Cleaning fee when away

Comms69

Temptation_waits wrote: »

I have 3 lodgers.They agreed to the cleaning fee when signing the contracts.

Just to clarify i am the one doing the cleaning. I do their rooms too. This is recommended my spareroom.co.uk as there can be some legal issues around lodgers if you cannot access their rooms. Lodgers seem fine with it.

Thanks for the responses so far, however none have really addressed the question at hand.

No there are no issues, legal or otherwise - except you snooping in their rooms!

freeisgood

Yes, still charge. It will still get dusty, lodgers there or not...you wouldn't ask the council for a 2 weeks off your council tax because you were not in the country as on holiday.



PS Speaking as someone who lodged, paying for cleaning is brilliant way of solving the problem of cleaning rotas etc, there was always someone messier than most who didn't pull their weight. And if working long hours, coming back to a hoovered and cleaned house is better. Its what they signed up for.

elliemet23

I would have said the £50 should still stand... I would imagine the tenant would complain if they came back and everything was covered in dust because you hadn't done it.

It would save you a lot of hassle to just ask for the full amount whether they are there or not!

xx

saajan_12

Comms69 wrote: »

- How much?
- Each? To clean your own house?
- They shouldn't be paying it at all!

I'd report you to HMRC....

Why.. nothing to suggest OP isn't paying tax on their income. It is OP's home and clearly through the cleaning the lodgers know about and have agreed to pay for the use but not exclusive possession of 'their' rooms.. the OP has every right to go anywhere in their home.

And yes, they should be paying for cleaning if they agreed to it.

Comms69

saajan_12 wrote: »

Why.. nothing to suggest OP isn't paying tax on their income. It is OP's home and clearly through the cleaning the lodgers know about and have agreed to pay for the use but not exclusive possession of 'their' rooms.. the OP has every right to go anywhere in their home.

And yes, they should be paying for cleaning if they agreed to it.

Because there's no way that £150 would be a deductible expense for cleaning. and before you say there's no evidence for that - If the fee was mandatory, why is it simply not included in the rent?


Yes the OP has every right to go into any room, however it's still quite invasive.

marcarm

Just to play devil's advocate, we do not know how much the OP charges for rent, or the area they live in, so the rent plus the £50 fee may equal the going rate where they live, it's just that they have itemised it instead of making it all in.

IE Rent £450 plus £50 cleaning OR
£500 rent cleaning included.


No difference apart from the way it is laid out on paper

Comms69

marcarm wrote: »

Just to play devil's advocate, we do not know how much the OP charges for rent, or the area they live in, so the rent plus the £50 fee may equal the going rate where they live, it's just that they have itemised it instead of making it all in.

IE Rent £450 plus £50 cleaning OR
£500 rent cleaning included.


No difference apart from the way it is laid out on paper

Indeed, no difference, so why make it a difference? That's the issue. To me that's itemised so as to claim it as a deductible expense. I could be wrong, but I see no real reason for it to be like that

bowlhead99

Comms69 wrote: »

Because there's no way that £150 would be a deductible expense for cleaning. and before you say there's no evidence for that

I don't know what sort of 'evidence' you're talking about but the OP has never suggested that they don't pay tax on the amounts charged to their lodgers, and they have never suggested that they deduct their £150 cleaning fees from their total income to reduce the tax they pay.

Yet you are suggesting that someone go running to HMRC ??

If the fee was mandatory, why is it simply not included in the rent?

It's quite convenient when you are shopping for a new tenancy or lodger arrangement if you can compare like with like. So if the accommodation is £150pw plus utilities or inc utilities. you can compare that with other rooms at £150pw on same basis ; and then know that at property A there is a cleaning fee of £50pm while at property B you would have to arrange a cleaning service yourself if you didn't want to do your own cleaning.

As a point of reference we have a reasonably large semi and pay a cleaner about £40pw which annualised would run about £173 a month. If there were 4 people in the house sharing that cost it would be £40-50 each. So if the OP wants to charge their lodgers £50 each but then chooses to do all the cleaning work themselves rather than have a maid come in, there are no legal issues with that as you mentioned in your other post... but neither are there any tax issues assuming the OP is including all the income correctly on their tax returns. It only seems to be you who thinks the OP should be reported as a suspected tax evader, for which you have no basis.

Comms69 wrote: »

To me that's itemised so as to claim it as a deductible expense.

It's not an expense of the homeowner it is INCOME.

I could be wrong, but I see no real reason for it to be like that

Well, I've given you a perfectly rational reason.

FBaby

You have to remember this was the deal they voluntarily signed up to. Whilst you may have an issue with it, they didn't. Horses for courses. Not everyone wants to clean their own room.

So was this an option which they were all happy to pay, or was it a case that finding decent accommodation in your area is a luxury and you used this to impose the fee, ie. they want the place, they pay whether they like it or not.

If the latter, it is pure greed as no way cleaning YOUR house is worth £150 a month (£200 really if you were to count what you should pay yourself for the service).

Comms69

bowlhead99 wrote: »

I don't know what sort of 'evidence' you're talking about but the OP has never suggested that they don't pay tax on the amounts charged to their lodgers, and they have never suggested that they deduct their £150 cleaning fees from their total income to reduce the tax they pay. - So why keep it separate? Why not just say that this is the rent £x, by the way I clean you room once a week.

Yet you are suggesting that someone go running to HMRC ?? - No, I said I would report to HMRC

It's quite convenient when you are shopping for a new tenancy or lodger arrangement if you can compare like with like. So if the accommodation is £150pw plus utilities or inc utilities. you can compare that with other rooms at £150pw on same basis ; - Well that may well be the case, but ultimately most people just want to know what they're paying each month. and then know that at property A there is a cleaning fee of £50pm while at property B you would have to arrange a cleaning service yourself if you didn't want to do your own cleaning.

As a point of reference we have a reasonably large semi and pay a cleaner about £40pw which annualised would run about £173 a month. If there were 4 people in the house sharing that cost it would be £40-50 each. - I'm not disputing the cost of a cleaner, I'm suggesting that cleaning your own house is not a deductible expense. So if the OP wants to charge their lodgers £50 each but then chooses to do all the cleaning work themselves rather than have a maid come in, there are no legal issues with that as you mentioned in your other post... - What legal issues? I haven't mentioned any but neither are there any tax issues assuming the OP is including all the income correctly on their tax returns. It only seems to be you who thinks the OP should be reported as a suspected tax evader, for which you have no basis. - In my opinion the way the payments are separated is suspicious.

It's not an expense of the homeowner it is INCOME.

Well, I've given you a perfectly rational reason.

The point i'm making is that it is an income, and by separating the cost it suggests that the reason is to claim it as a cost. In any case, I do not need evidence to make a report to HMRC