Lodgers

pollyanna24

How much would you charge close friends and family? We have a friend and my bf brother living with us and they give us £320 (combined). I know this is a ridiculously low amount as I pay for their food and cook it too and they have run of washing powder, loo roll etc.

BF has finally accepted that this is too low and wants to put their rent up by £70 each. This is still way below market rate in my opinion, but I get called a money grabbing *** for wanting more. He says they are friends and family and we are supposed to be helping them. But for how much and at what cost? Me and bf are constantly arguing over the amount they pay.

Sus1e

I would sit down and work out what your bills are (including mortgage) and split the lot by 4 - fair and easy

liney

The going rate in my area is £50 pw week room only. My brother pays £75 per week including bills but not food: this includes BB and full Sky package.

I would remind your boyfriend that the favour is letting them stay, and you didnt agree to subsidise them too.

groatie_queen

Difficult for you when they are close. I have a lodger but she responded to an ad in the paper. She pays me £330 pcm all in, cooks her own food, but this amount covers all utilities inc phone, detergent for w machine, loo paper, cleaning materials. She has a generous amount of space, two rooms to herself on the upper floor, a sitting room and a bedroom - the best in the house. There are just the two of us here. She also gets the use of the garden, barbecue etc if she wants.

I think as well as cost of bills plus food, you should be factoring in something for your time and effort in having their food bought and meals cooked!! Or you should ask them to buy and cook their own food.

Also, if you have more than one lodger, be aware you are liable for tax on the income - the Government's Rent-A-Room scheme only allows you one lodger tax-free. So you'll need to factor the tax in too.

When you say you and your partner have arguments about it, who is reluctant to charge them a more realistic rent? I think they are underpaying you, even at the proposed new rate - you've given up privacy too, which has a value.

pollyanna24

It is him who is reluctant. I want more money!! I agreed to the terms that we started with because I didn't actually believe they were both going to move in. The new terms which which bf wants to implement in three months time (giving them time to get used to it, aww diddums!) is also going to include that he wants them gone by this time next year.

I don't actually want them to go, but as much as I thought I was doing them a favour when I let them stay, I also thought, great, I great to overpay on the mortgage and save a bit of money cos in a couple of years, that money will come in handy when I have two kids and no spare bedrooms! But it's not working out that way!

I don't expect them to pay the mortgage, and I have worked out what their share of the bills would be £130 (the brother isn't even paying this much at the moment, so effectively we are paying for him to live with us, the friend is paying the equivalent of £18 a week). Sometimes they have to share a room though, which can't be nice, but it is a big room.

Our mortgage is £1,000 and we chose to take that out, so can't really expect them to pay for that!

Hotspur

It's not easy helping friends sometimes.

I helped out some good friends last year for a couple of months while they were waiting to move to Scotland. I had no idea what to charge them so asked what they thought was reasonable and they came up with £75 per week for them both inclusive of council tax, elec & gas. They also got and prepared their own meals. They got their own room and bathroom and use of the rest of the house. I agreed to the £75 as it was a short term let, I think the commercial rents usually work out at more when you include all bills. It was strange, initially, taking money from them though.

They looked at renting a house but couldn't get a let of less than 6 months ande it would have been c. £500 a month anyway. We all won in the end even if they did stop for 4 months when things didn't go to plan with the purchase.

It is only reasonable to pay a fair share of the bills (excluding mortgage) if you are stoping anywhere for a period of time and if I would you I'd have a periodic review of where this is going.

Even with good friends they are lodgers and perhaps, if they are stopping months, they should have a rent book and all the safeguards that go with that for all concerned, just in case.

pollyanna24

I think my bf has finally come around to my point of view. A "family" meeting is going to be called for Saturday and we are going to up their rent by £100 each in three months time. He thinks this is too much, but he has spoken to his boss about it who thinks this is fair (I can only assume he listened to his boss more than me as he thinks I am money money and his boss is objective).

If they don't like this, they can start looking elsewhere, but I know for sure that they won't find anything cheaper, or if they do, it will be grotty and they won't get their dinner put on the table each night!

Dan_Thunder

Why 3 months!? Just sit them down and tell them that your £1000pm mortgage is now nearer £1300pm because you're having to subsidise them.

Therefore they can either pay the extra money starting from next month or, if they can't afford that, I'd tell them to find somewhere else to stay.

It's ridiculous to give them a 3 month grace period. Why should you and your partner basically flush £500+ down the toilet just so they can get used to the notion of paying more rent!

pollyanna24

Gosh, I love you people!! People who actually see things from my point of view! If I try and get them to pay next month, there will be uproar. I am willing to give them some grace, maybe till 1st September.

One of the main reasons I was getting so het up about it all was because the friend isn't even working, and doesn't seem to be doing much about getting work. Although, I tell ya what, if I was living off my friends for £200 a month, I prob wouldn't get a job either!

What also bugs me is that they think we are rich because of this £320. They simply see it as extra money in our back pocket. Ooh, I'm getting all irate about it again, must calm down!!

Dan_Thunder

If I were you I'd fish out some bills for rates/food etc before this 'meeting'. I'd then write down how much it's costing you and your partner to house these two.

Show them the list and explain to them that far from giving you extra pocket money you are, in essence, paying for them to live with you, which is just ridiculous!

pollyanna24

I do have a wad of notes for this meeting, stating our bills and why I think it's fair that they should pay a bit more. I think I might also print this thread off for them to read.

I think I've decided they can be up in arms about it all they want. If they want to move out because of what we said, then I'll get another lodger in, who pays me more than what the two of them are at the moment, and who will buy his own food and who will cook his own dinner!