Lodger Advice

[Deleted User]

Hi I just joined this forum to get some sensible advice. I am a resident at a working centre I have a contract and so considered a lodger I guess. At the moment I don't work so I am on universal credit. The rent here is £430pcm £270 is considered rent and £160 in bills and an evening meal (even if you dont eat it you pay!). I get £550 from gov and pay £430 that leaves me with £120 for food and essentials for the month.

Problems -

The heating is on 6am to 9am and 6pm to 9pm approx.The hot water is on 6am to 11am and then 6pm to 11pm. During the day I cannot have a shower because of no hot water.

The kitchen is shared between a few people and has an economy7 water heater which holds like 50 litres? So if it runs out the water is arctic to wash up so you have to either use 'boost' on the water heater and wait 30 mins or boil a kettle neither seem efficient or economical.

My room which has single glazed windows and draft from windows & door. The room next door shares a radiator (timber partition wall with a gap!) so they can hear everything and so can I. If they open window my room gets cold too.
I have been asked to pay 20p per hour to use a heater in my room on top of bills.

I have been asked not to make phone calls in my room, not use kitchen after 10pm (told go hungry!) and laundry room now cant be used after 1030.

As a working centre 'residents' nd voluteers have to clean toilets for guests. Residents that dont work have to work 20hrs a week or 15 if part time and 5 hrs if full time. (Having to work and pay rent!) Also we have to cook 4 times a month on rota.

I'm just wondering if any of this is acceptable from a landlord or lodger perspective, you probably need to ask some questions .. interested in thoughts from either side. Thanks

pinkshoes

obsidianfox wrote: »

Hi I just joined this forum to get some sensible advice. I am a resident at a working centre I have a contract and so considered a lodger I guess. At the moment I don't work so I am on universal credit. The rent here is £430pcm £270 is considered rent and £160 in bills and an evening meal (even if you dont eat it you pay!). I get £550 from gov and pay £430 that leaves me with £120 for food and essentials for the month.

Problems -

The heating is on 6am to 9am and 6pm to 9pm approx.The hot water is on 6am to 11am and then 6pm to 11pm. During the day I cannot have a shower because of no hot water.

- that is 10 hours a day to shower, so perfectly reasonable! You could always use a swimming pool shower if desperate.

The kitchen is shared between a few people and has an economy7 water heater which holds like 50 litres? So if it runs out the water is arctic to wash up so you have to either use 'boost' on the water heater and wait 30 mins or boil a kettle neither seem efficient or economical.

- maybe not, but your bills are included so not an issue.

My room which has single glazed windows and draft from windows & door. The room next door shares a radiator (timber partition wall with a gap!) so they can hear everything and so can I. If they open window my room gets cold too.
I have been asked to pay 20p per hour to use a heater in my room on top of bills.

- perfectly reasonable. You could wear a jumper or out a blanket over your legs?

I have been asked not to make phone calls in my room, not use kitchen after 10pm (told go hungry!) and laundry room now cant be used after 1030.

- not sure about the phone call bit (why??? Too noisy?) but the kitchen rule is more than reasonable. Plenty of foods you can eat that do not need a kitchen.

As a working centre 'residents' nd voluteers have to clean toilets for guests. Residents that dont work have to work 20hrs a week or 15 if part time and 5 hrs if full time. (Having to work and pay rent!) Also we have to cook 4 times a month on rota.

- sounds OK to me. If you are not working, why not help??

I'm just wondering if any of this is acceptable from a landlord or lodger perspective, you probably need to ask some questions .. interested in thoughts from either side. Thanks

£120 a month spare cash to pay for breakfast and lunch is more than enough.

If you don’t like it, could you not move out into a normal rental? Not sure how your rent compares to private normal rental’. Oxford a room can be £500 a month plus bills!!

G_M

I'm not sure what a 'working centre' is, or what that involves in terms of your contravt. I doubt if you are a lodger ('excluded occupier') though.


As the contract seems to involve work, it is possibly 'tied acommodation' (acommodation linked to a job), though having said that you do not seem to be in paid employment, so it's a bit vague.


As for the various prohibitions on when you can do what - well, I suspect those rules are there to protect others from noise and disruption. In general terms they seem fair, though I agree it's far more restrictive than living in a rented flat of your own.


But presumably that's what you have to put up with in return for paying just £270 a month rent!


How much would rent be locally for, say, 1/3rd of the rent in a 3 bedroom flat-share? With all food and bills and council tax on top........?


So to sum up
* seems a cheap place to live (subject to you confirming where/local rents)
* can't comment on legalities as contract is unclear
* if the restrictions and obligations to 'volunteer' are unacceptable to you, why stay?

Puflet

While it's very much more restrictive than renting your own flat, it actually sounds like a very good means of tiding yourself over whilst looking for a job or making other significant changes to your life.

I know there have been times in my life when I'd have jumped at the chance of a deal like this! Especially as you're not working at the moment, and many landlords will not accept benefits recipients as tenants.

If you're not sure whether you're getting a good deal or not, check out a website like this one: https://www.spareroom.co.uk/

It will give you some idea of the context in which you're operating, and either reassure you - or give you potential alternative options.

Good luck!

[Deleted User]

So if i get back from work late say I did night shift work a) cant use kitchen b) cant have a shower I know you are assuming this from most people working 9-5 jobs but the rules seem a bit harsh


As for wearing a jumper sure but its drafty cold and I cant work a computer with gloves on! Is there a legal min temperature?



is £160 for bills much considering this place has no gas only lpg & electric its a charity, not sure how that works for counil tax etc.?

kdotdotdotdot

The rules aren't harsh - they're designed to make shared living work as smoothly as possible, so no one is disturbing the rest of the place by cooking in the middle of the night, or running a shower and so on. While you're not working, there's no reason why you can't shower in hot water, use the kitchen and all the rest within the set hours given. You pay for the evening meal because it's been cooked for you, whether you eat it or not.

If you're about to get a job that has shift work, then why not talk to whoever's in charge about being able to leave a plate of food for you when you get home?

Regarding costs, it seems about right for what you're getting in total (I'd say the bills portion is very high, but the rent quite good, so it balances out), but you could probably pay about the same elsewhere and not have the restrictions, which would certainly annoy the heck out of me. I don't know where you're living and whether there are other options for you, but are you able to rent a room in a shared house? Most places outside of London you should be able to do that for £430/month. If you do, do yourself a favour and let your future housemates know before you sign an agreement that you'll be working night shifts.

kerri_gt

Even if you were working night shifts it would be likely the hours the hot water is on would still man you could shower, either before or after work?

It does sound somewhat restrictive but the rules are there so everyone can ensure quiet enjoyment of the accommodation I guess. Would you rather have someone crashing about the kitchen in the middle of the night if you were trying to sleep?

G_M

obsidianfox wrote: »

is £160 for bills much considering this place has no gas only lpg & electric its a charity, not sure how that works for counil tax etc.?

LPG is much more expensive than mains gas.
And electricity is more expensive too

yksi

obsidianfox wrote: »

So if i get back from work late say I did night shift work a) cant use kitchen b) cant have a shower I know you are assuming this from most people working 9-5 jobs but the rules seem a bit harsh
When you live in a shared home there are certain things you need to do out of consideration of your housemates. You're not working you said, so there is no reason you can't cook and shower during the hours you're asked to. If you do a late shift, I would suggest you make a sandwich in advance for your evening meal and ask them to put your paid-for meal aside and reheat it at a more sociable time.

As for wearing a jumper sure but its drafty cold and I cant work a computer with gloves on! Is there a legal min temperature?
I feel for you with this part, have you tried politely telling them that you're finding it painfully cold and ask if they could they leave the radiators on an extra hour in the morning?

is £160 for bills much considering this place has no gas only lpg & electric its a charity, not sure how that works for counil tax etc.?
A charity is not making a profit remember, that's the whole point. So it's pointless asking if they are charging too much here. They're supplying 31 evening meals per month which will probably take up more than half of this.

I think the problem is that it's tough for you to consider that the needs of the whole house matter, and they can't cater individually for each person if their action disturbs the majority.

[Deleted User]

It sounds like a hostel set up to encourage finding a job and moving on, plus enabling with some shared living skills. I remember my ex lived in one run by a charity, once he got a job he moved on as it was a bit restrictive. Many moons ago i lived in a hostel set up for the unemployed when I was desperate and employed, I moved to another hostel more suitable for me within the month! Even there, one of the rules was you had to be out during the day.., so no sleeping in weekends! However as an emergency move, having my own room where I felt safe and no noise was something I appreciated (moved out of a flat share that was pretty awful).

Is there another hostel you could live in that is more suitable for you? Perhaps one where you provide your own food so stand a chance of saving up for a shared property rental. However you may find its not much cheaper.

I assume there is a reason you moved there, perhaps it would be helpful to look at those reasons and figure out what you need to do to enable you to move on?

I'm afraid as long as they are providing the basic necessities like heat, light and food or cooking facilities, and its safe etc they can set rules for residents. You can always question this with the council but I suspect they won't do much as the hostel is probably the last stop before the streets. This is just my opinion though.

I hope things go well.

GaleSF63

I think you are getting yourself too worked up over the restrictions, only seeing the limitations and not the scope.

If you had your own place how often would you be having a shower during the day or making a meal after 10 pm? "Go hungry"? A lot of people don't eat anything after a much earlier hour than 10 pm.

Even if that is the way you prefer it, you only have to adjust your hours a bit to fit in with the rules. If you aren't working that shouldn't be difficult.

Have something to eat or make yourself a sandwich or something at 9.45 pm.

Get yourself a hot-water bottle to help keep warm.