How much to charge a lodger for a deposit?

loveyourmoney

Hi all

I am looking to rent out a room in my house, money has got a bit tight, so was wondering how much to charge as a deposit? I am looking at £450 (including bills) for rent. I am based in Bristol.

Any advice welcomed.

Thanks

LYM

G_M

My rule of thumb would be to charge rent weekly and charge, say, 2x weekly rent.

Make sure notice period (1 week) is clear.

See also

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

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

See:

LodgerLandlord (21 tips from solicitor Tessa Shepperson + General information site)

Landlordzone (Various articles on taking in lodgers)

Renting out rooms in your home (Government info)

Rent a Room Scheme (HMRC guide for tax-free income from lodgers)

MyOnlyPost

I think the deposit for a lodger should be less than that for a tenancy as you are living in and can monitor the house so agree 2 weeks should really be enough

Honeylife

Lodgersite.com is the best site I have found for uptodate information.
Spareroom.co.uk is very good for seeing what your local area charges and the condition and size of competitive rooms.

Having been a Live in Landlord for several years I always ask for a months deposit.
I always use a Licence Agreement and usually, we mutually agree 28 days notice, unless it is a short contract ie less than 6th months.
NEVER use the deposit for the last month's rent! Many lodgers ask to use the deposit for the last month rent. It is for damages, outstanding sums and extreme cleaning costs. Only if all is satisfactory you forward the deposit refund.

My daughter lived in Bristol 2 years ago with a LIL, she paid a per calendar month with a month's deposit.

G_M

Honeylife wrote: »

......
I always use a Licence Agreement and usually, we mutually agree 28 days notice, unless it is a short contract ie less than 6th months.
NEVER use the deposit for the last month's rent!

This may have worked well for you, but it's a risk.

We periodically see here LLs conrned that their lodger is
* in arrears * noisy * taking advantage eg with utilities/consumables * inviting guests/partners over excessively/continuously * whatever
and sometimes with intimidating behaviour too.

For this reason I'd advise a short notice period (1 week) tomake evistion as easy as possible if required.

Yes, the lodger might leave at short notice, but that's a minor issue for the peace of mind.

This is your home, and sharing your home with someone once the relationship has broken down (or even threatening) is not pleasant.

But where the relationship works long-term, it makes no difference.

NinaSwiss

1 month is reasonable in my opinion.
I've lived in house shares or lodged with owner occupier for over 10 years and moved about 9-10 times in that period. Also have friends that have lodgers (quite common in London) or are currently lodging/house sharing.

The norm is 1 month deposit and I think its a reasonable time to give someone to find and move to another place. I now have a lodger (sometimes more at a time) and I specify 1 month deposit. However I do have house rules clearly set out in writing which I also discuss with any prospective lodger on viewings. I also explain that breaking them means they'd be out in a week of even less if my safety is threatened.

So far it's been great. It really is about picking the right person and not just the first person that walks through the door. Even then you still need some luck. Also helps to be a diplomatic straight talker.


A few rules I have:

-- Cleaning --
I have a cleaner that comes every 2 weeks but lodger still needs to clean up after him/herself. Sometimes standards drop and I always mention it and it gets back up again.
I also have examples which I discuss: cleaning cooker after cooking, cover food in microwave, wipe bathroom floor after use if floor gets wet, clear debris/spillage in kitchen/bathroom sink after use etc.
Sounds petty but usually I find discussing these at viewings also helps me identify people who share similar opinions.

--Friends/sleepovers
-- I'm happy for friends to come over as long as they respect the place and keep noise down. No more than 2 sleepovers a week.
They are welcome to the living room but they seem to prefer hanging out in the bedroom (even better for me) .

--Smoking--
No smoking in house/front of house/garden
I only go with non smokers but I've had one that resumed smoking so had to make it clear that he could not smoke anywhere in/around the house.

--Loss of front door keys--
If lodger looses front door key, he/she has to pay for change of lock and a set of new keys. I need to be able to account for all keys to my front door.
I contribute half first time round but a repeat and theyll have to cover full cost.
The key I have means they are unlikely to be able to make copies. I also discuss this at viewing.

-- Cant have fan heaters in bedroom (Bills are inclusive)
I'm happy for central heating to be turned on if extra boost is required so no need for fan heater.
I take meter readings every month so monitor usage in case it gets ridiculous. Went up abit but thats to be expected as I cant expect everyone to live exactly as I do.

I know some are not keen on signed contract but I prefer to have one.
Its basic and I discuss every item in it (including house rules) with the lodger prior to signing.

Honeylife

NinaSwiss wrote: »

1 month is reasonable in my opinion.
I've lived in house shares or lodged with owner occupier for over 10 years and moved about 9-10 times in that period. Also have friends that have lodgers (quite common in London) or are currently lodging/house sharing.

The norm is 1 month deposit and I think its a reasonable time to give someone to find and move to another place. I now have a lodger (sometimes more at a time) and I specify 1 month deposit. However I do have house rules clearly set out in writing which I also discuss with any prospective lodger on viewings. I also explain that breaking them means they'd be out in a week of even less if my safety is threatened.

So far it's been great. It really is about picking the right person and not just the first person that walks through the door. Even then you still need some luck. Also helps to be a diplomatic straight talker.


A few rules I have:

-- Cleaning --
I have a cleaner that comes every 2 weeks but lodger still needs to clean up after him/herself. Sometimes standards drop and I always mention it and it gets back up again.
I also have examples which I discuss: cleaning cooker after cooking, cover food in microwave, wipe bathroom floor after use if floor gets wet, clear debris/spillage in kitchen/bathroom sink after use etc.
Sounds petty but usually I find discussing these at viewings also helps me identify people who share similar opinions.

--Friends/sleepovers
-- I'm happy for friends to come over as long as they respect the place and keep noise down. No more than 2 sleepovers a week.
They are welcome to the living room but they seem to prefer hanging out in the bedroom (even better for me) .

--Smoking--
No smoking in house/front of house/garden
I only go with non smokers but I've had one that resumed smoking so had to make it clear that he could not smoke anywhere in/around the house.

--Loss of front door keys--
If lodger looses front door key, he/she has to pay for change of lock and a set of new keys. I need to be able to account for all keys to my front door.
I contribute half first time round but a repeat and theyll have to cover full cost.
The key I have means they are unlikely to be able to make copies. I also discuss this at viewing.

-- Cant have fan heaters in bedroom (Bills are inclusive)
I'm happy for central heating to be turned on if extra boost is required so no need for fan heater.
I take meter readings every month so monitor usage in case it gets ridiculous. Went up abit but thats to be expected as I cant expect everyone to live exactly as I do.

I know some are not keen on signed contract but I prefer to have one.
Its basic and I discuss every item in it (including house rules) with the lodger prior to signing.

Most here ^^^ is identical to mine (I thought it was me who had written this!)

I have a large Victorian house with large rooms, so there is a sofa and coffee table in the rented rooms so they do not have to come into the Living room and can entertain a personal guest in their own space. They also have a mini silent fridge and a kettle. This was when I got so fed up of them trooping up and downstairs to make tea. Rules are very clear from the interview and all references etc are checked thoroughly. I am not keen on friends sleeping over but I am not unreasonable especially with relationships, just not more than twice a week. I now give them the rules written in a folder along with Wifi passwords etc. I do all the bulk cleaning but they have to clean up after themselves and clean their own rooms. I provide all the toilet paper and cleaning materials and can tell who is using them and who isn't! I have inserted into the Licence Agreement a clause that if national Gas and Electric charges increase by x % I will have to make a reasonable increase.

If you have one week notice (mutual) it doesn't give the lodger enough time to find another place, therefore it restricts you with the type of lodger who will seek your accommodation. I won't consider a place with one week notice so why should my potential lodger? That's too transient. However I do encourage them to google "Lodgers and Licence Agreements", so that they know if something untoward happens, I don't have to go to Court to get them out and they have fewer rights than a Tenant.

The interview is crucial don't take anyone just because you need the money, ask the right questions and interview with someone else to get another opinion. Sometimes it doesn't work, chalk it up to experience and move on. But on the other hand, always remember that both of you have to adjust to each other so give it some time. At the moment I am having serious issues with someone who is finding recycling difficult after 5 months! Never happened before, all others get the system quickly. I am not going to give her notice, I simply won't renew her contract.

Not sure about the noise thing. Never been an issue, the lodgers use headphones when listening to music or netflix and as I said visitors are restricted.

loveyourmoney

Thanks all for your replies. Some differing opinions but deffo food for thought.

Honeylife and NinaSwiss how do you 'set down' your rules. Do you talk them through on viewing? Do you email them a list prior to signing? Do you make them sign them? Are they separate to the contract?

I will draw up a list myself and see if I sound too militant

loveyourmoney

Also how do you check references? An agency would probably just do a cursory glance at a reply/reference from their employer but do you ring them etc?

Honeylife

I advertise on Spareroom.co.uk and read all the Advice written on their website. Have a look there.
I started with four rules. Don't make noise after 10.00pm, no smoking, no overnight guests, no cooking later than 10.30 except for something light like toast. Several years later its is now many more. I used to make them sign it but I have now made it into more "House Notes", so they no longer sign it. You don't want to be Proscriptive, but you must have some guidance, plus I have found it helps them to refer back to the House Notes for Wifi password and other bits of stuff. I go through the most important ones at the interview so if they don't like the sound of them, they can decide they don't want to live with me. On arrival day I go through the House Rules together before we sign the Licence Agreement and the room Inventory, before I hand over the keys (which is done when the money has been transferred to my account!)

References: You want to know they can pay the rent and won't abscond without paying or stealing something etc. Passport they have to bring the original and a copy, you keep the copy. Reference from Employer or Uni. I google the employer to see if they exist and look for several numbers, I may check company house too. I then ring to check it's not their best friend or favourite uncle giving them a reference. I also do the same with bank reference. Finally, I check with the previous landlord. I also have a Emergency contact sheet they have to fill out so I know they have parents or someone I can track them down if I need to. (never happened yet)

The most important piece of advice given to me by my former landlady who was my go-to-for-advice, was put a lock on my bedroom door and lock it every time you leave the room. Second get a small fireproof safe - not for money but for valuable papers you don't want to fall into the wrong hands.

Lodgers' should never have a lock on the rented room. Never try to be best friends, but you can be friendly and don't 'friends 'on social media, your lodger doesn't need access to your personal life. It's business.

I have emailed a Q&A to potential lodgers and the reactions have been interesting. One person was incredibly rude in response - fine it told me that we wouldn't gel. But most others are appreciative of my being upfront and accept the fact that I am experienced.

Being a LIL you are meant to be cheaper than a tenancy, and the Lodger doesn't have as much free movement as if they were living with Housemates. They cant throw a House Party or have mates over to watch football in your living roomI