Renting a room to a single mother with 6yo daughter

gow007

I am considering taking in a single mother with a 6 year old daughter as lodgers to one of the spare rooms in my home. A friend of mine introduced them to me a provided personal gurantee about finances and characater of the mother.

Currently I am the sole occupant of this three bed semi, and i think it would be a win win situation for both parties in this high cost of living environment. 

I am mostly on the roads, travelling for work purposes and will be barely home, perhaps a few days in a month.

I am aware that taking in them as lodgers would have the following financial implications on my end:

1. I would lose the 25% discount on the council tax for a single occupant

2. Home insurance premium will go up 

 A quick google search tells me that there is no HMO issues in this case, please let me know if this is wrong.

I wonder if there is anything else that i am missing.

Is there anything particular in relation to a 6yo minor living in this house as a lodger with ther mum that i need to consider?

Albermarle

One point is that you have to make sure that they only have lodger status, and not become a tenant.
Otherwise the relationship is then more formal and you can have trouble with legalities, tax and getting them to move out.
I do not know all the rules but one is that in any agreement you have with them, it should never mention the word tenant. Also they can not be able to lock the door to their room.

I would have thought the only issue about their being a 6 year old, is that it would make sense to have a good look around the house for possible dangers.

FreeBear

Albermarle said:

One point is that you have to make sure that they only have lodger status, and not become a tenant.
Otherwise the relationship is then more formal and you can have trouble with legalities, tax and getting them to move out.
I do not know all the rules but one is that in any agreement you have with them, it should never mention the word tenant. Also they can not be able to lock the door to their room.

I would have thought the only issue about their being a 6 year old, is that it would make sense to have a good look around the house for possible dangers.

Add to the list of "Should" - Gas Safe certificate for any/all gas appliances is a legal requirement. The room(s) should be furnished. In addition to no locks on the doors, you need to retain access for cleaning & maintenance purposes (so no granting of exclusive use of any area). You do not need to exercise the right of access..

You don't need to supply an EPC or EICR, but you do need working Carbon Monoxide (that is CO, not CO2) and smoke alarms.

FlyMeSomewhere79

From a health and safety standpoint you are going to have to be mindful of everywhere a 6yr old can get access to and get hurt and anything they can get hold of and harm themselves with - bleach, tablets, alcohol, blades and anything else like that. It's all well and good until the mother sees an opportunity to sue you and the problem you've got is that you are going to have to share a lot of your own space with the 6 year old. 

Also if you are living at the same property, do you legally need to get DBS checked to rent parts of your home out to children? 

Brie

Just as a precaution I would make sure that there is nothing around that a mother might consider offensive for a young girl to see.  So any books like Ulysses or Fifty Shades on the top shelf and no channels on the TV that are adult rated.  Keep your pc/laptop locked simply for privacy from either of them.  

Our neighbours used to regularly have young students staying with them and no DBS checks were done.  Generally they were 10-14 year old boys which was the same age as their sons so maybe that's why it wasn't required.  

If you are a bloke I don't think I'd recommend having a young girl staying with you in case there are any misconstrued situations.  But even if you are a woman I'd suggest you agree up front that at no point do you agree to be in the house alone with the girl, so no babysitting or looking after her while mom nips to the shops.

Bigphil1474

It's not a commercial operation so DBS won't be required. A HMO is at least 5 rooms from memory so not an issue.

Auti

How are you going to cope with wear and tear which is likely to occur quicker with a child especially as you will not be there that often - children need to play and having a child myself I know knocks and scuffs or things spilt happen no matter how hard you try. I think you need to think about if this is long term lodger as stability for the child is also something I would think about if I was considering renting a room. 

propertyrental

No fixed term contract. Pay rent weekly, with one week's notice either way. If things don't work out you don't want a dragged out process to end the arrangement.

If you are only there a few days a month that's a huge risk - you have no idea what will be going on at home, at least until you've established a relationship and trust which is likely to take several months.

What experience do you have with children, 6 year olds, and their needs.

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Post 10: Lodgers: advice & links for landlords & lodgers

DullGreyGuy

gow007 said:

2. Home insurance premium will go up 

With some insurers it will be a bit more than that and they will activate a clause or add an endorsement that states theft claims are only valid if there is evidence of forced or violent entry. Some insurers have that no matter what so not a backward step, some only require it if there are people who aren't family living at the same address. 

The obvious effect is if someone leaves the door unlocked or window open and someone gets in and out with your stuff you cease to have cover for it. If they smash a window to get in then cover is still there, 

_Penny_Dreadful

gow007 said:

I am considering taking in a single mother with a 6 year old daughter as lodgers to one of the spare rooms in my home. A friend of mine introduced them to me a provided personal gurantee about finances and characater of the mother.

Currently I am the sole occupant of this three bed semi, and i think it would be a win win situation for both parties in this high cost of living environment. 

I am mostly on the roads, travelling for work purposes and will be barely home, perhaps a few days in a month.

I am aware that taking in them as lodgers would have the following financial implications on my end:

1. I would lose the 25% discount on the council tax for a single occupant

2. Home insurance premium will go up 

 A quick google search tells me that there is no HMO issues in this case, please let me know if this is wrong.

I wonder if there is anything else that i am missing.

Is there anything particular in relation to a 6yo minor living in this house as a lodger with ther mum that i need to consider?

This personal guarantee, is your friend willing to have it executed as a deed of guarantee to cover any shortfall in rent or damage to your property? 

Are the mother and daughter going to be sharing a bedroom? Were you intending to get a lodger or has the thought only entered your head because this friend of yours suggested the idea? 

Bookworm105

unless you have a very special size bedroom with 2 beds in it I'd be amazed at the idea of a 6 year old sleeping in the same room as their mother.

the annual gas safe check is not a should, it is a legal must