Take in a lodger... official MoneySavingExpert.com discussion

credit_crunch_dad

:money:Hi - new user - posting the following as got only one reply. Can you help with some advise please.

Will be grateful to know how an unassertive person can manage very difficult lodgers.

We recently let a room to a couple of friends. Had a horrible experience - they shouted at my wife, insulted us. We are a little bit timid and not assertive. We gave them a nice room with brand new decorations. But they filled the whole kitchen and two refrigerators with food, were playing music loudly, paying rent late and asking us not to use the bathroom. We will be very grateful if you can suggest whether we should let a room or not. And how to manage difficult boarders. My wife has blood pressure and had some heart problem. We are both middle aged but timid. Will appreciate any help though this mail may be late for the thread. Many thanks for your advise

spirit

credit_crunch_dad wrote: »

:money:Hi - new user - posting the following as got only one reply. Can you help with some advise please.

Will be grateful to know how an unassertive person can manage very difficult lodgers.

We recently let a room to a couple of friends. Had a horrible experience - they shouted at my wife, insulted us. We are a little bit timid and not assertive. We gave them a nice room with brand new decorations. But they filled the whole kitchen and two refrigerators with food, were playing music loudly, paying rent late and asking us not to use the bathroom. We will be very grateful if you can suggest whether we should let a room or not. And how to manage difficult boarders. My wife has blood pressure and had some heart problem. We are both middle aged but timid. Will appreciate any help though this mail may be late for the thread. Many thanks for your advise

Hi credit crunch dad,

they sounded like the lodgers from hell. you speak in the past tense so i assume you have got them out now?

if you do let again then consider having people like yourselves. If they were young lodgers you had then perhaps think about going for someone older - perhaps a Monday to friday person.

Once you have in mind the type of let you want, then be very clear about your house rules. Make them known to prospective lodgers and then have them in writing which the lodger must sign and keep a copy of. allocate them kitchen space and a shelf in the fridge or whatever and make it clear what is and is not allowed.

outofthewoods_2

Warning! Yes most insurance companies will give you contents insurance if you have a lodger. I took out contents/buildings insurance on Saturday with Halifax.
What they DIDN'T tell me was having a lodger means I have
no personal belongings insurance or accidental damage cover.
Only discovered it today when I wanted to insure my son & his film camera when travelling abroad, worth over £1,500 (so no travel insurance would cover it.) Rang Halifax to see if my contents insurance would cover it and was told I didn't have personnal belongings, either at or away from home! Rang several insurance companies who all refused the cover for personnal belongings (in and away from home) and accidental damage.
:mad:
Today I cxd Halifax & went to Zurich! Slightly more expensive.....but not if anything gets stolen or broken!

machairs

I have a lodger who stays with us in theory for 7 nights per week on a full-board basis. In theory she only stays 3 nights a week so I provide a laundry service (I have 3 children and washing/drying for one more makes no difference) and she shares our evening meal with us. She's no bother, the kids love her and she's a great babysitter for an hour or two when dh and I manage to get out for a drink or just the Tesco shop.

At present I charge her £80 pw. In the future, when she leaves us, I am considering changing what we offer. If I'm correct from what I read here, people are getting £80+ a week for providing just a room? If that is the case, my new lodger will be a Self Catering one.

My next question is; when we put on our extension, we hope to recover some of the costs of it by renting out perhaps 2 rooms or letting 1 big room to 2 sharing. This will take us over the tax threshold but how do I work out how much tax I will pay?

Thanks in advance

Anne

machairs

Bump, sorry but would find responses very helpful

machairs wrote: »

I have a lodger who stays with us in theory for 7 nights per week on a full-board basis. In theory she only stays 3 nights a week so I provide a laundry service (I have 3 children and washing/drying for one more makes no difference) and she shares our evening meal with us. She's no bother, the kids love her and she's a great babysitter for an hour or two when dh and I manage to get out for a drink or just the Tesco shop.

At present I charge her £80 pw. In the future, when she leaves us, I am considering changing what we offer. If I'm correct from what I read here, people are getting £80+ a week for providing just a room? If that is the case, my new lodger will be a Self Catering one.

My next question is; when we put on our extension, we hope to recover some of the costs of it by renting out perhaps 2 rooms or letting 1 big room to 2 sharing. This will take us over the tax threshold but how do I work out how much tax I will pay?

Thanks in advance

Anne

spirit

machairs,

I've never provided food since I understand that it would make me a B&B where different rules apply so I've been told. http://www.direct.gov.uk/en/MoneyTaxAndBenefits/Taxes/TaxOnPropertyAndRentalIncome/DG_4017804

have a look a the above site though for more information.

harryhound

The above link says you can make the choice to run the B&B within the Rent a Room scheme (no expenses allowable). or treat it as a normal business or as a property income business (ie unearned income).
Then if you live in a tourist destination and let to enough different people during the holiday season, you might get onto the holiday accommodation scheme. (ie its treated as a proper business, where you can invest in the "equipment" as a business asset rather than a unearned investment/speculation)
Doesn't it get complicated?!

http://www.hmrc.gov.uk/manuals/pimmanual/PIM4112.htm

puddings_2

Machairs - i think that you can have up to 2 lodgers paying in total £80 per week tax free. Anything above the £80 -or from a third lodger, you should declare on an annual tax return.

If you have a choice of two single lodgers or one couple then I would advise against letting to the couple if possible, for selfish reasons really:
1)single people are likely to be out of the house more often whereas couples will tend to stay in more.
2)Should you have a disagreement then the couple will stick up for each other against you even if one really disagrees with the other. So with single people you're far more likely to get the last word.
3)The couple are more likely to leave together than two seperate lodgers so financially, if the couple give you notice to leave then suddenly you're in a bigger hole than you would be if it was just one of your single lodgers.

As for meals provided, its quite old fashioned to provide meals but I think thats only because fewer families have meals together in modern society. You could always give them the choice?

jfjf

I'm being made redundant, my notice running out at the end of next month. My mortgage insurance hasn't been in place for long enough to pay out to cover the mortgage (it won't pay out on a claim in the first 4 months after the policy is started), and I won't be able to cover this with benefits (interest only is paid after 13 weeks). Due to long-term health problems I will have some difficulty finding another job.

As a result of this I'm looking at taking on a lodger to help cover the cost of the mortgage, but don't know whether this will be counted as 'income' and reduce my entitlement to unemployment benefit. The amount the lodger will pay won't cover the mortgage but will help towards this considerably (the rest will be supplemented by my redundancy pay for as long as it lasts), however I don't want to lose the money elsewhere and end up with no net gain and still have the risk of losing my home. Does anyone know how income from lodgers is treated by the benefits agency? I know it is tax-free as far as income goes. Anyone have experience of this?

I have a couple of potential lodgers lined up to choose from, friends of friends who are coming to my city to study at post-graduate level for a year, both with good reputations. I could potentially rent out two or three rooms (or four if I moved into the cellar!) but am just looking at one to start with as I am in the process of renovating the house and only one is ready now.

jfjf

A bit of a search has answered my question, and it's not good news:

From: www communities.gov.uk / documents / housing /pdf / 151564 . pdf (sorry won't let me post the proper link on here)

6.4 If I am on benefit (such as Income Support, Housing Benefit or Council Tax Benefit), will letting accommodation affect eligibility?

Yes. Any income received is taken into account when working out entitlement to benefits. Also, in some cases, even if the occupier pays little or nothing to the landlord and shares his or her accommodation, benefit may be calculated taking into account how much he or she could reasonably be expected to pay. This generally applies only for letting-to relatives type arrangements. You should check with your local benefits office.

Not looking good really, not sure what I can do to keep my house now.