Living together and renting: Your rights and obligations

Questioner

I rent a house from a private landlord. The apartment I'm renting is large enough for us to live together, and now my boyfriend and I are planning to do the same. After reviewing my lease, which doesn't mention anything prohibiting this, I checked with my landlord (the intermediary between me and the owner) to be sure. Initially, I received the answer that this was allowed, but that a rental contract would also have to be signed for the co-resident and that the service costs would also be increased. I replied that I believe I pay service charges for a certain number of m2 and not per person. I then received the response that the owner had in the meantime taken the position not to allow it. This leaves me with 3 questions: 1. Can the landlord prohibit cohabitation? (even though the lease does not state that it is prohibited) 2. Can the service charges be increased if he does allow it and we start living together? 3. Is my friend obliged to sign an additional rental agreement at that time, or can two names simply be included in one rental agreement? Thanks in advance for the answers.

Questioner

Your landlord is not allowed to prohibit cohabitation. It might be reasonable to increase the advance payment for service charges, but that depends on what they consist of. For example, if water, electricity, and gas are also provided by the landlord, it's logical that consumption will increase and the advance payment will need to be increased. No new lease is required, nor is an additional contract, nor is a contract with two names. You should realize that if your partner also formally becomes a tenant, you both have the same rights should the relationship break down. This means you might end up having a dispute about who will remain in the property.

Questioner

Thank you for the answers!