Fair House Rules? Increase Rent?!

G_M

Just going off at a tangent for a moment...

you say you pay rent, so this is not your own house - you are a tenant? Does your lease say anything about subletting, sharing etc? Does your landlord know of/approve? You may be in breach of your tenancy.

Secondly, your friend is your lodger (excluded occupier), not a tenant, so has no security. If things do NOT work out, you can evict her easily.

Finally, you are charging her £400 (a month I assume) = £4800 pa. This is more than the £4250 permitted under the government's rent-a-room scheme, so you should be declaring this as income and paying tax on it.

Notmyrealname

Pintsizedmel wrote: »

I have just received a new electricity and gas bill and my gas and electric is increasing again by 40pounds and my water a further 10 compared to when I used to have a 2nd person. Were all aware of how much cost of living is increasing. I would like to increase the rent to 420, 5 pounds extra per week. And im also going to discuss saving electricity/gas etc like putting tvs off standby as I have a 50inch downstairs and she has a 50inch in her room.

Advice would be great on whether im been a fair landlady , im not very good at this stuff

What she does in her own room is none of your business. A TV on standby will use maybe £2 a year in electricity. Other than that, everything you've said about the joint living areas is perfectly reasonable.

As your rental is already above the level for the tax free rent a room scheme, you'll be paying tax on it assuming you've actually told the tax man - you're breaking the law by committing tax evasion if you haven't. Also unless your tenancy agreement allows you to sublet, you're breaking that too.

If you up the rent, 20% of that increase will go straight into the tax mans pocket so you'll end up with an extra £4 a week. Also what are comparable rents in the area?

princeofpounds

Why don't you chuck her out and accommodate her ex instead? ;-)

crude jokes aside, don't worry about the TVs. They use far less energy on standby these days than they did even 5 years ago. Focus energy saving on things that actually have an impact; tumble dryers and that sort of thing.

Eloise86

If you are renting this place and don't actually own the house then i think you are being a little hasty?

And it's right about tv's on standby, it costs next to nothing, so maybe go easy on her with this but be firm with the dog hairs business especially if it makes you ill.

My friend owned a dog when i shared a house and even though he owned the home, he would always make sure the dog hair was kept on top of. good luck

SuzieSue

I can't believe you've put up with your friend for 4 months. Sorry, but she sounds like a slob.

The "rules" that you have written are nothing more than common courtesy when you are living in a house share. If she isn't doing any of these things already then I think you should stop taking pity on her and ask her to leave and find a more considerate lodger.

Pintsizedmel

Thanks guys so much for input. And yes my landlord knows etc. can I ask what are best ways to save electricity? I don't have a tumble dryer or dishwasher and heating isn't on. Wondering where it's going....

slopemaster

You should not have to clear up her dog's !!!!, ever! She should do it.

Hoovering daily does sound a bit OTT - but, if it's the only way you can live with her dog, then either she agrees or she'll have to move.

Other stuff all sounds reasonable.

I HATE hoovering, so when I shared, I made sure to always do more than my share of washing up and putting out rubbish etc, to make up for the fact I hardly ever hoovered. This seemed to work fine. But if she is not pulling her weight with sharing cleaning, you definitely need to sit down and talk it through.

slopemaster

Also I agree, consider putting rent down (to below tax threshold) but split bills 50/50

propertyman

How about you lie?

Explain that the bills and mortgage has gone up and sadly you are going to have to put the rent up. A lot.

She and her little doggie go back to Kansas and you get someone in who

• is fat & doesn't feel the cold, and therefore no BF
• doesn't watch TV
• has no dogs,
• only eats take away so there is no washing up, and
• has perfect night vision and never put the lights on?

Or seriously,

Dear lodger I love you, you're my BFF and I am really glad you turned to me for help, but like all friendships, living together is a whole different thing and I have to get some things off my chest*before it destroys the friendship.


Good luck:rotfl:

* That sounds like the intro to a gentleman's ladies who like ladies video, but then if you think that might work......

propertyman

Then read this thread.

http://www.landlordzone.co.uk/forums/showthread.php?37856-%C2%A3500pcm-but-I-am-not-allowed-to-eat-in-my-room!

You will cry.