Setting House Rules when renting a room out

Steve139

Hi all, I am considering renting out my spare room, it's a first for me, and it will be for Weekdays only.

I have read lots of information on the net regarding good practices when renting a room out and one thing that seems clear to ensure things work out, is to lay out the house rules from the start.

My question to those who have plenty experience being live-in landlords is how far can one go with the "House Rules"?... (without coming across as the live-in landlord from hell!!!)

For example, is it reasonable to have some of the following for house rules:

1. No guests allowed to stay overnight
2. No guests allowed period! (sounds harsh but how do I know that these guests in my house are trust worthy?)
3. No smelly food to be eaten in the bedroom (would prefer downstairs)
4. To ensure shower cubicle/bath is left clean after showering/bathing (the thought of going into a shower cubicle full of someone's hairs... aaarrrghhh!!!)
5. Generally to ensure the bathroom and kitchen are kept clean and tidy after use.

Also I plan to include the utility bills in th rent. But what I don't want is the gas/electricity to get abused, like the tenant having the central heating on full blast 24 hours day or having an electric heater in the bedroom left on at all times! Can I add something in the house rules regarding control of the central heating, plus reasonable usage of gas & electric?

Finally, the telephone bill is NOT included in the rent... but I know of a friend who had a live-in nanny who clocked up a huge telephone bill while my friend was out of the house... this is also of my concern... or am I just worrying too much!

Sorry for going on a bit, but I would like to hear back from others regarding setting of boudaries and house rules when getting in a tenant.

Thanks in advance.

Steve

misscomickat

You may be lucky to find someone who wants to have a live in landlord. It puts me off immediately, as the tenant has very few rights and can be kicked out without notice.

I certainly wouldn't accept never being allowed guests. But maybe if you can find a person who is just working in your town/city in the week and goes home at weekends they may accept it.

MoneySavingSpender

I share my room with my oh in a 4bedroom semi with another couple and two other single professionals.

We're all professionals in our mid 20s to mid 30s.

If I were to react on mine and my housemates behalf:

1. Harsh, single people aren't allowed to have friends over or a love life? If they stayed more than 3 nights a week, effectively becoming a majority/part-time tenant that would be understandable, otherwise that's just draconian. Our living room actually has a spare king size mattress with a duvet set etc turning it instantly into a 5th bedroom for guests, but for this to occur requires everyone in the house to agree for them to stay there, since they all share it, otherwise they tend to stay in the housemates room.

2. Even more draconian and backward and would put me off wanting to rent with you completely, even prisoners get visitors...

3. This varies at my house, it's nicely furnished, most meals are eaten in the living room or dining room (which has effectively become a 2nd living room really), but I don't dictate what they can and cannot eat/do in their rooms, they all sign a maintenance agreement which states the room was provided in a clean state mentioning any flaws.

4. I have two guideline/notices up in the kitchen, other in the bathroom, both state simple rules and suggestions in keeping with the house generally so that it's kept in decent order, it spells everything out clearly without coming across as a despot. Alongside a cleaning log highlighting what everyone has cleaned, (rota's etc never worked when I tried them in the past) 95%+ of the time the kitchen and bathroom are kept in decent order as a result.

5. That is what the above ad-hoc/name and shame cleaning log provides, if someone is seen not to be doing their fair share, someone if not me will usually mention it and they pull their finger out, again this depends on you ensuring you get decent housemates, also I have a shared house fund for toilet paper/dishwasher tablets/cleaning materials etc, which everyone chips into an equal amount when the kitty goes empty.

Unless someone runs several PC's or major equipment you shouldn't have a problem with leccy. As for gas, while I cannot stop housemates putting it on continuous when needed, I do ensure they understand they must remember to turn it off when needed, I usually set the timer on mine and I have a label on the boiler timer saying not to change the timings. Noone has yet to abuse this, I could be just lucky... but I am very fussy over my housemates when advertising the room. I would be tempted to include no abuse of the leccy or gas usage in any separate room maintenance agreement.

I have a shared telephone, but it's only there to provide the internet connection, I have Call Barring on it preventing any chargable outgoing calls and blocking all incoming calls. They can make emergency calls on or use 0800 calling cards. Trying to split that bill would be a nightmare and will never do it again (lesson learned from student days).

Steve139

Looks like I have to ease up on the draconianism!!!

Although I think if my lodger had a girlfreind/boyfriend staying over regularly, several nights a week, I would have to say something!

My Ad for the room does actually say suitable for a professional working in the City during the week and wishing to go home during the weekends.

robpw2

, whilst i appreciate this is your home if your renting a room out you will need to rethink your guests rule etc you need to come to an understanding with lodgers as to what you deem acceptable.

m1ntie

Hi, I have been letting rooms for over 3 years. I dont mean to be rude but you sound more like a Victorian workhouse keeper than a landlord. I think you need to seriously consider whether you are suited to have lodgers.

It is completely unrealistic to expect responsible adults, not to have occasional overnight visitors and as for no visitors at all - even guests of Her Majesties Prison Service are allowed visitors!

The "no smelly food in bedrooms" and cleaning issues are perfectly reasonable, but you need to spell this out very clearly at the outset. I am very strict about this with my own lodgers and insist that they leave the kitchen and bathrooms clean and as they found them, including washing up immediately after they have finished eating.

With regard to the heating, I think it is important that you ensure that the house is at a reasonably comfortable temperature.

I have never had any problem with the telephone - most people seem to use mobiles all the time. If it is a concern you can block overseas calls and calls to mobiles.

You will almost certainy find that people expect wireless internet and a TV in the bedroom.

I have found that it is better to charge a little more money but provide a high standard of accommodation and comfort that way you attract nicer people who tend to stay longer.

Good Luck

poppysarah

You don't have to ease up at all.

It is YOUR house and you should make the rules.

If someone wants to have regular guests round then I'd say no, but an occaisional guest wouldn't be too bad.

If you don't want to live with someone and their bf/gf then make it clear at the beginning. You'll only seethe with rage in your own home otherwise.

1. No regular guests
2. Keep house clean and tidy - do own washing up, clean bathroom after you use it
3. No eating meals upstairs
4. Phone line out of use for outgoing calls
5. No parties, loud music, or other excessive noise
6. No additional heaters to be used in bedroom and heating controls to be left as they are
7. No downloading illegal stuff on house internet.

Mean? No. Make the rules liveable for you otherwise you'll regret it.

lostinrates

Steve139 wrote: »

Looks like I have to ease up on the draconianism!!!

Although I think if my lodger had a girlfreind/boyfriend staying over regularly, several nights a week, I would have to say something!

My Ad for the room does actually say suitable for a professional working in the City during the week and wishing to go home during the weekends.

To give you an idea, DH lodges in the week too. He is not fussy about the heating, in fact, he's turned it off in his room. He DOES occasionally eat in his room, he's knackered and if his LL has guests over he likes to keep out of their way. Also, his LL can sometimes be a wee bit slack about clearing up after herself in the kitchen, which is off utting to him. He's actually much cleaner and tidier than her, but accepts its life and people. His LL is happy for me to stay odd nights (although I haven't yet) and as positively urge us to use the place as our own if she is on holiday or away.

He never uses her phone but does use her wifi connection.

I'd consider that you are looking for someone who is an adult with a home elsewhere (if you are going for a City weektime only). This is someone who is going to have an element of responsibilty and understanding of what is reasonable or not and is NOT going to want to be treated like a naughty teenager. Its also worth considering with City lodgers, that the City is a small place. This person could be a good source of networking for you if you are a City person too, or, in case of a bad experience, well, word WILL get out.

ETA: I think reasonable ground rules are important though, and I think will go some way towards ensuring compatability. I think the other thing about a Mon-Fri person is they will appreciate you flat fee and while cleaning up after themselves won't really want to get involved with the ins and outs of bills etc.

Another ETA: I do understand the no overnight guests thing (personally I don't see it as too unreasonable when we remember the OP is looking for a Mon-Fri let in particular) but I think letting a City guy take his wife to a work function then stay over a few times a year, for example, is very very different to someone bringing three different women/men home a week. I feel that there needs to be some reflection of who your lodger is.

paddy's_mum

I can see exactly where Steve is coming from. I'm also thinking of renting a room to a lodger and intend to specify that there be 'no overnight guests without prior consent'.

I don't intend to be moralistic nor prudish about my lodger's lovelife but I sure as heck don't want to meet a succession of unknown men on the stairs come the morning! Apart from anything else, how can you otherwise know who is being given free access and entry into your home? Could be the local axe murderer for all you know, unless you at least try to keep a grip of the situation.

Perhaps Steve should be ultra careful who he rents the room to and hope that thorough vetting would weed out the disrespectful person who would inflict a string of chav friends upon his home. I also see no earthly reason why a landlord should, in effect, subsidise the living costs of the lodger's boy or girlfriend by them being at the property constantly.

I also think that the lodger situation is different from other kinds of renting. If a tenant wants total freedom and no loss of privacy, then they are free to take on a formal tenancy of a self-contained property. If they want the advantages of lodgings (no formal tenancy, few obligations, ease of movement if a better opportunity comes along) then they must also accept that there will be restrictions simply to protect the interests of the resident landlord, who may value his own safety or privacy.

Edit to add: The overnight guest thing should, I believe, be a two way street in that if I had my brother in law or stepson to stay for the weekend, I would be informing my lodger about his arrival and probably introduce them to each other. It's not a nice thing to have what is, to you, a total stranger in the house and be expected to sleep easy. As in so much of life, courtesy and consideration go a long way towards creating harmony

tbs624

paddy's_mum wrote: »

....Perhaps Steve should be ultra careful who he rents the room to and hope that thorough vetting would weed out the disrespectful person who would inflict a string of chav friends upon his home.

Careful vetting is really important, but you're making some assumptions there about types of people - the lodger & his/her mates don't have to be "chavs" to qualify as troublesome.

paddy's_mum wrote: »

. I also think that the lodger situation is different from other kinds of renting. If a tenant wants total freedom and no loss of privacy, then they are free to take on a formal tenancy of a self-contained property. If they want the advantages of lodgings (no formal tenancy, few obligations, ease of movement if a better opportunity comes along) then they must also accept that there will be restrictions simply to protect the interests of the resident landlord, who may value his own safety or privacy.

The main similarity is though that you are taking rent from adults who want to use the place as their home. Some people have such pernickety standards that even their own life partner gets it in the ear night and day. There does have to be some give and take. You maybe want to have it both ways -ie, tell the lodger to seek "consent" rather than "agreement", yet say this is different from any other sort of LL/T relationship?

paddy's_mum wrote: »

.courtesy and consideration go a long way towards creating harmony

Agree - so you have to go through what's really important to you and balance out where you can make compromise in return for the extra cash in your bank or rethink having a lodger at all. A particularly fussy OO may be lucky enough to find a lodger whose standards are entirely on the same level, or they may set themselves up for constant stress, or they have no takers. It's all about balance and open communication.

I wouldn't have a problem with people eating in their bedroom (but that's because I do the same myself - in mine not theirs ) but I wouldn't be able to accommodate smokers.

One other thing that may be worth you looking at is fitting restricted security locks: the keys can't be copied by your bog standard key cutters, only issued to the registered authoriser, ie you (axe-murderer friends of awkward lodger would obviously just smash straight through the door though )

Steve139

I can see that there are some strong (and differing) views on this subject. I am actually in my mid forties, so yes I am looking for someone who is an adult with a home elsewhere (as mentioned by "lostinrates")... and yes I am hoping that they are also responsible.

The "no overnight guests", I will change to "no overnight guests without prior consent"... but regular staying over by bf/gf is probably going to be a no no... besides it's the tenant I've credit checked not their guest/partner so I don't want to come home and find that my TV/hi-fi/computer/paintings/anything else have dissappeared cos the guest/partner decided to help him or her self to them!!... (and one month's deposit isn't going to cover the loss).

Also "poppysarah" mentions...

7. No downloading illegal stuff on house internet.

...hadn't thought of this, so thanks for that! The last thing I want is for the police to arrive at my house cos my tenant has been downloading illegal stuff. I am providing broadband but its for checking emails, Messenger, surfing etc but not for heavy downloading of whatever or for viewing !!!!!!! (although I'm not sure how I'd know if there doing this anyway???)

As I mentioned ealier I'll be letting a room out for the first time, so I'd also like to know what sort of things I need to provide/do to make the tenants stay comfortable... some of the things below (although obvious) spring to mind for starters...

1. provide storage space in bathroom cabinet
2. provide cupboard space in the kitchen, along with shelve space in the fridge freezer
3 for weekdays let do I provide cooking utensils?
4 do I provide the washing powder etc?
5. I plan to provide fresh linen weekly (for Weekdays only let, do I leave it in the room for them to change themselves?)
6.I am quite happy for them to use the loo roles I provide
7 ehmm can't think of anything else???

Sorry if some of the above sound stupid/silly/obvious!!

What I do plan to say to my tenant is to just let me know if there is anything they need to make their stay more comfortable during the week.


Steve