A renter who invited his girlfriend to stay over was stunned to later receive a text message from his landlord demanding a fee for her stay.

‘I would like to inform you about bringing a friend to stay overnight,’ the UK-based landlord, Nat, began.

She went on to explain that while it was ‘okay’ for the tenant to have a guest stay over, he would be charged a fee of £20 (AU$40) for the privilege.

‘You are welcome for everyone to bring a friend to stay overnight, but it will be a fee to pay £20/night,’ she continued.

Nat then provided further details about how she had arrived at the fee amount, explaining that ‘£10 will go to electricity and gas’ and that the remaining £10 was ‘for maintenance’.

The renter shared a picture of the message in an Reddit rental forum, seeking advice on what to do next.

The first question many asked was how the landlord had discovered the girlfriend had stayed over.

In answer to this, the man replied that he too was surprised given that neither he nor his girlfriend had seen the landlady at the property that day. He did note, however, that there were some ‘security cameras’ around the house.

This revelation was quickly called out as ‘creepy’ – with many adding that the cameras along with the unexpected fee were red flags that he should plan to move out sooner than later.

The man also clarified that he’d only recently moved in two weeks prior and had signed a six month lease.

The text message post quickly attracted responses from people about how the renter should handle the situation.

Many UK residents who understood tenancy rights urged him to ignore her ‘grubby’ demands, explaining that they were ‘pulled straight outta thin air’ and a clear money grab.

Several commenters explained that a fee like this was not legally binding and he was therefore under no obligation to pay it. Some even suggested escalating it to a complaint with the local council.

‘In the UK, the short answer is that a landlord generally cannot charge you for having guests,’ one person claimed.

‘If it’s not in the lease then it doesn’t exist and there’s no legal way for them to force you to pay it,’ asserted another reply.

Even the renter himself agreed that the fee appeared to be baseless, explaining that he had re-checked the agreement and saw no clauses relating to fees charged for overnight guests.

Others called out the arbitrary amount that the landlord proposed to charge as compensation for his guest’s single night’s stay.

‘Nothing but pure greed,’ read one reply.

‘How could one person use £10 worth of electricity/gas and cause £10 of worth of maintenance needs in a single night?’

Another added: ‘The “friend” you are bringing over must really be blasting the A/C and cooking meals for the whole block for a 20 pound a night charge.’

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Landlord sparks outrage after charging tenant’s girlfriend a $40 ‘overnight’ fee