lodger problems

Daisies

This is related to why I gave up being a lodger - I was paying £500 a month for a room in a couple's house (inclusive), which included being there 7 days a week (they would have charged £350 a month for weekdays only) yet they wanted me to be out all the time - not around at weekends (I kept having to go and stay with friends 2 hours drive away) and they hated it if I wanted to use the kitchen to cook meals.

Please think carefully before letting a room to a lodger - it's absolutely miserable being one with someone who doesn't want you to be there!

Sammy85_2

Im a lodger whilst im away at college. I love it. I live with a lovely old couple and there are no problems whether im out all day at college or lounging around at weekends or during free periods. Stayed here loads of times before and its cheap at £10/nt B&B.

Fire_Fox

123oleary wrote: »

hi all
for the last six months i have had a lodger and it has worked reasonably well and in some ways he is a good tenant. the lodger is an eu national.
last week he lost his job and the employer refused to pay his salary up to date or any notice.
whilst i sympathise with his predicament , my lodger rarely leaves the house and makes up to 20 coffees a day. also while i am out at work all day i have no idea what bills ,broadband etc he is running up and it also means that i dont get even a couple of hours to myself downstairs without him paddling through to make yet another cup of coffee.
our contract states one months notice is to be given by either party to end the tenancy. rent is paid upfront on the first of the month and i hold a deposit of one months rent. he has made a few breakages of beer glasses and also my bath tap which will cost £70 to replace and fit but i was going to absorb these costs as wear and tear and accidents happen.
i am expecting he will soon have money problems and he has mentioned to me that if he cant get his backpay he can't afford to stay in this country. no timescale was mentioned.
my question is how to resolve him constantly been in and his energy consumption. i dont feel i can talk to him about it because i arent in often enough to enforce it . i feel that i will have to get rid of him.
i also think that he may not have his rent on rent day, if he asks me to use his deposit as rent should i let him stay or can i kick him out there and then ? and if i did kick him out there and then do i have to refund his deposit given his breakages and not giving me a months notice. also can i get rid of him now because his employment status has changed. on my advert i said working people only although it is not in the contract.
i welcome your comments.

Have you done anything to help this person claim their lost wages, even point him in the direction of Citizen's Advice? As an EU citizen is he entitled to claim benefits? Have you helped him at all with that? It is very difficult to break a bath tap, are you sure it was not wear and tear? Seriously how much do beer glasses cost??

You talk about 'getting rid' of a human being, like he was a piece of rubbish or an discarded possession. I don't hear any sympathy or empathy: you sound like an absolute nightmare to live with. I don't have a problem with you behaving in a business-like manner and serving this tenant notice, but don't dress it up as being the tenant's fault.

123oleary wrote: »

thanks for the replies.
emmzi- i do sympathise but when you come home from work and theres someone sat on your sofa in their pyjamas watching telly and a mountain of washing up in the sink, crumbs all over the worktop and one time an unflushed toilet and then he spends the rest of the day mooching round the house its hard to take.

i know drinking coffee doesn't sound a big deal but he makes it using a stove top esspresso maker and microwave to warm the milk, two or three a day and a couple more on weekends is no biggie but now its more than one every hour. and the cleaning up after each one means more hot water being used.

The personal hygiene and tidiness is a completely separate issue form the rent and energy consumption. If your lodger is not respecting you and your house then you need to make your expectations clear. The complaint about energy is IMO completely unreasonable, you chose to have all inclusive bills to make YOUR life easier, you cannot then dictate usage patterns to a paying customer! On the one hand you are complaining about dirty washing up in the sink, on the other complaining that he is using too much water to wash up the coffee maker ... make up your mind.

PasturesNew

As per #14, maybe he doesn't know about signing on... that he can, how to, where, filling in the forms etc. He'd be able to get LHA at shared room rate and get some dole spondoolicks in his hot mitt.

How'd you cope abroad?

mymini

IMO the OP are too mean to the lodger.

If you want an empty house when you come back from work, why rent your room out to a lodger? He pays the rent and he has his right to be there 24/7.

Have you ever shared a house/flat with someone? Have you worked/lived/studied in another country?

If you happen to be my lodger, and lost your job, what would you think if I make you homeless the next month?

Inforapennyinforapound

PasturesNew wrote: »

As per #14, maybe he doesn't know about signing on... that he can, how to, where, filling in the forms etc. He'd be able to get LHA at shared room rate and get some dole spondoolicks in his hot mitt.

How'd you cope abroad?

No useful comments to the op I'm afraid,but interested in the above comment.

Is it really true that people from the EU can work here and when they lose their job they can sign on? Dont they have to be British citizens?
If this is true then i am amazed.

So, i can go find a job in Italy/France,somewhere sunny and if it doesnt work out then i can claim money in that foreign country as the arrangements should be recriprocal.Correct?

terryw

Inforapennyinforapound wrote: »

So, i can go find a job in Italy/France,somewhere sunny and if it doesnt work out then i can claim money in that foreign country as the arrangements should be recriprocal.Correct?

Basically, yes

getmore4less

Definately try helping the guy out with benifits, CAB to get the money owed etc. jobcenter+ to look for more work, all these things will help stop the rot.

If he has allready indicated he thinks he will have to go home if he can't resolve the situation you can bring this up as well.

Next time it might be worth considering weekay lodgers they tend to be much less intrusive and usualy have another home to go to.