Advice from Lodger Landlords please!

heretolearn_2

minimor, yes you can do Rent A Room scheme for a small B&B - you have to complete a self assessment tax return and compete the relevant parts to declare your profits. See this for guidance: http://www.hmrc.gov.uk/helpsheets/hs223.pdf

PollyOnAMission

I have been letting my spare room out to lodgers for over three years now. I started off having a friend live there, then when she moved out to live with her boyfriend I advertised online. I'm now on my fourth very successful online lodger.

1. Do you have more success from advertising locally as opposed to spareroom.com etc?
I never actually thought to advertise locally. I have always used spareroom/flatshare.com and found this to be great. Last time I also put an ad on gumtree (no responses) and easyroommate (didn't really go anywhere). I definitely found spareroom/flatshare the best and this also seems to be where people looking from abroad look. Make sure you add photos and I found it was absolutely worth paying for a month of membership. I filled all my vacancies within a month of advertising. If you live near a university it might be worth putting out some feelers there, but I expect any students would look on the websites anyway. There are a lot of mature/PhD/masters students who would prefer to lodge in a house than live with loads of other students.

2. Do you reference your lodgers?
I've never actually done this, but I expect it would be a good idea. What I've done instead is done plenty of emailing/facebooking with the potential lodger after they've looked round and we've given each other the thumbs up. That way I got to know them a bit first.

3. On average how long do your lodgers stay?
Mine have varied. A couple of them stayed about a year each, one stayed only three months but that was planned due to her only staying for one semester at uni.

4. Do you charge weekly or monthly? How quickly do you evict if they fall into arrears?
I ask for a monthly bank transfer for the coming month. They have always set up a standing order and I've never had any problem with non-payments.

5. Is a shared bathroom a problem? (I don't have an en-suite room)
In my house there is just me and the lodger, with boyfriends etc visiting at weekends. I've never found a problem sharing the bathroom, although I do have an extra toilet downstairs. We very rarely need to use it.

6. How do you keep security/guard against theft? (do you have a lockable room for example)
I have no locks other than on the bathroom door. In fact I believe there are certain rules about not having locks on doors for the rent-a-room scheme, although this perhaps only applies to the room you are letting. I just do as much research as I can and get to know someone as well as possible before they move in, and wouldn't let them move in if I felt they were not trustworthy or that they were hiding things from me. I keep valuables stashed away in secret places as a matter of course anyway.

7. Did you find it awkward at first?
I may just have been lucky with my lodgers, but no They have all been lovely girls and we've ended up staying good friends. I made sure I really made an effort to welcome them in: cooking them dinner on their first night, providing them with some mini toiletries etc to welcome them, was chatty and open with them.

8. What kind of things do you provide? I was thinking: Double bed, bed linen, towels, wardrobe, chest of drawers, bedside tables, bedside lamp, 17" freeview TV. Is that adequate? Do you clean the room?
I provide the furniture (double bed, wardrobe, drawers, bedside table) and a mirror on the wall and other things depending on what they want. Some have wanted bed linen and towels, some have preferred to provide their own. They are responsible for their own washing and cleaning.

9. Do you take DSS lodgers? How did it work out?
I've never done this and would be quite wary of it unless it was someone I knew well.

10. How dis you work out how much bond to take?
I take one month's rent as a deposit and have always given the full amount back upon leaving (good girls never caused any damage )

11. How do you handle your lodger having guests over? I think it would be unreasonable to say that they can't have people over, but am wary of overnight stays and the like!
All my lodgers have had boyfriends who visited on varying degrees of regularity. Most of them were in long distance relationships so the boyfriends would stay for the weekend when my boyfriend was also visiting. I actually found this really fun as we had another couple to hang out with/eat dinner with/play games with etc. Several have had friends over for drinks/dinner etc or to visit (sleeping in their room with them) which is also fine. I would NOT be happy if a lodger brought back a conquest they had only just met that night, for example. I would NOT like having a total stranger (to them and me) in my home like that. All my lodgers have been in long term relationships though so that's never been an issue.

I've allowed lodgers to bring pets, which opened up quite a niche market. Two have had dogs (I also have a dog) and one had pet rats (in a cage). If you are open to caged pets (kept in their room) you might find you are very popular. I know my girls told me they really struggled to find somewhere that allowed pets. A cat/dog would be a whole different kettle of fish though and would be totally down to personal preference.

I feel like I have been incredibly lucky with my lodgers. I am still in touch with all of them, two have become some of my closest friends and one has moved in with her boyfriend just a few houses down the road so we still see each other a lot

My advice would be not to panic and rush into saying yes to someone unless it feels right and you click with them. OK, you could have a lodger who just spends all their time in their room, but if you get someone REALLY good it can be such good fun. Girly chats over a bottle of wine when the boyfriend is doing his own thing, someone to go out and do things with, a new friend to make. I guess it depends what you want out of it. But definitely don't say yes to someone you feel at all uncomfortable around. Have a think (and talk with your boyfriend) about whether you'd prefer a male or female.

Hope this helps, good luck with your hunting