Taking in foreign students/lodgers

Braxton_Hicks

Does anyone do this? I was hoping for some tips!

In particular, where do you find your student lodgers - language schools, local colleges, gumtree etc?

Anything to be aware of or consider?

Thanks!

Badger_Lady

I took in a lodger from Mauritius - he applied for the room via Spareroom.co.uk and I was happy to accommodate him.

The issue there was his visa... he paid his deposit by Western Union (which we agreed wasn't refundable) but then had his visa declined and had to wait 6 months to reapply. He eventually got the visa and by coincidence the room was vacated at the same time, so I reinstated his deposit and agreed to pick him up from the local airport.

I found it really fascinating - the guy was sooo out of his comfort zone. He had no idea about Wales or the UK and everything was surprising to him, which made me giggle every day! For example, he didn't know about seasons like 'summer' and 'winter', and didn't understand why it got dark so early in December. He also didn't understand the difference in weather and had no jumpers or warm clothes. And he was nervous about being picked out by the colour of his skin - in Newport :rotfl:. He had such a naive idea about coming to the UK and making his fortune as a singer/guitarist, it was beautiful.

But anyway - he always paid his rent on time, he was quiet and polite, couldn't fault him. A lot of people on these board thought he was going to scam me somehow, but really there was nothing he could do to 'scam' me at all! I took a photocopy of his passport and visa and got him to fill out the standard paperwork before he arrived. All kosher

Anyway I've rambled again. No idea if that helps you at all, but that's my story!

phill99

Both my sisters do this. One has long term lodgers from the local language school. The other has short term students, some just staying 3 or 4 nights, some a few weeks.

They both get them via local language schools and the like.

G_M

Check your insurance.

Check with your mortgage lender.

Check with HMRC.

If you use a language school or similar, read the contract they offer you carefully.

If you DIY, make sure you have clear ground rules, either in your own contract or in a separate document that your lodger agrees to.

There is advice for landlords considering taking in lodgers here:

LodgerLandlord (General information site)

Landlordzone (General advice)

Rent a Room Scheme (Government info on tax-free income from lodgers)

Braxton_Hicks

We rent ourselves so think we would just need permission from the landlord.

I'll have a look at spareroom, hadn't heard of that site! Think I would prefer someone a bit longer term than short term few days/weeks at a time as that sounds like quite a lot of hassle.

CKhalvashi

Badger_Lady wrote: »

I took in a lodger from Mauritius - he applied for the room via Spareroom.co.uk and I was happy to accommodate him.

The issue there was his visa... he paid his deposit by Western Union (which we agreed wasn't refundable) but then had his visa declined and had to wait 6 months to reapply. He eventually got the visa and by coincidence the room was vacated at the same time, so I reinstated his deposit and agreed to pick him up from the local airport.

I found it really fascinating - the guy was sooo out of his comfort zone. He had no idea about Wales or the UK and everything was surprising to him, which made me giggle every day! For example, he didn't know about seasons like 'summer' and 'winter', and didn't understand why it got dark so early in December. He also didn't understand the difference in weather and had no jumpers or warm clothes. And he was nervous about being picked out by the colour of his skin - in Newport :rotfl:. He had such a naive idea about coming to the UK and making his fortune as a singer/guitarist, it was beautiful.

But anyway - he always paid his rent on time, he was quiet and polite, couldn't fault him. A lot of people on these board thought he was going to scam me somehow, but really there was nothing he could do to 'scam' me at all! I took a photocopy of his passport and visa and got him to fill out the standard paperwork before he arrived. All kosher

Anyway I've rambled again. No idea if that helps you at all, but that's my story!

We’ve got a Russian girl staying with us on a long-term. We’ve bought her a cheap little runaround (‘P’ plate Fiesta) and said she can have the room for £100/mth, provided she did childcare when we need it and the Weds morning school run.

She was studying in London.

Several people locally thought she was taking advantage of the ‘nice Georgian couple who have taken pity on a North Ossetian girl’, but 4 years on, she hasn’t yet. I even sent her round to one of our BTL’s to hand a set of keys over and collect £4200 (2mth dep and +1m advance rent) cash yesterday, she came back with the money with no problem, it would be so easy for her to run.

She’s just got her MA in International Media Relations and I’ve sorted her visa so we can train her up. She’s taking my ’11’ S-Max next week and being thrown in at the deep end on a £36k salary with one of our teams.

A genuinely lovely girl with a really interesting background. She’s probably one of the other reasons I’ve stayed so apolitical in the Russia-Georgia war.

CK

rentergirl

G_M wrote: »

Check your insurance.

Check with your mortgage lender.

Check with HMRC.

If you use a language school or similar, read the contract they offer you carefully.

If you DIY, make sure you have clear ground rules, either in your own contract or in a separate document that your lodger agrees to.

There is advice for landlords considering taking in lodgers here:

LodgerLandlord (General information site)

Landlordzone (General advice)

Rent a Room Scheme (Government info on tax-free income from lodgers)

All good advice. But beware: there are many scam artists out there, who will bombard you with promises to move in/find you tenants. The famous online sites are magnets for oddballs. Do this properly - they will be living in your home. Imagine: if you don't trust them when you are out, don't let them move in.

agrinnall

You might want to consider charging a higher deposit than you would with a UK lodger, if a foreign lodger disappears back home owing you rent and bills your chances of getting the money back are slim.

SuzieSue

Braxton_Hicks wrote: »

We rent ourselves so think we would just need permission from the landlord.

I'll have a look at spareroom, hadn't heard of that site! Think I would prefer someone a bit longer term than short term few days/weeks at a time as that sounds like quite a lot of hassle.

Also look at easyroommate.com - I have used them in the past.

tbs624

OP says that she is living in a rented property - AST agreement will specifically exclude subletting rooms.

Braxton_Hicks

Our tenancy agreement doesn't exclude lodgers - just specifies seeking landlord's permission.