Room for rent

Big_Tone_2

Has anyone been down this route who can give me hints, tips or advice please? I’m a landlord virgin. :embarasse

For anyone who doesn’t know, this Government scheme is an initiative to encourage home owners with a spare room to rent it out, more often than not to students from abroad.


It’s not often you can get a tax break but you are allowed to earn up to £4250 before giving the gov a single penny!

I’d also be very interested to know of your experiences, either good bad or indifferent.

There is a lot of information on the Gov site but I imagine there are pitfalls or small print somewhere and I'd rather find out now, before I dip my toe in the water, than find our later when I'm submerged...


Tony/Tone

GEEGEE8

We used to take in foreign students when I was a kid. We had a massive house, so it made sense.

It was brilliant, we had German / Indonesian and French people staying. I thought it was great fun we usually had 2 students at a time, which was better as they had some common ground to talk about.

nicknacknoo

I have a lodger in my two bedroom flat - it's worked well i have two bathrooms so we don't have to share.

Only thing i would suggest is you don't include bills in with the rent - my lodger doesn't seem to be remotely concerned about her energy consumption - but then why would she! :mad:

Good luck - give me a shout if you want any more info!

Big_Tone_2

You’ve just hit on one of the the very things I was bothered about nicknacknoo.

I am very miserly with heating and things; I have to be living on my own. So I tend to live in one room throughout the winter, (the lounge), which I will heat up to ~21C.

Not being sexist now but if it’s a woman she will want it up around the melting point of lead in every room.;) To be safe from pervy allegations I’d probably prefer to go for a man, so to speak. That said, I’d prefer a woman in many ways because I think they are tidier and usually smell nice.:)

Now if the lodger is anything like a friend I have, they will want every room heated. I personally can’t see the point of having a whole house heated when I may go up to the toilet and back twice an evening, so why heat everywhere for the sake of 10 minutes outside the lounge?


I can’t sleep in a heated bedroom either so I never have that heated and I don’t feel the cold much because I keep myself quite fit.

Therefore I can imagine the possible £400 per month being closer to £300, maybe less, once I have taken everything into account. So then I’m getting into the territory where I wonder if the extra income is worth the invasion of my privacy, space and concern about what they might be up to.

Hmmm... I’m beginning to wonder if it’s all worth it. I won’t be able to do naked Tuesdays anymore either.

ThriftyFelicity

Big_Tone wrote: »

I am very miserly with heating and things; I have to be living on my own. So I tend to live in one room throughout the winter, (the lounge), which I will heat up to ~21C.

Not being sexist now but if it’s a woman she will want it up around the melting point of lead in every room.;)

Hmm, 21C "very miserly"... no, no, Big Tone, in MSE world that is in fact positively tropical. In winter, if any part of our house is heated above 18C, it is a miracle; the usual temp is 16C and I've been known to keep it closer to 14C when hubby has gone to work and I've got a nice hot mug of something in my hands and a moggy heater on my lap!

Big_Tone wrote: »

Hmmm... I’m beginning to wonder if it’s all worth it. I won’t be able to do naked Tuesdays anymore either.

No wonder you keep the heat turned up to 21C!

cat10_2

My parents used to take in foreign students when I was younger. One advantage of this is that they are usually only short term tenants (eg for the summer) so if you find that your home has got too crowded it will only be for a short time.

Joyful

I have done both. The Foreign language students are harder work as you may have to cook for them and are expected to talk to them too. Some times though they will ask to go bed and breakfat only and cook there own meals.

The one time I had a lodger he did not have money for the deposit for 2 weeks, then after 1 month he could not pay me. To make it worse he decanted wet smelly wooden furniture into my rooms as he had been forced from his home and had stored them in my garden. I told him to get rid of them but found when the smell started leaking from his bedroom that he had stored them there. After all that I could not get him to leave and family moved his things out!

I know the above is extreme but give me FL Students every day. Sometimes mine stay for months but the always come from a local language college so back up is there.

scotsbob

1. Get references and make sure they are not from family and friends.
2. No partners staying overnight, before you know it two people will be living there for the price of one.
3. No parties.
4. Take a deposit
4. No Scottish, they will always be drunk.

lesalanos

place an ad at work and you night get somebody you know renting from you.

Someone at work also used the spareroom website

gratefulforhelp_2

I have done this and rented to a student nurse. I included bills, she cooked for herself. It worked well - you can get a contract from Staples or wherever.

We never have our thermostat above 18 degrees either.

You will need to set some groundrules.

Big_Tone_2

Is that because you let a room with a lockable door and couldn't keeps tabs on him/her? If so, what rights do you have to go into their room; for what reason or under what excuse?

I was thinking of just having it bolted on the inside so you know, and they know, you're not going to wake up in the middle of the night to the sound of a chainsaw and a leather face.

Is it the norm to make the room secure with a five lever mortice lock to which they have all keys?

Thanks guys, good stuff and very helpful

Joyful wrote: »

I have done both. The Foreign language students are harder work as you may have to cook for them and are expected to talk to them too. Some times though they will ask to go bed and breakfat only and cook there own meals.

The one time I had a lodger he did not have money for the deposit for 2 weeks, then after 1 month he could not pay me. To make it worse he decanted wet smelly wooden furniture into my rooms as he had been forced from his home and had stored them in my garden. I told him to get rid of them but found when the smell started leaking from his bedroom that he had stored them there. After all that I could not get him to leave and family moved his things out!

I know the above is extreme but give me FL Students every day. Sometimes mine stay for months but the always come from a local language college so back up is there.