Letting a room out

Joey122

tsharp wrote:

A woman i work with rents a room to a Jap student (we work at a uni), she gets £115 a week, and the lodger is quiet as a mouse. The uni pays her, so the rent is never likely to be unpaid, but it's only for 3 months or something....

That's a monthly mortgage paid right there!

TSHarp - Any ideas where you can get these Japanese students? I live in London

PoochyChoo

TSHarp - Any ideas where you can get these Japanese students? I live in London

are they sold on the market? you sound like you picking up a new toaster !!

ixwood

lol

A conventional lodger sounds like a more practical money earning scheme. For anyone wanting to help youngsters/foster, the money should be a bonus, not the motivation.

Anyone you know? Advert at work so at least you know they've not just been let out of prison for gbh?

Failing that, there's websites for finding tenants. Have a google.

Are trial periods allowed? i don't see why not.

heppy23

Joey122 wrote:

TSHarp - Any ideas where you can get these Japanese students? I live in London

We had foreign students staying with us on and off for most of my childhood.
We lived just outside central London (W9)

My mum didn't go back to work until I was 14 and that was largely down to the money coming in from the students.

As I remember they need a bit more "input" than a normal lodger - I think we had to serve them a breakfast (as in lay the table and give them a choice of cereals/toast etc), give them an evening meal. They also had to be invited to socialise with the family - sit and watch TV etc, and give them some help with their English.

My sister and I thought it was great, all these new friends to play with and we could help them learn English.

From memory the organisation was called Student Accomodation Services.
I've googled them but can't find anything relevant.

It's worth dropping a line to all your local Uni's, colleges etc. You might also find they are looking for accomodation for staff (newly relocated tutors etc).

Perez

Getting a lodger in is a very good idea - I just bought my first house about 15 months ago, and since last Jan I've had a friend live with me that I know through work - he's a contractor and has his own place in London where he goes at the weekend - so I get £350/month and the house to myself Fri/Sat/Sun nights, and I get good company during the week when he is here - perfect arrangement, long may it last! Really starting to wish I'd been able to afford a 3 bed place really rather than 2, so I could rent a second room out and pay much of my mortgage! :beer:

Mrs_Optimist

We are also interested in renting out a room to foreign students when we buy buy our new home to make mortgage overpayments and also because we both think it would be a good experience for our two children (8 and 5) to interact with different nationailites. Will now go and look at our local University website for further info.

NB strange question I know, but if the rent falls into the threshold where we have to declare tax, could we offset the tax bill with the money spent on food, heating etc for the lodger (in much the same way as avoiding the capital gains tax issue)

u2o

Just FYI, ive lodged for few years as a tenant. as a student in Sixth Form, i needed a place to stay which proved difficult for my age but was able to find a place to lodge. first year i was catered all the meals etc which was brilliant and really helped me to become independent, but at a step at a time. in my second year, i moved into a different place where i had to cook for myself, but was a great fun. i moved out last year for uni, but every holiday if i wanted to go back to see my friends, i could always stay there and just pay the rent! worked well both ways i guess.

so yeah, if you've got facilities to rent a room out then go for it, theres bound to be someone needing it! (like i was, and i wasnt a dodgy tenant :P )

Nix143

Silly question, sorry, but I have a single room that is sitting empty and wondered whether anyone would rent that - it's not tiny but it's not overly big. Has anyone any experience of renting small rooms? This has always put me off as I assumed no one would want it

seven-day-weekend

Nix143 wrote:

Silly question, sorry, but I have a single room that is sitting empty and wondered whether anyone would rent that - it's not tiny but it's not overly big. Has anyone any experience of renting small rooms? This has always put me off as I assumed no one would want it

In my house in the UK the small bedroom is 9ft by 12 ft. I don't know whether this is about the size you mean?

It is furnished with a single bed, a wardrobe, a chest of drawers and a small desk and the young man who rents it pays £236.pcm (inclusive of all bills except food and telephone).

He shares the house with my son and another lodger. They also have a communal lounge, dining room, kitchen and bathroom and a garden.

Hope this helps.

seven-day-weekend

We have had lodgers on and off throughout our married life and now our son has them!

You could try https://www.easyroommate.com (we have got a couple of ours this way).

Go to https://www.lanlordzone.co.uk for loads of advice, and paperwork such as lodger references and agreements.

Other lodgers we have got by word of mouth. One of my son's lodgers was a friend long before he was a lodger.

We have also had a Japanese girl from our local Uni for a month. The Uni paid. I had to be her mum for a month and treat her as part of my family.
Contact the Accommodation Unit at your local Uni.

You can also apply for an 'ordinary' student lodger here, so long as the Accommodation Unit deems your house suitable (the lady from the Unit did come to see our house, but only asked to see a valid Gas Safety certificate). They will put your advert on their own website. I have got a couple of lodgers this way.

Hope this helps.