leave.
5. Bills and utilities
A choice says whether electricity, gas, water, heating and internet are in the rent or paid on top, and how shared bills are split. The Landlord shows the bills on request.
6. Security deposit
A set amount paid at move-in and held as the law requires, returned within a set number of days after the Lodger leaves, less documented amounts, with reasons. It is not the last month’s rent unless both agree.
7. House rules and guests
A blank for house rules and a choice for overnight guests. Both sides respect each other and the others at home, and the Lodger does not change locks or copy keys without consent.
8. Use and care of the room
The room is a place to live, not for a business. The Lodger keeps it clean, makes no alterations, reports damage and pays for damage beyond normal wear.
9. Access and privacy
The room is private. The Landlord enters only for repairs, inspections or showings on a set number of hours’ notice, or at once in an emergency, and legal privacy rights are not limited.
10. Landlord’s duties
The Landlord keeps the room and shared areas safe, clean, repaired and heated, provides required safety equipment and confirms it may let the room, including any consent from its own landlord.
11. Insurance and liability
The Lodger insures its own belongings and liability as a blank states. Each side answers for the damage it causes, and other loss is capped at a stated amount with the usual exceptions.
12. Ending the agreement
Notice of a set number of months, never shorter for the Landlord than the law requires. A serious breach not put right allows ending at once, and the Landlord ends occupation only as the law allows.
13. Moving out
The room is left clean and as recorded, keys are returned and both inspect it. Belongings left behind are handled only as the law allows after notice, and the deposit follows its clause.
14. Governing law and disputes
The law you name applies. The sides first try to settle a dispute in good faith, and otherwise the courts you name decide.
A price schedule is optional: add one if you want the amounts in a table, or write the agreed amount into the payment clause.
The sample text
The whole sample, as QuoteBill starts it. Text in double square brackets, like [[10]], is a blank to fill in or check. A figure or time such as [[10]] that you leave as it is is used as shown when you send; a blank that needs your own words must be filled first. The clause text is written in English, Korean, Japanese and German; in other languages a contract starts in English for you to translate.
Read the sample text
Room Rental Agreement
Parties: Landlord · Lodger
1. Purpose
This agreement sets out the terms on which the Landlord lets a room in a home to the Lodger, with the shared use of the areas named below, and what each party must do. It covers one room in a home and is not a lease of a whole home.
2. Room and shared areas
Home: [[Address of the home]]
Room let: [[Description of the room and its furniture]]
Shared areas and facilities: [[Kitchen, bathroom, living room, garden, laundry, internet, or others]]
The Landlord [[lives in the home / does not live in the home]]. Other people living there: [[Other occupants, or none]]
At move-in the parties record the condition of the room and its contents in an inventory or photographs, and each signs and keeps a copy.
3. Term
The agreement starts on [[Move-in date]] and runs [[for a fixed term of 6 months, then continues month by month / month by month]] until it is ended under the clause on ending the agreement.
4. Rent and payment
The Lodger pays the rent shown in the price schedule of this contract or, if there is none, [[Rent per month and currency]], in advance on or before the [[1st]] day of each month.
The rent can be changed only by agreement or by a notice given in the way the law that applies allows. A change takes effect after at least [[30]] days’ notice, during which the Lodger may end the agreement.
5. Bills and utilities
The following are [[included in the rent / paid by the Lodger in addition to the rent, as described here: details]]: [[Electricity, gas, water, heating, internet, local charges, or others]]
Where bills are shared, the Lodger’s share is [[Share or method of calculation]], and the Landlord shows the Lodger the bills on request. The Lodger uses energy and water with reasonable care.
6. Security deposit
The Lodger pays a security deposit of [[Amount]] on or before moving in. The Landlord holds it as security for rent and damage and keeps it [[as the law that applies requires, e.g. in a protected account]].
The Landlord returns it within [[14]] days after the Lodger has left and handed back the keys, less amounts that are owed and that the Landlord can show, and tells the Lodger in writing or in electronic form what was deducted and why. The deposit is not used for the last month’s rent unless both parties agree.
7. House rules and guests
The Lodger follows these house rules: [[House rules, e.g. quiet hours, smoking, pets, cleaning duties, use of the kitchen]]
Overnight guests are [[allowed up to a number of nights a month, stated here: Number / allowed with the Landlord’s agreement / not allowed]]. Both parties treat each other and the other occupants with respect, keep the shared areas tidy and cause no nuisance. The Lodger may not change the locks or make copies of keys without the Landlord’s consent.
8. Use and care of the room
The Lodger uses the room as a place to live and not for a business. The Lodger keeps the room reasonably clean, makes no alterations, keeps no pets unless agreed, and tells the Landlord without delay of any damage, leak or defect. The Lodger pays for damage that the Lodger or the Lodger’s guests cause beyond normal wear and tear.
9. Access and privacy
The room is the Lodger’s private space. The Landlord respects the Lodger’s privacy and enters the room only to carry out repairs, to inspect it or to show it to a new lodger or a buyer, after at least [[24]] hours’ notice and at a reasonable time, or at once in an emergency where entry is needed to prevent harm or damage.
Nothing in this clause limits the rights of privacy that the law that applies gives the Lodger.
10. Landlord’s duties
The Landlord keeps the room and the shared areas safe, clean, in good repair and reasonably heated, and puts right defects it is responsible for within a reasonable time. The Landlord provides the safety equipment and certificates that the law that applies requires, such as smoke alarms.
The Landlord confirms that it is entitled to let the room and, if it is itself a tenant, that its own landlord and the building rules allow this.
11. Insurance and liability
The Lodger insures its own belongings and its own liability: [[Insurance recommended or required, and the cover]] The Landlord’s insurance does not cover the Lodger’s belongings unless stated here: [[Cover, or none]]
Each party is liable for damage it causes, as the law provides. Except for intent, gross negligence, personal injury or where the law does not allow a limitation, each party’s liability for other loss under this agreement is limited to [[Amount]].
12. Ending the agreement
Either party may end this agreement by giving [[1]] month’s notice in writing or in electronic form. The Landlord’s notice is never shorter than the law that applies requires for the protection of the Lodger.
Either party may end it at once if the other seriously breaches it and does not remedy the breach within [[7]] days of being asked to. Not paying rent within [[14]] days after a reminder is a serious breach.
The Landlord ends the Lodger’s right to occupy the room, and recovers the room, only in the way that the law that applies allows.
13. Moving out
On the last day the Lodger moves out, leaves the room clean and in the condition recorded at move-in apart from normal wear and tear, removes its belongings and returns all keys. The parties inspect the room together and record the result.
The Landlord deals with belongings left behind only as the law that applies permits, and only after giving the Lodger [[14]] days’ notice in writing or in electronic form. The deposit is dealt with as stated in the clause on the security deposit.
14. Governing law and disputes
This agreement is governed by the law stated under Governing law. The parties will first try to settle any dispute in good faith. Otherwise the courts stated under Jurisdiction decide, unless mandatory law provides otherwise.
Payment terms
The rent is payable monthly in advance, by bank transfer to the account stated in this contract or on the invoice, or by [[cash / other payment method]].
Governing law
[[Country or state whose law applies]]
Jurisdiction
[[Courts that decide disputes, e.g. the courts of your city]]
How to use it
Choose the template
Press the button to use this template. If you are not signed in, you first sign in or sign up for free and then come straight back to it.
Start a draft
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Send it for signature
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Next steps
Your client opens the link on any device and needs no account. See what the signing looks like on the E-Contracts page, and read which kind of electronic signature is enough for which document.
Already signed? Make the invoice from the signed contract: the parties and the price lines carry over, in full or for a deposit. The guide on turning a quotation into an invoice shows how to review the new draft, its dates and the PDF.
What it is, and what it is not
QuoteBill creates a simple electronic signature with an audit trail. In the EU, the UK, the US and Korea a signature is not denied legal effect only because it is electronic, and in Japan most contracts need no particular form at all. What a simple electronic signature proves in a dispute depends on the evidence behind it, and some documents need another form.
It is not a qualified or advanced electronic signature, and QuoteBill does not verify who the signers are. It records the use of the link and access code you delivered, so anyone who has both can sign. The signature certificate lists every link issued and, for each action by the sender or a signer, its IP address and browser where they could be read.
Some documents need another form. Wills, many real-estate transfers, guarantees and some employment documents must, in some countries, be handwritten, notarised or signed with a qualified signature. The templates are samples, not legal advice: review them with a lawyer.
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