Theatre Digs

frosty

You do have to declare it,if it's joint owned you each put half on your tax return.My husband and I are both self employed so just declare it as additional income.Its tax free upto £7,500 .We have separate insurance which cost us £110.00 for the year,plus they sent us a voucher for £50 to spend on website that sells guest toiletries,cereals ect.
So far we have had lovely guests that leave the place very clean and tidy.
90 percent of everything in the flat came from charity shops so replacing items doesn't cost a fortune plus Airbnb have insurance that pays us if there is serious damage.

Honey_Bear

I've been doing theatre digs for 25 years. I knew it was exactly the right thing for me and I bought this house specially to do it. Over that time I met my partner at a party given here by two guests ('Can we have a party?' 'Yes, as long as you invite me.') been to a wedding at Greyfriars Kirk in Edinburgh, and another on a tiny Italian island in the Mediterannean, and been to visit another frequent guest in Oporto to meet his wife, sons and new baby daughter. We've also been to a dress rehearsal at Glynbourne. The reason for all of those lovely treats was that we've made dozens of friends over the years. It was absolutely the right decision for me all those years ago and because OH is theatre, he loves hearing about what's new and all the gossip.

It's not for everyone. If anyone's thinking of doing it just for the money - forget it. There can be weeks when there's no-one staying, and yes, things get broken, red wine gets spilled on carpets and there are, very occasionally, people who are extremely irritating but the good news is - they leave. I don't declare income below the Rent a Room Scheme value limit because I don't have to, and do when it's above the limit.

My insurers have known about the guests since the Day One and don't charge me any additional premium because having someone in the house during the day when I worked fulltime was considered to be additional security. One lodger heard water running while I was out, realised I had a burst pipe, found the stopcock and turned it off. Expensive insurance claim avoided.

I'm not thinking of giving it up any time soon, but I gave up Crashpadders as soon as it became Airbnb. The guests were all just a bit odd, whereas theatre types are here to work in a professional capacity so the relationship is different.

There's a lot more accommodation available on short lets these days and I get most of the business from the digs list, very little from websites (and there are a fair few of those, some better than others, some free) and by far and away the most important - word of mouth.

You don't have to be within walking distance of a theatre but if aren't, you'll need to be able to provide a parking space.

janb5

What a lovely post Honey Bear- really enjoyed reading it!