Renting out room - help/advice needed

skintchick

Leeshieus wrote:

Yikes! So altogether you're paying out £500+ per month? :eek: Apart from making a mental note never to move south of Birmingham, I'm thinking you are well within your rights to charge out a room at £375-£400. Like dinkylou said, advise him of this, wait and see if you get any better offers if not take him up on it.. £325 will make such a difference

Yep, see my post on this board about having no money and wanting to cry for a breakdown of my outgoings.

ms_london

Wait until he starts looking at the other places that are on offer, then he'll realise how fab a rate yours was!!!

I pay low rent, £280 a month plus around £50 bills - for a double room in Tooting Broadway. Thats cheap even for Tooting, it is suprising. But its cheaper for me to live in London than commuting believe it or not.

Dont cut yourself short, but if you find the right person you might even enjoy it. Who knows. Its not all bad, but I suppose after youve got used to having your own place it probably does take a bit of adjustment.

I just replied to your message on the other thread btw.

Ms_London

Willsnarf1983

personally i think hes got it bang on right, i pay £260 a month for a small single room from the house owner and thats bills included, sky tv and wireless internet and remember this is in Southampton which is an up and coming expensive area.......£325 i think is a reasonable amount, my only question is...would u wanna live with a graduate?


Will

Savvy_Sue

I'd think about accepting it if I thought he'd be good to have as a lodger, but not if I had any reservations. Sounds like you do!

Putting it at higher rate incl. bills might be worth a try? But you need to bear in mind bills might go up with two of you, and you need to sort phone out - might be easier to say incoming calls only, most people have mobiles these days. Unless you're on one of these tariffs where you don't pay much for outgoing calls. Still need to be clear re groundrules etc.

Debt_Free_Chick

I have to admit that I don't see your bills going up. Heating - heats the house, not the people Your heating bills will be the same whether there's one or 10 people in the house. Of course, if he's continually maxing out the thermostat then that would be an issue, but I don't think you need to assume that your bills will all go up. It's often the case that two can live as cheaply as one. Your water rates won't increase. And I don't see electricity will either - unless he leaves all the lights on and runs some hungry electrical equipment in his room.

As for Council Tax, I would have had any lodger pay their own CT from day one. Yes, I know they won't get a separate bill, but I would split CT between all the adult occupants.

If you had an extra £25 a month to cover bills, whilst it sounds like a good deal for him, it's probably also a good deal for you. I really doubt that (ignoring CT) your bills will increase by £25 a month.

How does your original £300 pm plus his share (half) of CT work out? Does that make it any better/easier?

HelenR_3

we were going to rent our room out to help with the bills etc , but i scrapped it because it occured to me that i was unintentionally trying to get a would be lodger to pay more than he should just to help us out , which isnt fair...

martinpike

Speaking as a resident landlord with a lodger myself, my advice would be to worry less about the odd £25 a month, and focus more on whether you think you'll get on with the person.

You have factor in turnover rates too. It's all very well squeezing every last penny out of the room, but if your room is sitting empty for a month or two, it will take you many more months to recover it.

If you want to get a good idea of the going rate for your area, have a peek at easyroommate.com.

lush_walrus

My boyfriend has a flat in Reading town centre, and rents a largish double bedroom with allocated parking etc out for £100 per week (approx £430 per month) which includes CT and all bills (bar telephone).

For him sharing his flat has meant that his council tax has increased (probably pays a simular rate to you in Henley), water bill is the same, electricity has jumped up by approx a third of what it was when he was on his own. He doesnt have gas so not change there.

His advice is, if the guy doesnt pay what you want then wait and find someone who does (unless its an immediate problem) there are plenty of people who will pay the money, especially if you are in a desirable area.

The fact that he needs to pay off loans etc, doesnt mean anything to you, your room is worth what it is worth, not what just one person can afford.

sophiedb

We planned to rent out our spare room from day 1, but the best advice I was ever given was to not overcharge. Yes, you might lose out on some extra money, but you probably won't be looking for a new lodger as quickly as you would otherwise. People *like* saving money - take a look around all the users here! - and if you have a good spot that's below market rent they'll second guess any thoughts of moving. It also fills the room more quickly - what's the point of holding out if the place is empty for a month (or two)?

We're in Bournemouth and our lodger pays a mere £70pw inc all but phone, but the fact was that despite being only 15min bus/car from both Poole & Bournemouth town centres it was still 'too far' for the usual renting crowd to consider. It's a small double room, plus there's a garden, Sky & internet, so I was originally hoping for £75pw, but now I'm just glad that we have someone to help with the bills - and the increase in those isn't that bad. Of course the council tax etc whittles away at your profit, but anything's better than a kick in the teeth.

Soph

P.S. The second best bit of advice I ever got regarding lodgers was take references with a pinch of salt and go with your gut instead. This is on the basis that some people will give a great ref just to get rid of a terrible tenant. Our trick is to just have them visit and see how you get along, have a chat and some tea/coffee, maybe even meet up in a pub. If you can't get on with them then there's no point in them moving in, cos you'll hate sharing the house and will regret the whole thing.

climbgirl

I dunno, £325 a month seems kind of dear for a small single room. I have a friend who lives in Henley-on-Thames and pays £350 for a double room including all bills - it's a really nice house, right in the middle of town. And I live in zone 2 in London and pay £335 for a massive double room, exclu bills but they total about £30 a month. I know my rent is cheap for London and I'm lucky, but £325 for a small single room seems expensive....If he seems like a good person to live with (and you can only go with your gut!), you should consider it. The people make all the difference in a flat, not a few extra quid!