How much to rent a room out for?

Lunar_Eclipse

£400/month for a double room is loads IMO, you can have a whole one bedroom flat in most of the country for not much more. So it needs to be relative to what else you get for the money in the rental market. And has nothing to do with how much she could get if she operated it as a B&B or how much she might need more money. The room has a fair market value. It would undoubtedly pay more to operate a B&B, but workload increases exponentially.

Additionally, many people choose to ensure yearly rental yields are within the 'rent a room for free' so no tax is due.

And finally, I would imagine your Mum set this rent level and will have thoughts as to its fairness?

Any

The OP still didn't tell us in which part of the country this house is...

TurnaroundSue

Many thanks for all your replies. My mum lives on the south coast and she does not feel that the amount justifies what they get for their money. I have told her to not let them use the phone unless they are prepared to pay for the calls. The £200 came about as this was all the girl said she could afford - my mum is not very good when talking about money and she feels somewhat rail roaded into the situation. It started off doing it for a favour for a long distant relative and now they say they want to stay with my mum for a year.

I will show my mum this thread and hopefully this will help her. I know when my brother moved back home around 18 months ago he was paying her £350 per month, and that was her son, so she feels as if she is not being fair to him by allowing this girl to stay for less.

However, if that is the going rate for a room then she might need to accept this. I have yet to look on Loot/gumtree to see if I can find the going rate but will report back once I have done so and see what my mum says.

I think you are right in the fact that the arrangements are a bit 'loose' but think I will suggest to my mum that she needs to set up some rules and write them down so that everyone knows where they stand. If not, then I think they need to leave.

Many thanks once again for all your thoughts and advice - it is greatly appreciated.:T

TurnaroundSue

Hi me again ..... just been on spareroom.co.uk and it appears that in my mum's area the going rate for what my mum is offering is around £300. However, I notice that they are all taking a deposit (my mum hasn't) and want a month in advance, but my mum has to wait until the end of this month before the girl gets paid before she will pay my mum.:mad: This does make me angry as it feels that it is this girl who is calling the shots. If I lived closer I would be with my mum when she talks to this girl, however, I live 200 miles away and my hands are tied in this respect. Personally I would tell her MY terms and conditions and the rent I wanted and if she didn't/couldn't pay it then I would ask her to leave - simple. Alas, my mum isn't like me and said to me last night on the phone that she will leave it a while as this girl is homesick and she doesn't want to upset her even more - aaarrgghh!!