Cost to rent a room

Firefly

I think I'm going to suggest £60 per week. That will include Sky TV in her room, wireless internet, basic food with 3 meals per day provided, washing machine facilities and all bills. I won't expect her to pay for the weeks she isn't here during non-term time should she choose to go elsewhere, or give me a deposit. She can get a lift into town with my neighbour and there is a free bus to uni from there. So if she chooses, she doesn't have any transport costs either (or the occasional bottle of wine for neighbour!).

She then has the option of not ever actually spending a penny more than the £60 per week if she can be strong willed, and not go without. If she wants to buy wine, asparagus and chocolate (for example) then that can be an extra that she provides because those aren't basics in our house! She'll always have good food here, breakfast, a range of sandwich/soup/salad options for lunch with a proper meal for evening.

She does want to work, and will need some help and support with that, so again, I can do that too! I'm looking forward to it actually and have cleared out the room and painted it magnolia (boring but cheap). She's bringing her own duvet, etc and her car but she won't necessarily need to use it.

bestpud

That seems a good compromise to me - cheaper for her but without you supporting her too much.

It may be worth thinking about how you will handle potential issues though. By that I mean it would be easy, for example, to accept a late payment one week for some reason and for this to escalate into you getting no rent! It is surprisingly easy when it is a friendly arrangement and the tenant has no money!

Also there is the issue of her bringing people home, including (dare I say) bfs to stay overnight.

It should all be easily resolved, as she is sensible, but it may help to have thought about it beforehand.

Good luck with it!

Ytaya

I'd recommend taking a deposit from her. I know you know her mum and everything, but with the best will in the world, accidents can happen. Maybe stick it in a savings account and don't touch it, and let her use it for her last month's rent?

I'd also recommend having her pay for her own phone calls, rather than including it in a fixed rate. I'm not suggesting for a moment she'd take the mickey, but if she has lots of friends with mobiles, for example, it could get pricy!

I'm a) a student and b) have just acquired a flatmate/lodger, so this is something I've given a lot of thought to recently!

Firefly

bestpud wrote: »

Also there is the issue of her bringing people home, including (dare I say) bfs to stay overnight.

It should all be easily resolved, as she is sensible, but it may help to have thought about it beforehand.

Good luck with it!

She'll follow the same rules that I have for my own children, unfortunately! No overnight visitors that don't sleep on the sofa or spare bed before marriage!!

However, she's got a room that is separate from the rest of the house so she can come and go as she pleases. It won't matter if she comes home late as she won't wake us up when she comes in.

The phone bill is itemised and she'll pay for her calls although she has a contract mobile. The one thing I'm not too sure about is the deposit because I know it's a big thing to find deposit money and although I know accidents happen, I'll just accept that as a risk. If she doesn't pay (which I'm sure she won't) then she'll know I'll be telling her mother!

All I need to do is check out who I need to 'declare' this income to! I'm sure I can rent a room without too much penalty.

RachelRa

You're awesome... And lucky her

melancholly

http://www.direct.gov.uk/en/MoneyTaxAndBenefits/Taxes/TaxOnPropertyAndRentalIncome/DG_4017804

you only need to worry about the income if it is over £4,250 - but that website shoudl cover lots of useful things!

bestpud

Firefly wrote: »

She'll follow the same rules that I have for my own children, unfortunately! No overnight visitors that don't sleep on the sofa or spare bed before marriage!!

I was thinking as much from a financial point of view as a moral one. Because if it happens often, you have extra food and cost of running the shower...

And believe me, she may well be friendly with someone who thinks it is better to use the facilities at your house than pay for them in their own accommodation!

I don't think she would do this intentionally, but these things can kind of creep up unannounced sometimes and be a problem before you know it iyswim?

Perhaps I just think ahead too much...