Take in a lodger... official MoneySavingExpert.com discussion

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  • Pjcity
    Pjcity Posts: 21 Forumite
    Good bit of info regarding lodgers is that they don't have any protection to remain in the property they are regarded as licence holders NOT Tenants.... If you want them to leave you get them out very easily..... DON'T GIVE THEM A TENANCY otherwise they do have greater security of tenure which could take a lot longer to evict them......

    For further info see Shelter.com
  • Youngy
    Youngy Posts: 50
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    Does the rent chargeable up to £4250 have to be inclusive of bills?

    ie, can you charge the maximum and then add bills on top? Are most lodger agreements inclusive or exclusive of bills? If exclusive is it fair to split all down the middle? Just looking for views, thanks :)
  • Re the insurance, I had no problem. Rang up Norwich Union and told them I had a lodger. All they wanted to know was whether she had a criminal record, thats all. No extra premium to pay.
    I charged monthly rent all inclusive. The easiest way to do it, but potential for abuse (think electric heaters or geeks with tons of electric equipment).

    Re the tax free amount you can declare....beware, I've heard that if and when you sell your house, if you have declared lodger income, you may be liable for capital gains tax on the profit you make from the sale, regardless of whether you've gone over the threshold or not.
  • When I lodged as a student (some years ago now I admit) most landlords/ladies included breakfast in with the rent. I can't remember the reason I was given at the time... I think it was something to do with laws regarding eviction or tax. Does anyone remember what that was about and if it still applies? My lovely landlady said we (she took in three male students) could eat all the breakfast cereal we wanted... I don't think she could believe it when we ate a giant box of Weetabix between us every day!!!! We had Weetabix for every meal! :D
  • We've had lodgers on and off throughout 36 years of marriage and now our son has them.

    As regards the person who says you can 'only' charge £84 pw, our son's lodgers are charged nowhere near that much and their rent is all inclusive (apart from food and telephone). They are lodgers, not tenants, you can't charge them as much as a tenant.

    One pays £15 more than the other as he has a much bigger room and a Freeview box. They share kitchen and bathroom with my son, sometimes the lounge (but that is up to the individual landlord).

    We've always found it a good way to make a bit of extra money and have never had any problems with insurance.

    We've remained good friends with several of our ex-lodgers and I am even Godmother to the daughter of the two who married each other!
    (AKA HRH_MUngo)
    Member #10 of £2 savers club
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  • Here is info on a bit of a different spin on lodgers... those which stay Monday to Friday only.

    Rise of the midweek renters

    :A
    I want to move to theory. Everything works in theory.
  • Beate
    Beate Posts: 3,522
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    Bogof_Babe wrote: »
    That's a point. If you are living alone you get 25% Council Tax discount, which you would lose on taking a lodger. That would eat well into any profit.

    Yes but students do not have to pay council tax so if you took a student as a lodger, your share of the council tax would fall to 50%, or am I mistaken?
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  • I pay full council tax as I live with my hubby, so taking in a lodger doesn't affect my council tax. We've had a few lodgers over the last few years & most have been ok, though we have also had a few nutters, lol.
    Our lodger has their own bathroom & bedroom & we all share the kitchen, or they can eat with us, my current lodger is such a fussy eater she now sorts her own food out.
    When I'm next looking for a lodger I'm going to try for a Monday to Friday one first, though I'm not sure how much call there is in Reading. I have a wireless router so will offer the room with wireless access.
    I would prefer to have my house to myself at the weekends as I find I can't relax with blaring music, screeching phonecalls & having my pc taken over.
    I have a set of groundrules for the lodgers, but the current one has trouble remembering them.

    Never let success go to your head, never let failure go to your heart.
  • Keldin
    Keldin Posts: 296 Forumite
    Pandora123 wrote: »
    Here is info on a bit of a different spin on lodgers... those which stay Monday to Friday only.

    Rise of the midweek renters

    It is fairly common for IT contractors (and I imagine other contractors as well) to take short term contracts away from home and stay over during the week.
    I normally look for a cheap but decent B&B that will do a reduced rate for booking 4 nights at a time but a weekday lodging would work as well especially if some of your luggage can be left over the weekend.

    K
  • Running_Horse
    Running_Horse Posts: 11,807
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    Also bar students most lodgers will have troubled lives from my experience but normally nice enough people.
    I disagree, all the student lodgers I had were immature and brought problems. The best lodgers I had were industrial contractors; they tended to go home at weekends and understood about paying the rent on time and sharing facilities.
    Been away for a while.
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