(Rental) Housing Crisis? What Crisis?

eamon

Assuming that you finally get another "lodger" then you may getting into HMO territory. You may not want to go there. Are you really going to be a live in landlord with live in lodgers? Is this a 7day plan or are you expecting the lodgers to vanish at weekends? Are meals included? Laundry etc?

Rural_Puppy

It may be you are not advertising in the most appropriate places. Try The Lady magazine they always have ads for live in carers. Try your local council -either housing dept or social services. They might be able to hook you up with someone suitable. Best of luck.

[Deleted User]

Can you rent the rooms out to international students?  Are there any universities or colleges nearby?

 

JayRitchie

I think you aimed at the wrong market. Perhaps hire some home help and advertise to professionals/ contractors who would be more interested in the plus points of your house and don't mind being lodgers? TBH lodging is a bit too much of a risk for many - very insecure and too many people advertise for lodgers they in no way want but are in need of some quick money.

SusanJP

Interesting suggestions, thank you.

@eamon, no it's not a 5-day a week thing. It's their home. They should be able to enjoy weekends at home. And invite a friend over if they so wish. Meals are typically not included in the price lodgers pay,  but I'm hoping for an arrangement where we can share meals - perhaps joint shopping/cooking. That would be subject to negotiation (so if it's a lodger with two kids then we'll need to agree what's a fair share of work / expenses ...as me contributing 50% wouldn't be fair). Laundry? Er, there's a washing machine and indoor and outdoor drying facilities. There's an iron and ironing board.  I certainly don't see myself doing their laundry or ironing if that's what you mean. This ain't a hotel! (But after speaking with so many right clowns I wouldn't be surprised if the next one informs me that they'll take a room if I guarantee to use a specific name brand, high quality non-bio detergent when I do their laundry!)

@Rural_puppy, perhaps I'm not advertising in the right places and need to try others. I never heard of The Lady magazine, I'll check it out. The council is an interesting thought! @Poster_586329, unfortunately, students are not an option. I'm close to some nice schools but not colleges or a uni.

@JayRitchie, I'm not sure about professionals / contractors. I've had a couple of enquiries from people who were happy to pay full rent to just crash here 4 nights a week. That's not for me.

My ideal would be just one lodger - a mum with one or two children (I've got a full DBS, I work in a school). It's a family home with a nice garden, swings, trampoline etc and it would be great if it could be enjoyed as such. I'm not fussed about deposit or the lodger being on benefits.

Crashy_Time

SusanJP said:

I read so many articles in the news about shortage of housing, bedrooms with damp problems, blocks of flats with drug dealers etc etc. Especially for people on DSS.

People moan about not being able to find decent accommodation at an affordable price. Here's my experience of putting some accommodation on the market.

I live alone in a 4-5 bedroom house in a nice town in the southeast of England. No mold, no damp. Luxury b/rooms (new deep pile carpet on the floor, a/c !!!!!! heater on the wall). Decent facilities elsewhere in the house - laundry room, dishwasher, 2 fridges, 3 freezers, all the basics. Large garden, parking on drive. Close to shops / bus stops / schools.

I thought I'd take in a lodger or lodgers. I priced the rooms at roughly 25% below market rate and, importantly, I made it available to DSS or even a mum and kids! I advertised on FB, spareroom.co.uk and elsewhere. The lower rate was to be in exchange for helping me a bit with housework and I stated that I was willing to lower the price even further depending on how much help they are able to give me.

Three months later and I've had 50+ applications from, mostly, a bunch of morons.

• 4 of them were either criminals or on the run from the law (which I discovered by doing a bit of digging).
• Over 20+ of them didn't even do me the courtesy of reading the ad and expected me to engage in a to and fro conversation answering questions already covered in the ad - like whether the room is still available, how much etc. If they're that lazy, there's no chance they're going to even clean their own rooms!
• 12 booked appointments and did not turn up (only 3 actually sent me a text to say their plans had changed). One was a recovering drug addict who I felt sorry for as she didn't have money to buy a bus ticket so I agreed to drive 30 minutes to where she was - on Christmas day (because that's the only day she could do) - and she stood me up!
• The others were not suitable for other reasons (for example, they had dogs/cats they wanted to bring with them).

I've got one lodger now, in one b/room, for the last 2 months but given the laws of economics and what they say about demand and supply leaves me thinking ....

What housing crisis?

Often the people who spout facts about "shortages" and "unaffordable rents" are not actually aware of the real situation on a wider scale, they just have a vested interest in these things being true because they own BTL`s or hope to sell their house for a bubble price one day. All bets are off at the moment though, the economic rumblings are getting darker by the day.....when the Bloomberg studio is like a conversation from a HPC thread you know something is afoot IMO.

SusanJP

Crashy_Time said:

SusanJP said:

I read so many articles in the news about shortage of housing, bedrooms with damp problems, blocks of flats with drug dealers etc etc. Especially for people on DSS.

People moan about not being able to find decent accommodation at an affordable price. Here's my experience of putting some accommodation on the market.

I live alone in a 4-5 bedroom house in a nice town in the southeast of England. No mold, no damp. Luxury b/rooms (new deep pile carpet on the floor, a/c !!!!!! heater on the wall). Decent facilities elsewhere in the house - laundry room, dishwasher, 2 fridges, 3 freezers, all the basics. Large garden, parking on drive. Close to shops / bus stops / schools.

I thought I'd take in a lodger or lodgers. I priced the rooms at roughly 25% below market rate and, importantly, I made it available to DSS or even a mum and kids! I advertised on FB, spareroom.co.uk and elsewhere. The lower rate was to be in exchange for helping me a bit with housework and I stated that I was willing to lower the price even further depending on how much help they are able to give me.

Three months later and I've had 50+ applications from, mostly, a bunch of morons.

• 4 of them were either criminals or on the run from the law (which I discovered by doing a bit of digging).
• Over 20+ of them didn't even do me the courtesy of reading the ad and expected me to engage in a to and fro conversation answering questions already covered in the ad - like whether the room is still available, how much etc. If they're that lazy, there's no chance they're going to even clean their own rooms!
• 12 booked appointments and did not turn up (only 3 actually sent me a text to say their plans had changed). One was a recovering drug addict who I felt sorry for as she didn't have money to buy a bus ticket so I agreed to drive 30 minutes to where she was - on Christmas day (because that's the only day she could do) - and she stood me up!
• The others were not suitable for other reasons (for example, they had dogs/cats they wanted to bring with them).

I've got one lodger now, in one b/room, for the last 2 months but given the laws of economics and what they say about demand and supply leaves me thinking ....

What housing crisis?

Often the people who spout facts about "shortages" and "unaffordable rents" are not actually aware of the real situation on a wider scale, they just have a vested interest in these things being true because they own BTL`s or hope to sell their house for a bubble price one day.

The people who complain about unaffordable rents are ...landlords?

And they complain about high rents because somehow that helps to keep rents high?

I'm sorry, you've lost me.

pickledonionspaceraider

There is no way I would want to live as a lodger. Ever

Furthermore, if people come out of the temporary accommodation, they are lost to the council as they are 'suitably housed' so things will never get any better than having one room in a house

The whole thing sounds like  being a child again, but in a weird enforced friendships of sharing meals together where you had to be nice to the landlady even if you didn't like her

Crashy_Time

I said "Spout Facts" not complaining, if you believed many posters here you would have had lines of people outside your house looking for rooms, but you didn`t did you?

Joanthebone

Don't do it.  I had the most awful experience when I rented a room to what seemed like a 'nice lady lodger'... Why not do Air BnB?  I would have thought its a lot less hassle.