An auction listing for a six-bedroom HMO in Cumbria has raised fresh questions about tenant privacy after marketing images appeared to show an occupier asleep in bed during a sales video and photo set.
Occupied HMO sale raises tenant privacy concerns
The property in Penrith was listed with a guide price of £135,000 and described as producing £2,280 a month from five tenants. But the detail likely to concern landlords and agents was not the yield. It was the marketing itself, which appeared to include footage of a tenant inside a bedroom while asleep.
That is a problem because tenants in HMOs still have exclusive possession of their rooms even where kitchens, bathrooms and hallways are shared. Communal access rules do not give a free pass to enter a private bedroom for sales material, and landlords or agents normally need at least 24 hours’ written notice before entry for permitted purposes.
A spokesperson for the NRLA’s guidance team has previously made clear that HMO tenants retain privacy rights over their own rooms, even where common parts are managed differently.
This follows Residential Landlord’s recent coverage of landlords being caught out by bad practice around short-term lets and its reporting on tougher enforcement against landlords and agents. The latest case is different, but the theme is the same – sloppy process can turn into reputational and legal risk very quickly.
Sales pressure is no defence if access rules are ignored
For landlords selling tenanted stock, the pressure to get decent photos and a walkthrough is obvious. Auction sales move quickly, and occupied HMOs are harder to market if rooms cannot be shown properly. But that commercial pressure does not cancel out quiet enjoyment rights.
The real warning here is for agents as much as landlords. A rushed visit, a vague consent process or an assumption that shared housing comes with lower privacy protection can leave everyone exposed if a tenant complains. In a market where landlords are already being pushed to document compliance more carefully, avoidable access disputes are the last thing a seller needs.
Landlords can still market occupied property, but the safe route is plain enough: written notice, clear consent, and no filming inside a room unless the occupier has agreed and knows exactly what is being recorded. The auction listing itself remains live on Prime Property Auctions.
Implications for landlords selling with tenants in place
There is also a wider market point here. More landlords are exploring disposals while keeping tenants in place, either to preserve rent or to appeal to investor buyers. That strategy can still work, but only if the sales process is handled with more care than an empty-home listing.
Done properly, a tenanted sale can protect income and keep a deal moving. Done badly, it can invite complaints, sour tenant relations and hand a buyer evidence that management standards are weak. In 2026, that is a needless own goal.
Opinion
Some landlords still behave as if an occupied room becomes fair game once a property goes to market. It does not. If this footage was taken without clear consent, the sale listing says more about poor standards than it does about investment potential.
