How much to rent a room out for?

TurnaroundSue

Hi All - I was looking for advice really. My mum is renting out a double room in her house for £200 per month. This includes all the bills, use of shower/bath, washing machine, etc but the person does buy their own food.

Her boyfriend is away travelling at the moment, but is due back on 23/12 and will not have contributed at all. Before his departure they both stayed in the room and gave my mum just £100 for BOTH of them for a 5 week stay:mad: . That equates to less than £2 per day and in that time she feed them alot also.

I think they are taking the p**s, and have told my mum that she should increase the rent and if they cannot afford it (the girl says she can only afford £200) then it's tuff and she will need to find somewhere else. My mum only has a pension and I feel that she is subsidising her (and also the boyfriend when he returns).

She does B&B on an ad hoc basis and can rent this room out for 2 people for £50 per night so she is losing that whilst they are staying.

Was wondering what everyone else thought and do you think it is a fair rent?

Many thanks for any advice/thoughts you are able to give.

lynzpower

They are totally taking the pi** although why oh why is your mum feeding them ?surely they are adults- can they not feed themselves?

I fear she has made a rod for her own back here.

I dont know where it is in the UK so wouldnt be able to guesstimate fair rent, but have you looked on loot/ gumtree in your area to see what people pay for houseshares?


If she is charging 200 per month, but only getting 100 and theres now 2 lodgers not one, then quite frankly they are not living by the basic agreement and would get rid. For 2 of them Id expect 350 tbh.

TurnaroundSue

Thanks Lynz. I will defo look at loot/gumtree when I get a moment. I might not have made myself clear, but the girl is paying £200 for herself to stay there at the moment and when the boyfriend returns then I expect he will pay the same (although not sure about that at the moment). Say he does then that would be £400 for both of them - do you think that would be a fair rent, like I say this includes all the bills in a nice centrally heated house and use of the telephone (they come from Australia) and constant hot water and use of washing machine, dishwasher etc?

tanith

£400 per month is still on the low side for a double room and thats without any other benefits like meals cooked for them.... depends on where in the country we are talking about I guess... here in London its on the low side but elsewhere could be acceptable... I wouldn't be allowing them use of the phone either especially if they want to 'phone home' eek!!!! let them use their mobiles...

Any

Hi,
£400 is enough for 2 people (bed and bills, no phone and food though!) for some places in the country, like Manchester. You can rent a house for £400 near Manchester, + bills on the top, it would be a bit more expensive for them to rent the whole house, but then they would have more privacy - and that is the main distinction here.
However, £400 would probably not be enough in lets say London.
I do think from what you say that the rules are a bit loose and it's difficult to say whether your mum is loosing out or not.
If they pay £400 for beds, heating, water & electrocity - I would say fair enough (depending on the area).
However if she is feeding them and USE OF THE PHONE??? The phone bill surely must be different from month to month? How about one of those prepay cards? I think they could get hold of those, don't you?
I think it is time for your mum to sit them down and agree on the rules properly.
Good luck xx

ginvzt

TurnaroundSue wrote: »

Hi All - I was looking for advice really. My mum is renting out a double room in her house for £200 per month. This includes all the bills, use of shower/bath, washing machine, etc but the person does buy their own food.

[STRIKE]Why everyone is saying that she feeds them? OP said the tenants buy their own food.[/STRIKE] (Thanks for pointing out - I missed that when reading!) I agree about the phone, although you can find pre-dial numbers that makes phone calls abroad very cheap, less than to call your neighbour! (Just a quick search shows 0.5p/min). Why doesn't she say that they can call, but only using these pre-dial numbers, and if they don't then they have to pay for it themselves? She can get a detailed bill, surely.

Depending on the location, £400 is a bit too much for a room. My OH was renting a room (and I was welcome to stay whenever) when he just changed the job, with all included (bills, phone, Sky TV, internet) and he was paying £300 - this was Blackpool. We now rent a 2-bed coach house for £550 near Preston, but we pay our own bills.

pinkshoes

Unlike tenants renting a property, lodgers have very few rights, so she should just give this girl a weeks notice to move out, then find herself a new tenant who pays upfront for each month!

This girl is well and truely taking the p*ss!

Oldernotwiser

ginvzt wrote: »

Why everyone is saying that she feeds them? OP said the tenants buy their own food. .

OP also said "and in that time she feed them alot also."

blushingbride_3

your mum needs to be careful as i am not sure if 2 people in a room counts under the 'rent a room' scheme and she could get caught for tax!

I am in Norwich and charge £300 for my student lodger, she shares facilities but does her own cooking etc. £200 is way 2 cheap. I also only allow guests 2 times a month (to control boyfriends moving in!)

I would have thought £300 depending on where you are living, especially as i presume ur mum will be paying a contribution to have them there for council tax? does she live alone? because without them she would get a discount for single ocupancy.

Get her to write them a letter, either they pay more or move out she doesnt even have to legally give notice period but should probably to ease problems. Last time i asked someone to leave i gave a 2 weeks notice.

Hope that helps!:) also advice gumtree its fab!:)

Katie

Any

ginvzt wrote: »

Why everyone is saying that she feeds them? OP said the tenants buy their own food.
Depending on the location, £400 is a bit too much for a room. My OH was renting a room (and I was welcome to stay whenever) when he just changed the job, with all included (bills, phone, Sky TV, internet) and he was paying £300 - this was Blackpool. We now rent a 2-bed coach house for £550 near Preston, but we pay our own bills.

Yes, the OP also said she feeds them "occasionaly". That is what I mean, the rules are a bit loose. It can also cause a bit of a disagreement - advantialy they might think it comes with the rent payment, or she might cook for them to have a company and they won't turn up... and she ends up upset.

Your OH paid £300 - for one person. That is not full time shower, dishwasher, washing machine etc for second person.... I think £400 for 2 is comparable with your £300 for one.

ginvzt

The £300 rent was valid if I moved in - it was an option when I changed my job, but would have been a bit too far to drive to work every day for me (50 miles). Instead we now pay considerably more, but have our own privacy.