Renting A Room

clint1974

Hello

I live in a 2 bed terrace alone. I am considering renting out a room @ around £200-£300 per month. This would mainly interest student types i suppose and they would have shared access to the bathroom and kitchen. Is there any legalities involved? Obviously i would get references and draw up some kind of legally binding contract. Any advice appreciated.

F_T_Buyer

I would check out https://www.gumtree.com, they have a forum all about renting out rooms.

You may get a better response there.

Edit: http://forums.gumtree.com/forum-1.html

martinpike

My advice would be trust your instincts more than anything.

Sure, use a contract (I don't), but not if you think you may need to rely on it later. They are about a fiver from WH Smith.

If you own the house, you may need to tell your mortgage lender. If you're renting, check you're allowed to sublet.

Check whether you need to change your buildings and contents insurance.

You will be going from a sole occupant to multiple, so unless your tenant is exempt, you may lose your 25% discount on your council tax.

I have no idea where you live, but £200 a month is very cheap. Go onto easyroommate.com or gumtree to see what the going rate is.

Cheers.

jennifernil

You need to consider bills such as electricity, gas, telephone, broadband, TV licence.
The points raised by martinpike are good.
Consider also things like is your fridge big enough to share, do you have enough cupboard space to give your tenant somewhere to store foodstuffs?
How will cleaning be shared? Would they have use of the living room?
Rent for a bedroom in a 2 person flat/house, plus use of the communal areas , in areas popular with students would be at least £275 pcm for a good standard.

F_T_Buyer

One other thing to consider is the tax you may have to pay. There is a scheme where you can earn a certain amount before paying tax on it, I think it's around £4250 a year:

http://www.direct.gov.uk/MoneyTaxAndBenefits/Taxes/TaxOnPropertyAndRentalIncome/TaxOnRentalIncomeArticles/fs/en?CONTENT_ID=4017804&chk=mGasop