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Updated 8 months ago on . Most recent reply

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Julie Clark
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Number of tenants vs. Square footage

Julie Clark
Posted

Hello,

I am looking to determine thoughts, knowledge, etc. on how much space is reasonable to the number of tenants occupying a rental property. Firstly if someone is aware of a law specific to Georgia about this topic please let me know and also please provide any links to government sites that you know of I am happy to read up on the matter. 
The background is this. I have a guest house that my sister is currently occupying but will be moving out in the next few months. I would like to rent this out and have someone who may be interested. The issue I face is the guest house is fairly small but fine for a single individual. This interested party is a single mom with a toddler. I want to address space/safety concerns before beginning any kind of screening process. 
The guest house is set up as a studio apartment. The square footage is about 250sq/ft. There is also an attached storage closet that is about 140sq/ft. The guest house is set up with a kitchen, bathroom, and then a large living room area that would double as a bedroom. There is a large closet off the living room that I would imagine some would look at to be a very small bedroom however, this room does not have any windows so I do not believe it can be used as a bedroom. 

The main question here is this. Would renting this space to a single mother and her toddler pose any safety / space issues legally? If there is no legal problem and she tours the space and finds it adequate then I would be happy to rent but I want to do my due diligence in determining if this space is acceptable to rent to more than just a single individual. If everything is fine on the legal / rental side of things I would stipulate in the lease that the large living room closet would not be allowed to be used as a bedroom and would need to be utilized in some other capacity i.e walk in closet.

I understand no one can give legal advice on this site but guidance or websites to look over would be a huge help! Thank you in advance.

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Greg Scott
#4 Real Estate News & Current Events Contributor
  • Rental Property Investor
  • SE Michigan
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Greg Scott
#4 Real Estate News & Current Events Contributor
  • Rental Property Investor
  • SE Michigan
Replied

Generally, two persons per bedroom is the norm across the country.  We have had people try to move into a one bedroom with two adults and a baby.  However, "person" is a human of any age, so we had to deny them the unit.

A true bedroom must have the ability to egress aside from the door, so the closet would not qualify.  You would add value to the unit if you could somehow install a window.

  • Greg Scott
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