Lodger may want to work from home

Jenniefour

One of my lodgers has mentioned he is applying for a job which is mostly working from home. During the last lockdown in winter he worked from home and there was no offer of any extra contribution towards winter heating etc. Neither did I ask - but I think I should have. (Just for clarity, my other lodger of several years has work where it is not possible to work at home.). The rent is inclusive of council tax, energy, water and internet bills.

I would not normally consider accepting a lodger who works at home (excepting lockdowns) as this does not fit with how I live. So I also need to consider whether I am willing to change that. But that is an entirely separate issue.

I would like to hear how other landlords/landladies with lodgers have dealt with the issue of extra costs incurred by lodgers working from home, whether it is lockdown related or not. 

Many thanks

Jenny

 

Sandtree

Realistically how much are the extra costs?

The average laptop requires 0.05kW/h so on an 8 hour day 0.4kW/h and with say a pricey 20p kW/h tariff it'd be a massive 8p per day extra cost.

Alfrescodave

If I was in your situation one question I wold be looking into is "does working from home affect your house insurance in any way"? I don't have the answer, others may wish to clarify. 

sourpuss2021

Sandtree said:

Realistically how much are the extra costs?

The average laptop requires 0.05kW/h so on an 8 hour day 0.4kW/h and with say a pricey 20p kW/h tariff it'd be a massive 8p per day extra cost.

Could be £100+ per month in extra costs with a lodger who likes the property heated to a toasty 22 degrees and won't wear a jumper.

Ath_Wat

As I see it you have the following options.

1:  Ignore it.
2:  Ask for extra money.
3: Ask him to find somewhere else if he wants to do this (which could follow from him refusing 2 above).

All these fall into the realms of the reasonable and it's purely a matter of your personal choice.

FreeBear

Sandtree said: Realistically how much are the extra costs?

The average laptop requires 0.05kW/h so on an 8 hour day 0.4kW/h and with say a pricey 20p kW/h tariff it'd be a massive 8p per day extra cost.

If you are on a capped tariff, electricity is ~28p per KWh, and will go up again in October - Some pundits are predicting a 30% increase, others are saying even more.

Throw in a decent desktop computer, and you could be looking at 4KWh usage per day, plus heating, plus coffee. Heating is going to be the biggest contributor during the winter months and I'd certainly be asking for a bit more money to cover the extra cost. How much would depend very much on what we all end up paying for gas & electricity come October.

steve866

Will the tenant be savings on any communiting costs if they work from home?

canaldumidi

This:

Ath_Wat said:

As I see it you have the following options.

1:  Ignore it.
2:  Ask for extra money.
3: Ask him to find somewhere else if he wants to do this (which could follow from him refusing 2 above).

All these fall into the realms of the reasonable and it's purely a matter of your personal choice.

It's entirely your choice (as is who you share your home with).

Of course, 3) above is somewhat dependant on the contract you have with the lodger. If you've contracted a fixed term, or a periodic contract with a long notice period, then 3) would be subject to that.

(Unless perhaps there was a clause in yur contract specifically prohibiting working from home - but this seems unlikely!)

movilogo

If you want to restrict when a lodger should come and go out of your house, then probably you should not accept any lodgers. 

unforeseen

steve866 said:

Will the tenant be savings on any communiting costs if they work from home?

No savings if the job is sold to him as WFH for a number of days a week. I would say the opposite. Having to go into work for one or two days is going to cost him 

canaldumidi

movilogo said:

If you want to restrict when a lodger should come and go out of your house, then probably you should not accept any lodgers. 

Ridiculous! It's down to mutual agreement.

If the lodger is happy to abide by the 'house rules' (whatever they are) there is no problem. If the lodger is not happy with the house rules, then clearly the lodger needs to seek alternative accommodation, and the landlord needs to seek an alternative lodger.