Should I rent out a room to a lodger

dominoman

We've just moved in to our new house, just over 2 months ago. We stretched ourselves and now find that the bills are taking up our entire overdraft, and we haven't got any money left for a renovations or decorating.

I would like to rent out a room to a lodger - but my girlfriend doesn't like the idea. The lodger would have their own floor (the attic conversion that we never even go into).

How can I convince her?

The ideal would be a Mon-Fri lodger (we are in a busy commuter town, 20 mins train from London) so we have the house to ourselves at weekends. Has anyone who has a lodger specifically looked for someone like that? I don't even know how to describe it in the advert.

G_M

Yes, it's possible. Just put 'Mon-Fri lodger preferred' in the ad!

How to persuade the gf? Make her pay the bills......

LODGERS (Licencees/Excluded Occupiers)
A lodger (broadly) lives in the same property with their resident landlord, and shares facilities. Unlike tenants, lodgers have few rights.

The Housing Act 1988 provides definitions of 'Resident Landlord' and 'same property' (S31 & Schedule 1 (10).

There is advice for landlords considering taking in lodgers here:

LodgerLandlord (General information site)

Landlordzone (General advice on taking in lodgers)

Renting out rooms in your home (Government info)

Rent a Room Scheme (Government scheme for tax-free income from lodgers)

21 tips (Tessa Shepperson's Lodger Landlord website)

sequence

I'm sure there are sites dedicated to mon-fri lodgers.

Tixy

How to persuade gf? sit down and talk to her about the alternatives.
Ideally with a detailed monthly income/expenditure account.

Would she rather not renovate?
Would she rather cut back in other areas? spend less on luxuries?
Would she rather look to see if she could increase her income/get a second job?

Are you thinking loan term or just short term. E.g. would 6months of a M-F lodger be sufficient to put you in a better financial position? would she be more willing to agree if it was for an agreed short period.

Or might she be happier if it was someone you knew perhaps? any friends that would be interested? or maybe co-workers/ friends of friends/relatives?

dominoman

Tixy wrote: »

How to persuade gf? sit down and talk to her about the alternatives.
Ideally with a detailed monthly income/expenditure account.

Would she rather not renovate?
Would she rather cut back in other areas? spend less on luxuries?
Would she rather look to see if she could increase her income/get a second job?

Great advice. The alternatives are that we basically struggle by, slowly doing all the work on the house ourselves. While part of that appeals to me, we both have FT jobs so realistically it means several years to get anything done. If we get a lodger we could pay someone else to help on some of the work.

thesaint

Tixy wrote: »

Or might she be happier if it was someone you knew perhaps? any friends that would be interested? or maybe co-workers/ friends of friends/relatives?

The short term happiness would be quickly outweighed when she has to evict her co-worker and then share the table in the staff room at break time.

dominoman

thesaint wrote: »

The short term happiness would be quickly outweighed when she has to evict her co-worker and then share the table in the staff room at break time.

Yes - I think I'd rather it was someone we don't know. I can just imagine her friends with their weekly sob stories about not having money and then expecting us to waive their rent because we have the space anyway.

roobee13

Hi OP,

I got a lodger in a few years ago when I found myself in a similar situation. I too wanted a Mon-Fri lodger and found mine via spareroom.co.uk. You can filter your ad to show in Mon-Fri searches only.

I was lucky and the guy that rented my spare room was a contractor who worked long hours near a well-known contractor-heavy firm near my house. It meant he was up and out by 6:30 each morning and not hime until 7pm each night. He also did Mon - Thurs so was technically only there 3 nights a week. I was really lucky to find such a good lodger, if you go down this route fingers crossed you find someone nice too!

Good luck

Edit - forgot to add, a lot of contractors are on 3, 6 or 12 month contracts so it might help your OH knowing it was only for a set amount of time.

dominoman

Roobee - Thanks for the positive message. That's great to hear. I'm convinced, and I think my girlfriend will agree to if it is just for a few months.

I'll definitely try Spareroom.

That gives me a new priority now - to get that room and it's en-suite bathroom decorated and ready so it can be let out.

roobee13

No probs, glad it helped.

The fact you've got an en suite bedroom means minimal interruption to your day to day life. No queues for bathrooms etc etc! Contractors are also great as their long hours mean early nights and no bringing any randoms back to your home. If spareroom doesn't have anything, are there any large companies/business parks/hospitals local to you who might let you put an advert on their notice boards?

I would also follow G_Ms advice and do a bit of background reading. I can't remember where I got my STLA or ahatever its called from, it might have been via the RLA...

Happy reading!

Hermoine

I am a weekday lodger, so just to let you know what its like from my perspective. I stay in my landlady's 2nd spare room on Tues, Weds and Thursday nights and pay about 60% of what I'd pay if I was in the room full-time. Because I'm there part of the time she provides me with clean sheets and duvet, but I change the linen myself. I provide my own towel. I have a couple of drawers and a small amount of hanging space for clothes and toiletries, but I am fine about the room I'm in being used for friends of hers at the weekends. I have a bit of space in the fridge for my own food and can use the kitchen for cooking - but since I'm only there for 3 nights a week I don't cook properly, as that would involve buying in stores of staples which is too much trouble - so it tends to be ready meals and salads or frozen meals I bring from home. It is expected that I stay in my room in the evenings if I'm in, eg not watch TV with my landlady. I'm generally fine with that, although I'd prefer a small TV to watch in my room (currently managing with my ipad). Personally, I'd kill for an ensuite, as sharing a bathroom is the worst thing about being in digs. Would any of this put you or your girlfriend off?