advice on renting spare room in my flat

00ec25

Guest101 wrote: »

Jumped up councils really do annoy me, forget who they work for...

they work for the interests of the taxpayer ... or would you rather that they make no checks at all on claims for tax rebates???
Next you'll be moaning about benefit Britain and how many people get something for nothing

asoe209

Alot of information floating around. So notbas easynas heres a room you want it thats the rent.
Still got few bits of reading to do but seems to be the only option right now.

angelsmomma

If you are charging £450+ a month you will need to register for tax as it is above the rent a room tax scheme allowance which is £4250 a year.

katejo

angelsmomma wrote: »

If you are charging £450+ a month you will need to register for tax as it is above the rent a room tax scheme allowance which is £4250 a year.

But there are 2 ways of doing it. There is the option of keeping detailed records and offsetting expenses. Alternatively you may only exceed the allowance by a small amount and then you can just pay tax on the excess over the £4250. In the 2nd case though you can't offset any expenses ie. cost of gas/electricity/extra council tax/repairs etc. are included in the £4250 total.
Therefore if you intend to charge for gas/electricity on top of the £450, you would have to declare that as income.

angelsmomma

katejo wrote: »

But there are 2 ways of doing it. There is the option of keeping detailed records and offsetting expenses. Alternatively you may only exceed the allowance by a small amount and then you can just pay tax on the excess over the £4250. In the 2nd case though you can't offset any expenses ie. cost of gas/electricity/extra council tax/repairs etc. are included in the £4250 total.
Therefore if you intend to charge for gas/electricity on top of the £450, you would have to declare that as income.

Do you have a link to this please.

Guest101

00ec25 wrote: »

they work for the interests of the taxpayer ... or would you rather that they make no checks at all on claims for tax rebates???
Next you'll be moaning about benefit Britain and how many people get something for nothing

Is there any indication the op isn't a taxpayer?

Nope, it's a system that clearly is over stretched and will eventually collapse.

U have ur opinion and I'll have mine

katejo

angelsmomma wrote: »

Do you have a link to this please.

The following is a summary about how to to declare it. I put this enquiry on the tax page earlier this week. It will only work if you are a basic rate tax payer and have nothing else to declare so would not normally need to complete a tax return. This link tells more details about the rules re. rent a room http://www.hmrc.gov.uk/manuals/PIMMANUAL/pim4001.htm



Some time ago I got the following bit of helpful info from someone on MSE. Can anyone confirm whether this is still correct? I have not needed to complete a form yet as I have kept within the RAR limits but will probably have to do so after April 2014. Do i have to write a letter to request a form or can I request it over the phone/by email?


as regards paying tax, no you do not need to do a SA return, you must write to your tax office and ask for Form P810 . You cannot donwload a blank form, HMRC must send it to you but it is simply a list of your excess income not a tax return.HMRC will then adjust your tax code to collect the tax via your PAYE

katejo

00ec25 wrote: »

they work for the interests of the taxpayer ... or would you rather that they make no checks at all on claims for tax rebates???
Next you'll be moaning about benefit Britain and how many people get something for nothing

I am not going into all the details of my previous argument as I have already done this. I only mentioned it here in case the OP might not be aware of it. I don't dispute the need for some checks but the requirement to provide the lodger's new address amounts to surveillance and invasion of privacy.

BitterAndTwisted

What the Council will be doing with that info is checking whether the occupant of the property they have moved to is still claiming the single-person's 25% discount, I reckon.

I wonder what would happen if the landlord, in support of claiming the discount, made up an address or gave one in the belief that it was correct but it turned out not to be?

For the OP I would suggest this:

For rent I would ask for slightly below the going rate for a room in a shared house or flat. Someone looking to live in someone else's home is going to have less autonomy than in a shared property.

Have a think about the kind of person you'll want sharing with you. If you're a quiet home-body you might not want someone who has loads of pals around all the time before they go out clubbing.

And yes, you will need to offer them a share of your living-space, although I'd draw the line at them using your computer. If someone would be happy just being a hermit, banished to spending all their time in their bedroom they are likely to be happier renting a bed-sit.

I've had lodgers sharing with me for years in the past and for the most part it's been a pleasurable experience. Those who abused my hospitality or took unfair advantage were given a fortnight to make other arrangements. I always took a deposit of a couple of week's rent to cover damage or any bills which came in after they'd gone. Some people find it more straightforward to charge a rent inclusive of bills but then the lodger has no incentive not to put the heating on full-blast as soon as you've walked out the front door.

A communal kitty of about a fiver a week for shared stuff like milk, tea-bags, lav paper and washing-up liquid, that sort of thing generally works out pretty fairly.

ASK FOR REFERENCES, both previous landlord and current employer and follow them up!

Talc1234

BitterAndTwisted wrote: »

What the Council will be doing with that info is checking whether the occupant of the property they have moved to is still claiming the single-person's 25% discount, I reckon.

I wonder what would happen if the landlord, in support of claiming the discount, made up an address or gave one in the belief that it was correct but it turned out not to be?

For the OP I would suggest this:

For rent I would ask for slightly below the going rate for a room in a shared house or flat. Someone looking to live in someone else's home is going to have less autonomy than in a shared property.

Have a think about the kind of person you'll want sharing with you. If you're a quiet home-body you might not want someone who has loads of pals around all the time before they go out clubbing.

And yes, you will need to offer them a share of your living-space, although I'd draw the line at them using your computer. If someone would be happy just being a hermit, banished to spending all their time in their bedroom they are likely to be happier renting a bed-sit.

I've had lodgers sharing with me for years in the past and for the most part it's been a pleasurable experience. Those who abused my hospitality or took unfair advantage were given a fortnight to make other arrangements. I always took a deposit of a couple of week's rent to cover damage or any bills which came in after they'd gone. Some people find it more straightforward to charge a rent inclusive of bills but then the lodger has no incentive not to put the heating on full-blast as soon as you've walked out the front door.

A communal kitty of about a fiver a week for shared stuff like milk, tea-bags, lav paper and washing-up liquid, that sort of thing generally works out pretty fairly.

ASK FOR REFERENCES, both previous landlord and current employer and follow them up!

1. Don't understand the logic of 'charging slightly below market rate' If you give your lodger some autonomy i.e. respect their privacy, make them feel welcome, allow them to use shared areas / equipment without standing over them fretting, then there is no disadvantage compared to a house / flat share. Use spare room dot com to benchmark prices.

2. Charge all inclusive as it is easier for you to charge and them to pay than you giving them lots of bills. If they take the mick with the heating etc ok 2 weeks notice But micromanaging their usage will generate bad feelings. Communal kitty?? What for? Add it to the rent

3. References easy to fake. Bad people fake references. Not worth bothering with. Call employer to ascertain that the lodger works there but that is all you need to do. Instead have a long chat with them to find out what sort of person they are, don't necessarily take the first person who views

4. Lodger will at the very least expect unlimited use of Broadband Internet. I use fibre optic so we can both stream movies use skype with no interference. Some people may say that is risky but you will have a copy of their ID, previous address right? Besides if you don't offer Internet then you won't get any lodgers. If possible give them a TV for their room so they can watch what they want without being intimidated by what you want (I also give my lodger unrestricted use of living room but there again I don't want someone who solely sits in their room).