% of Lodger Bills to Pay

lavandergirl_2

if I were a lodger I would rather know how much I pay the rent each month so I can budget accordingly.I would rather pay a fixed amount and I would not like the hassle of splitting bills.

Rimo2021

I add the council tax onto their rent eg £300 rent + £60 CT and take that each month as the council tax is paid by direct debit from my account each month. i take a deposit equal to a months rent + the council tax so that if they leave without giving me notice I am not out of pocket and i have a month to find a new lodger.

I do the utilities separately - every couple of months I read the meters and calculate the cost and split it equally - it's fairer because bills are often estimates so I just pay these myself and I know that the lodgers are paying the correct amount for the units we have actually used rather than whatever the bill says (it tells you how to do the calculation on the back of the bills) .. that way we all have an incentive not to be wasteful - I've found in the past if it's a fixed amount some people will put the central heating on sooner than just put something on over a t-shirt, use the tumble dryer all the time etc etc

Sand_Man_2

i think spliting the bills would be alot better as mention ed above because reduces the tenants wasting needless gas, electric. they would probably expect the central heating to be on 24hrs a day if i only charged them a fixed rate.