Lodger may want to work from home

GDB2222

Do you like this lodger, and generally get along okay? If you ask him or her to leave, you may end up with someone less pleasant. So, that’s something to factor in. 

steampowered

Remember that the lodger is paying you to provide a service. If you are not happy to provide that service, you might want to reconsider whether you should be having lodgers. 

It seems a bit off to be worrying about the additional energy cost of the lodger working from home - which will be pennies - when the lodger is presumably paying you hundreds of pounds for the room. 

It may be that you could increase the rent to affect general inflation and increase in utility bills and council tax. Though whether the lodger is able to pay that is another matter.

Ath_Wat

steampowered said:

Remember that the lodger is paying you to provide a service. If you are not happy to provide that service, you might want to reconsider whether you should be having lodgers. 

It seems a bit off to be worrying about the additional energy cost of the lodger working from home - which will be pennies - when the lodger is presumably paying you hundreds of pounds for the room. 

It may be that you could increase the rent to affect general inflation and increase in utility bills and council tax. Though whether the lodger is able to pay that is another matter.

And the lodger has been told what the service is,  and now wants a different service.  The OP is considering whether she wants to have lodgers that want that particular service.

The lodger is presumably paying a market rate for the room as it is, if they want more, they need to pay more, however much of a percentage that might or might not be of the total.

If the lodger can't pay, they will have to find somewhere they can afford.  All assuming they don't have a long term contract, of course, which they probably don't as that's a daft thing to give a lodger.

TBagpuss

It's been a while, but when I had a lodger she was clear from the start that she worked remotely. 
I didn't, so typically never had the heating on n the daytime.

what we agreed was that I would review the gas and electricity usage and bills  and would adjust her rent if it appeared that her being at home was having a significant impact. 

In the end, I didn't make any adjustments -there was not a significant change to my bills  (they went up a bit, which I had expected as of course there were 2 of so using more hot water, cooking etc, but that was already taken into account in the original rent).

We did have a firm agreement but I can't now recall the details - It was along the lines that if the total usage of gas and electricity was more than X% higher  compared with the same period the previous year  we would review the rent to account for the cost  extra usage over that % - I can't now remember what the % was we agreed on - maybe 15%? 

sidneyvic

Your lodger mentioned he might be applying for a job that involves some working from home and your first thought is it might cost you a few extra quid?
Have they actually applied for the job, let alone got it ?
If your panicking when they mention something that "might" cost you slightly more in bills, I would say you are not landlord material ....

Ath_Wat

sidneyvic said:

Your lodger mentioned he might be applying for a job that involves some working from home and your first thought is it might cost you a few extra quid?
Have they actually applied for the job, let alone got it ?
If your panicking when they mention something that "might" cost you slightly more in bills, I would say you are not landlord material ....

Yes, fancy planning for things before they happen.  What insanity, eh.

Personally when driving I never indicate before I turn, just in case I change my mind at the last second.

unforeseen

Ath_Wat said:

sidneyvic said:

Your lodger mentioned he might be applying for a job that involves some working from home and your first thought is it might cost you a few extra quid?
Have they actually applied for the job, let alone got it ?
If your panicking when they mention something that "might" cost you slightly more in bills, I would say you are not landlord material ....

Yes, fancy planning for things before they happen.  What insanity, eh.

Personally when driving I never indicate before I turn, just in case I change my mind at the last second.

But you don't indicate because you MIGHT turn. 

sourpuss2021

Totally reasonable for landlord to set rules and for lodger to have to follow them.  Best to pick lodgers who aren't looking for permanent housing, so they won't feel upset if there are restrictions.   For instance look for international students attending a nearby university who know it's just a means to an end while they're studying.  

Landlord and lodger may be 20+ years apart in age so of course the landlord (and their family) will want & need to set rules about what's allowable conduct.   

When lodger's circumstances change during the agreement is when it gets tricky, as we're seeing here.   But again I would say landlord would be within their rights to give notice if they really don't want someone home during the day.

TheJP

sourpuss2021 said:

Totally reasonable for landlord to set rules and for lodger to have to follow them.  Best to pick lodgers who aren't looking for permanent housing, so they won't feel upset if there are restrictions.   For instance look for international students attending a nearby university who know it's just a means to an end while they're studying.  

Landlord and lodger may be 20+ years apart in age so of course the landlord (and their family) will want & need to set rules about what's allowable conduct.   

When lodger's circumstances change during the agreement is when it gets tricky, as we're seeing here.   But again I would say landlord would be within their rights to give notice if they really don't want someone home during the day.

Totally reasonable as a lodger to expect clear expectations from the start, expect that if WFH increases rent then social usage should be monitored.  Also as a lodger should have free use of the house without further demands outside of the monday-friday 9-5 realm...

Jenniefour

Thank you for your responses, especially Sourpuss2021, Ath_Wat, FreeBear, canaldumidi, gingercordial, Van_Girl and TBagpuss. Helped me sort out what's important and I've decided I'm not going to alter the existing agreement which is based on a clear statement in my room ads - "Not suitable for those who work at home.". That's because I work from home myself - now only a couple of days a week at most but was full time for many years. I prefer a quiet environment and privacy when I'm working and I also enjoy having the house to myself on weekday daytimes when I'm home anyway. Exception is lockdowns. So it's time to have a discussion about the possible change in the lodger's work situation. I get on very well with him, as I have done with my other lodgers. If he gets offered the job then it's time for him to move on and have an amicable goodbye.