Setting House Rules when renting a room out

neverdespairgirl

Bogof_Babe wrote: »

Sorry but I still disagree about the guests. The lodger (not a tenant - that would mean having your own front door and being self contained) is in the position of a paying guest, and should respect whatever conditions their host wishes to impose.

If you stayed in a B&B you would not be allowed to bring in someone else without the landlord or landlady's permission, so why should it be any different in someone's own home?

I think everyone agrees that the OP would be entitled to say no guests, ever, but it would certainly make it very hard to get a lodger, I think.

MoneySavingSpender

Steve139 wrote: »

ok I've read through asll the comments... now I need to know how to go about vetting a tenant... reference from a previous landlord is a good start, but thats assuming they've rented before, they may not have... so any suggestions how to go about vetting a tenant?

Also, I see there are different levels of credit checking, can someone advice a good credit check service they've used and what level of checks should I go for?

Thanks.

It seems the general concensus is that while a live in LL can impose/enforce no-guest rule, you'll most likely not get a desirable tenant as a result, if any.

As for vetting, reference from a previous landlord is nice but isn't that vital really, I'd say work references, ensuring they have viable and stable employment is more important, but the #1 indicator being YOUR OWN GUT INSTINCT. While the more tenants you get the more you'll become more fine tuned over time, but getting people with a similar lifestyle to yourself shouldn't be too hard. Also now is a good time to advertise as lots of postgrad jobs so demand is higher.

I'd also suggest you rent the room at slightly below the market rate for your location/situation so that you can view as many people as possible so you can find a lodger YOU are happy with.

Gracesd

I have rented a room to a young man in my home. I laid out the expectations before he moved in, clean the kitchen and bathroom after use, help keep the home clean....now what do I do?
he has pretty much taken over the kitchen, he likes to cook and his pots, pans, blender, crock pot, coffee maker, etc. cover the entire counter and the refigerator is full of his food, he has dinner parties quite often and while he does wash his dishes, the kitchen and bathroom are pretty intolerable.
so any advice? I have talked to him about this and he now laughs and says that he has a right to use the kitchen and keep his things anyway he wants them. He also tore up my garden and claimed he had a right to because it was not in good condition
I own the house and I feel like he has taken control and I am not sheepish about talking to him but it just makes matters worse.

poppysarah

Throw him out.
He's not the right lodger for you.

Tore up garden?

beaujolais-nouveau

Gracesd wrote: »

I have rented a room to a young man in my home. I laid out the expectations before he moved in, clean the kitchen and bathroom after use, help keep the home clean....now what do I do?
he has pretty much taken over the kitchen, he likes to cook and his pots, pans, blender, crock pot, coffee maker, etc. cover the entire counter and the refigerator is full of his food, he has dinner parties quite often and while he does wash his dishes, the kitchen and bathroom are pretty intolerable.
so any advice? I have talked to him about this and he now laughs and says that he has a right to use the kitchen and keep his things anyway he wants them. He also tore up my garden and claimed he had a right to because it was not in good condition
I own the house and I feel like he has taken control and I am not sheepish about talking to him but it just makes matters worse.

It is your home. He has stepped over several boundaries. He is so disrespectful of you and your property. In your place, I would be terrified. How can you stand even one more day of him? Throw him out.

Riq

I wanna know if the OP filled his spare room!

GDB2222

http://www.cityofsydney.nsw.gov.au/Datasource/DANotifications/890465_017.pdf

Worth a look. I thought the ozzies were laid back, but not here it seems.

Riq

^^^ Sounds a bit like the rules to my student halls. :cheesy:
Not that we followed them.

creditcrunchie_2

lSo how do you evict a lodger? It's not like you have an assured shorthorn tenancy agreement like a landlord who doesn't live in.

Other questions - how do you credit-check a potential lodger?
What are the risks of them using your wireless b/band? I'm fine with them watching !!!!!!, and if they're paying it's on their credit card right? Is there any way I could be stung for a costly internet service that I don't know they're using?

I've just advertised my room, had lots of viewers but no-one's taken it. I don't know if I'm being too honest, and I hadn't thought about restricting bathing times, thing is my c/h is v old and inefficient, there is no 24/7 hot water, not even a hot water tank, you have to put the c/h on to get hot water and there's no separate thermostats on the radiators. At the mo I spend most time in 1 room and use an electric heater, to save heating the whole house. I've told people about the limitations of the c/h as I think it's fair, also I've said bills are excluded from rent, but maybe I should include bills and just accept higher bills and a warmer house, and set the c/h timer as suggested above.

Should I get a huge loan for new c/h and boiler, and use the (higher?) rent I charge to repay the loan? Am I restricting my chances of getting a decent lodger by not doing?

One of the viewers said he'd never been asked for references and was surprised I was asking, but it seems from these posts that it's normal to do that.

Grateful for any thoughts/advice.

mlz1413

Gracesd wrote: »

I have rented a room to a young man in my home. I laid out the expectations before he moved in, clean the kitchen and bathroom after use, help keep the home clean....now what do I do?
he has pretty much taken over the kitchen, he likes to cook and his pots, pans, blender, crock pot, coffee maker, etc. cover the entire counter and the refigerator is full of his food, he has dinner parties quite often and while he does wash his dishes, the kitchen and bathroom are pretty intolerable.
so any advice? I have talked to him about this and he now laughs and says that he has a right to use the kitchen and keep his things anyway he wants them. He also tore up my garden and claimed he had a right to because it was not in good condition
I own the house and I feel like he has taken control and I am not sheepish about talking to him but it just makes matters worse.

If you are not happy about the way he is treating the house and he is not sticking to the rules you laid down just tell him to go. I'm guessing you took a months rent up-front, not sure how long he has been there but I would tell him he needs to go and offer that if he hasn't found anywhere by the time the next lot of rent is due he can pay weekly with a limit of 4 weeks from the date you talk.