Silly question, but when renting is it ok to use a lounge as a 2nd bedroom?

Bored

When I was an undergrad, the only way I could afford to live near my university was with a group of four friends renting a three bed flat and converting the lounge into a fourth bedroom. We always made sure to check with the landlord that they were happy with us doing this before signing the contract, but the majority we asked were fine with it.

MissTasmanian

At least you had a choice! When I was at university you almost always had to go into someone's bedroom to get to the kitchen. One place the landlord told us it wasn't a problem because we could go around the house and into the kitchen through the yard!

steampowered

It is very common for lounges to be converted into bedrooms and rented out, certainly in London.

I wouldn't have thought the landlord would be concerned if you are paying the rent and not damaging the property?

nkkingston

It'll work best if the lounge isn't a through room. With larger HMOs there are regs about fire evacuation routes (you can't have the only exit via the kitchen, which can be an issue in two-up-two-downs if the lounge is converted to a bedroom) but for two of you it should be okay.

SarahB89

Tried this as a student and got told we couldn't because the lounge had a gas fire in it. It was in Scotland, so possibly different safety regulations, but worth checking.

nimbo

I thought it wasn't recommended to sleep in a room with a gas appliance in case of carbon monoxide leaks.

The through route thing would also be worth considering. How bad would you need a cup of tea to have to face the night the partner stayed over?

beeg0d

goodwithsaving wrote: »

Don't undervalue having a lounge. You'd have to eat, use the laptop, watch television in your bedroom. You can't properly switch off if your bedroom becomes your living space, which impacts on quality of sleep.

I dont know where you get that from. i live alone in a 2 bedroom flat with a large lounge, and i spend around 95% of my time at home in my bedroom. My main TV, coffee table and desktop computer all in my bedroom. The lounge is bascally a laundry room (unless i have visitors then its used as a lounge).
I can switch off perfictly fine in my bedroom and have no problems with sleep quality, however i do struggle to switch off when trying to relax in the lounge. I guess its more a matter of what your used to then the room you use, if you use your bedroom as your relaxing space you'll struggle to relax in a lounge and visa versa.

TBagpuss

As others have said, it's unliekly that there would be any legal issue but think about the lay out of the property - obviously it would not work well if the lounge/second bedroom is the only way into the kitchen (or bathroom, or front door)

Presumably you would be looking for an unfurnished place?> If not, then you have to think about how you are going to move the furniture around to queeze in the extrabed, andhow it will work for the person sleeping in the longue - is the other person likely to expect to come in to watch TV, use the sofa etc? I think you would need to make sure that you were both very clear that it is a private bedroom you might sometimes invite/be invited into, not the shared living room where you/friend happen to sleep.

And as others have said, look for somewhere with a kitchen large enough to eat in if you can.