How to reference lodgers?

beckysbobbles1

Hi,

I'm looking to rent a room out in my house and I've done this before to friends but now I'll be looking for lodgers that I do not know.

How can I check their references and credit checks? Also what do I do about the deposit money I take?

I understand there is a new government protected scheme.

I'll be advertising the room on sites such as spare room and not using an agent. Any reference articles would be great.

Thanks.

phill99

You can do your own credit checks via Experian etc. You could also ask for a charachter reference and an employers reference.

Happy to be corrected, but I don't think the Deposit Protection Scheme extends to lodgers, only to tenanted deellings.

G_M

ParagonAdvance (Tenant referencing provider – there are others. Use Google) Letsure

Employment refs, ID checks, previous LL checks are common sense

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)

SerialRenter

G_M wrote: »

ParagonAdvance (Tenant referencing provider – there are others. Use Google)

My landlord used these guys.

Found what they ask to be incredibly intrusive, asking a ton of questions that didn't seem relevant and went many many years into the past. Took about an hour per person to complete the form.

Seemed like we were paying a lot of money and doing all the work too.

Guess it's good for the landlord though.

Rambosmum

We have lodgers, people we don't know.

We use Experian or Equifax to credit check them and charge them the £5 or so that it costs (if we can't get the one month free offer).

We get a reference from the previous landlord and from their employer and take a copy of their photo ID and a bank statement, I also like to get their work email address and send an email there.

Deposits for lodgers don't need to be protected. - I keep it in an old savings account I have, so I don't accidently spend it or anything and it hardly accrues any interest.

We have a lodger agreement, usually for 3 months initially then rolling. We ask for rent fortnightly (so that the notice period is 2 weeks) but have a clause in the contract stating that if the lodger wishes to collate the rental period to pay monthly this can be done at the discretion of the landlord but that the notice period remains 2 weeks except in cases where the landlord suspects criminal activity or feels threatened (not exhaustive), where the police will be called and the notice period reduced to 24hours.

Lodgers have fewer rights than tenants, as the live with the landlord, so it easier to get them out, but it is best still to protect yourself, you just never know. Having said that, we've had 5 lodgers and apart from one smelly one we've never had any problems.

G_M

SerialRenter wrote: »

My landlord used these guys.

Found what they ask to be incredibly intrusive, asking a ton of questions that didn't seem relevant a.

Paragon like most of the tenant referncing providers (Homelet, Letsure, CreditCheck etc etc) offer different levels of check.

Basic check is just electronic, full chck involves taking up references etc (which I would do myself) and there are options in between.....

katejo

I have been pretty informal with mine. In each case I have had a reference either from an employer or a previous landlord. I haven't used any of the credit referencing services. I haven't had any financial disasters yet. All my lodgers have been pretty good in most respects.

Tryingtomoveout

I never took references and certainly didn't credit search them. I find that meeting them once in person is usually enough..then again I am quite trusting. I took 2 weeks deposit and 2 weeks rent in advance.

Talc1234

I don't bother with references (too easy to fake). I do ask for a deposit to be paid by bank transfer and some id. Meeting them is fine and all my lodgers have so far been great

ultrarunner

Research their name by plugging into social media!