Getting a Lodger

anniec19

Thanks in advance for any tips you may be able to give me. I am thinking of letting my spare bedroom. I responded to an advert on spare room.com and a guy has been in touch and is coming to look at the room this weekend. I have let the room previously but only to people I have known.
I was wondering what I should get in terms of deposit and references etc.

inatdeepend

I've lodged a few times and always did the following:

One month rent as deposit
Work reference (confirming employed and salary enough to cover amount of lodging)
Previous landlord reference

That seems to be fairly standard amongst sensible people - you can read plenty of examples where people haven't had even any of the above and ended up losing money / having someone who is a nightmare!

anniec19

I'm reading through the forum now to see what other experiences people have.
I thought similar to what you said.
What would I do about a written agreement, if anything ?

Guest101

anniec19 wrote: »

I'm reading through the forum now to see what other experiences people have.
I thought similar to what you said.
What would I do about a written agreement, if anything ?

1 week deposit
Weekly rent
Week notice
Written rules of the house

gazter

Guest101 wrote: »

1 week deposit
Weekly rent
Week notice
Written rules of the house

I would certainly say a month deposit, with monthly rent. 30 days notice, but the discretion to end the agreement immediately in the case of any criminal activity.

Always go on your gut instincts.Ive been letting out to lodgers for about fifteen months,

Havent had a bad experience yet. I seem to get professionals. Got a junior doctor as one and a police officer doing a doctorate as another.

We all get on really well, will sometimes share meals and go out to eat together.

i have told them all to treat the house as their home, but my house has quite a bit of space, the bedrooms are double, lots of space. One weekend had one studying in the dinning room, one studying the lounge.

Guest101

gazter wrote: »

I would certainly say a month deposit, with monthly rent. 30 days notice, but the discretion to end the agreement immediately in the case of any criminal activity.

Always go on your gut instincts.Ive been letting out to lodgers for about fifteen months,

Havent had a bad experience yet. I seem to get professionals. Got a junior doctor as one and a police officer doing a doctorate as another.

We all get on really well, will sometimes share meals and go out to eat together.

i have told them all to treat the house as their home, but my house has quite a bit of space, the bedrooms are double, lots of space. One weekend had one studying in the dinning room, one studying the lounge.

Criminal activity?! Are u joking? It will take longer than a month for the case to go to court, and you'll end up sued for breach of contract.

Do weekly, safer all round.

G_M

Have very clear written house rules, covering everything from noise, guests, overnight guests, shared rooms/no-go areas, cleaning, shared items, + your own pecadillos......

See also

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)

Talc1234

• 1 months deposit by bank transfer so lodger is traceable
• Rent paid monthly in advance and includes everything. - fewer arguments
• An agreement with notice periods expectations for both sides
• I want to see and photograph some id such as a driving license
• References are pointless as they are very easy to fake
• I want someone with a proper agenda such as in between selling and buying a house / new job / moving into the area / broken down relationship / postgraduate student etc not someone who is rootless
• Relying on gut instinct is important
• Age and gender is not important however it helps to have someone with a similar outlook on life to you

Guest101

Talc1234 wrote: »

• 1 months deposit by bank transfer so lodger is traceable
• Rent paid monthly in advance and includes everything. - fewer arguments
• An agreement with notice periods expectations for both sides
• I want to see and photograph some id such as a driving license
• References are pointless as they are very easy to fake
• I want someone with a proper agenda such as in between selling and buying a house / new job / moving into the area / broken down relationship / postgraduate student etc not someone who is rootless
• Relying on gut instinct is important
• Age and gender is not important however it helps to have someone with a similar outlook on life to you

All good.

2 things: bank transfer doesn't necessarily help. As a friend could do the transfer.
Wouldn't personally get too deep with questions, some people do like some privacy.

A good idea is a payslip, take note of the employer and telephone the premises the next day

Sorry quick edit. Whatever the rental term, ie weekly or monthly, makes sense to have notice the same. To save messing about potentially with odd days or weeks to be paid back to lodger.

gazter

Guest101 wrote: »

Criminal activity?! Are u joking? It will take longer than a month for the case to go to court, and you'll end up sued for breach of contract.

Do weekly, safer all round.

There won't be any case going to court. They would be out the same day with deposit returned.

They can sue if they wish but unlikely.

adhara

gazter wrote: »

They can sue if they wish but unlikely.

Unlikely, but they will have a case! At the very least, there must be the mandatory one week notice, regardless of what you agree with them.