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

Andy_Hamilton

In his contract break it down to the the room rate plus a fixed, none negotional price for tax and untilities. Your not taxed on them.

matthew1007

Does anyone have a basic room to rent agreement, I have just rented my spare room out and want to cover myself?

matt

McKneff

do all you landlords, tennants realise that lodgers have to have their own televison licence. it way on our renewal

'What does your licence not cover:=

Parts of your premises exclusively occupied bu others, such as
tenants, lodgers, paying guests'

Sorry if i set off a panic

bubblesmoney

anniehanlon wrote: »

do all you landlords, tennants realise that lodgers have to have their own televison licence. it way on our renewal

'What does your licence not cover:=

Parts of your premises exclusively occupied bu others, such as
tenants, lodgers, paying guests'

Sorry if i set off a panic

if it is the lodger owning the tv then thats the lodgers responsibility. no worries for the owner if the lodger is defaulting on the tv license fees.

but what happens if the tv is provided by the owner of the property, since the owner is already paying tv tax for the premises anyway, is the tv (provided by owner) in the lodgers room included in the tv license fees paid by the owner or does the owner have to buy a separate license for the lodgers room as after reading the tv licence excerpt about lodgers i couldnt figure out what happens if the owner provides the tv in the lodgers room. can anyone clarify this please

Andy_Hamilton

I bet that no B&B has more than 1 license!

There is loads of adverts saying we know who hasn’t paid but that's not true. They have a directory of houses which shows who has paid. The TV detector people have a really had time gathering facts on houses which refuse to pay.

People who take in a lodger are under any radar. Even if they suspected you, they would need access to your property then need to prove a lodger agreement etc etc.

I'm not condoning fraud (if it is) but really cannot see anyone paying or getting caught.

bubblesmoney

i guess the LL tv license will cover the situation if the lodgers room is not locked. but does the LLs tv license fee cover the lodgers room if the room is lockable and LL provides the tv. if it needs a separate license in that scenario, is the LL liable for a separate tv license fee for that lodgers room

Mac_Sami

I am about to start advertising for a lodger. I have a contract ready, and most of my questions covered. The only thing I'm not sure about is getting references.

I want to do this, but what's the best way to go about it? A landlord reference is no use to me, because a bad landlord could want to get rid of their lodger, and so give a glowing reference. Instead I want to get an employer's reference, but I need to know which questions I should be asking, and whether it's best to do this by phone, email or letter?

I'm also considering credit checking when the lodger says they want the room. Is this a good idea?

Thanks.

Andy_Hamilton

Mac_Sami wrote: »

I am about to start advertising for a lodger. I have a contract ready, and most of my questions covered. The only thing I'm not sure about is getting references.

I want to do this, but what's the best way to go about it? A landlord reference is no use to me, because a bad landlord could want to get rid of their lodger, and so give a glowing reference. Instead I want to get an employer's reference, but I need to know which questions I should be asking, and whether it's best to do this by phone, email or letter?

I'm also considering credit checking when the lodger says they want the room. Is this a good idea?

Thanks.

I rang an old landloard of my lodger and got a good one so thought that would be enough. My contract says 2 weeks notice which is enough time to kick someone out. You can have a clause that if you feel like your home is being damaged or feel insecure this will be reduced to 1 days notice.

You can get a credit check but why would you? Your getting a bond at the start which should be enough to cover 1 months rent, if they don't pay giev them 2 weeks notice. 15 days later call the police for an intruder in your home!

Mac_Sami

Andy_Hamilton wrote: »

I rang an old landloard of my lodger and got a good one so thought that would be enough. My contract says 2 weeks notice which is enough time to kick someone out. You can have a clause that if you feel like your home is being damaged or feel insecure this will be reduced to 1 days notice.

You can get a credit check but why would you? Your getting a bond at the start which should be enough to cover 1 months rent, if they don't pay giev them 2 weeks notice. 15 days later call the police for an intruder in your home!

Hi Andy,

I'm sure most lodgers are absolutely fine - but if they're a pain to the current landlord, they might want to give a great reference just to get rid!

I feel a credit check is a good idea because in the current climate we're in, not to mention the amount of silly spending that's gone on by consumers, I don't want the hassle of having someone who's missed countless credit card payments, has CCJ's etc. I'll be taking a deposit plus one month's rent upfront, and appreciate that a few missed payments or financial issues are normal, but as I said, I just don't want the hassle of having to kick someone out, find someone else etc, as that costs time and money. I'd rather do the checks upfront and make sure I have a great lodger (I'm sure they say no lodger is better than a bad one!)

I don't want to seem overly harsh, I just want to protect my back. My contract provides a months' notice as standard from either party, unless the rent is overdue, in which case if they fail to pay within 7 days of when the rent is due, they're out.

Hope that explains my situation better. Look forward to hearing your thoughts.

savingholmes

A college has contacted us to say they are looking for locals to put up some of their students. Since we owe a bit of money for some reason this looks attractive! :rolleyes: They are offering to collect the money from the student and pay us direct... Is there anything I should watch out for? Do we have to put a lock on the room (it is a family home)?

Also we wouldn't mind sharing the kitchen (for short periods) as long as they didn't sit in it all night, wouldn't mind sharing the lounge by pre-arrangement but generally would prefer them to stay in their room....

Do those of you with lodgers put limits on how many people or who they can bring back to the house for when and how long? Also how have people got on with music volume etc?

Any thoughts ideas would be appreciated....