Lodger-Who has one?

Orionaut

Orionaut

Orionaut

Soldato
Joined
2 Aug 2012
Posts
7,809
I do not particularly like the idea. Actually I am a moderately paranoid misanthrope and only really like even friends in my home only one at a time..:p , But there is an unfortunate circumstance of economic necessity involved..:(

I am considering turning one of my downstairs rooms into a bedsit. The prospective tenant will share a downstairs shower room and toilet and have access to the main kitchens.

I am also happy for tenant to have use of the Garden and would make an off-road parking space available

However, I am also considering the option of putting one of those Mini-Kitchens in the room so that S/He can cook up the odd micro meal, make tea, etc in private.

It is a large south facing room, 25M^2 or so looking over extensive gardens, bigger than some local studio flats.

I have done a bit of reading on the gov website but this is still early days as far as the planning is concerned.

Has anybody else done this?

How do you ensure that you do not get the tenant from hell?

What might be a reasonable rent? (GU10, South Farnham, Posh neighbourhood, 2 miles from the rail station. But I do NOT want this to become a "Oh look I have a Large house" thread. It is an inheritance that I will struggle to maintain but which I really do not want to sell for both sentimental and practical reasons:()

I am happy to provide unlimited Wi-Fi (Pretty essential these days really) How do I firewall my router so the tenant wont be able to ruin my day by accessing paedo-snuff movies or whatever? (IE Can I restrict his/her access without restricting my own?? ;) :D)

How many other restrictions can I reasonably and legally impose? (EG no smoking, no overnight guests, no noise after 23:00 hrs etc etc)

And what restrictions would most people consider reasonable? (This is my Home, Not a B&B or a Hotel!)

Since I am a bit paranoid. I am considering putting a locking door on the stairwell and will mainly live upstairs. There are only two other "Living Rooms" downstairs. One is my "Snug" (Media/TV/Games) the other will my dining/drawing room for when I have Guests.

Would locking these rooms/access when I am not at home be considered creepy or reasonable? :p

More questions later no doubt.

Any shared experiences, Good or Bad, welcome...
 
Pft big house ******! :p

It's a crap situation to be in I must say and know how you feel. I stood to inherit a family member's house some time back (thankfully they pulled through) and I definitely wasn't in the situation to be able to afford to run/maintain it and it would have been a big loss from the family.

I think the best bit of advice I can provide is be up-front with any rules you may have - don't start upsetting people with restrictions once they've moved in. Interview prospective tenants properly.
 
My experience with lodgers is don't. I've had a few over the years and only one was decent. It never fails to amaze me how disgusting people can be.
 
Do any of your friends or family need a room? I have been a lodger in a few places but I'm zero maintenance, some of the other tenants were animals though.
 
Vargas said:
Do any of your friends or family need a room? I have been a lodger in a few places but I'm zero maintenance, some of the other tenants were animals though.
Click to expand...


That is indeed one possible option. I have a GF whose niece is currently living in the area and who "might" wish to remain here rather than find rental accommodation in Richmond. I would be happy with this.

Vargas said:
Start by watching Pacific Heights for some tips :D
Click to expand...

Of course I have seen pacific heights!

WTF do you think I hate the idea so much...:/ :p

Diddums said:
My experience with lodgers is don't. I've had a few over the years and only one was decent. It never fails to amaze me how disgusting people can be.
Click to expand...

That as well, people are bad enough in their own homes, they can be beyond "Animal House" when in somebody elses. (I was a Student once! :p Back in the late 70's the typical Student house in Southampton was like the House in "Fight Club" I am absolutely not kidding! :eek: :/ )
 
Have you considered a Monday to Friday lease (and state no use of kitchen facilties)? Might be an alright deal for contractors working in London.

You can look on spareroom to get an idea of prices. Given you dont want them to use kitchen facilities I can't see this being a particularly useful "first residence" but that's just my take (I've previously rented and house shared).

Edit: to be honest re reading the OP it sounds like you really don't want a lodger and this won't turn out well.
 
Face to face interview.
References.
Proof of income.

Banning guests seems a little excessive. Be clear on guest rules though. Max overnight stays *2 weekly etc quiet hours are x pm to x am etc etc

Look for professional types needing accommodation during the week. They'll want kitchen access though.
 
Friends have done the lodger thing and succeeded with overseas students ad they tend to be quiet, its term time only and they want to work hard as it's costing them a lot of money to be at university here.

Is there a large uni nearby (or easy train link)?

Might be worth considering
 
Don't be too extreme with your rules or it will be difficult to attract anyone, or they will just ignore your rules. E.g. locking almost every room is a bit excessive... There should at least be a shared living room and kitchen.

I would hire a cleaner once a week for the communal spaces to ensure it stays tidy and you don't get ticked off if they aren't as clean as you.
 
with all those rules in place. it looks like you don't want a lodger at all and are having to do this out of necessity. why not just sell the house it's just bricks and mortar and buy something within your means?

sentimental value is just an excuse people use to plough good money after bad or to hold onto stuff they don't really need.

also if you inherited this house then surely it didn't cost you much therefore how come your unable to pay for it? you also have a GF so with both of your incomes how come you are struggling?

also with you restricting them to 1 room, then having lots of rules in place your cannot exactly expect people to pay top money for this service either. as they could go elsewhere. it will be buttons. you also seem to be trying to do this on the low down. you do know there are tax implications for you renting out a room or property? there are also health and safety regulations as well as insurance you should really have in place.

also you do know about squatters rights, etc. i could move in then just never leave and not pay you a penny. do you have the financial means to pay for solicitors, going to court, etc whilst me using your home, electricity, gas, wifi for free?
 
I've seen a few people have one, always out of necessity bar one who wanted the companionship angle.
Also had friends who have lodged.

I would say the two main issues pretty much always boil down to this sooner or later,
1) Relationships, whilst you may want to let to a single person they will sooner or later hook up with someone and be somewhere between just wanting to get jiggy to moving them in. Staying over for the ofdd night etc. How do you handle the changes in this circumstance
2) Tidyness. You need two people very generally aligned here. There will pretty much always be friction if one is generally tidy and the other not. If you as the owner are less so its easier to manage, but a messy tenant will be for causing drama 100%

You are allowed to rent a room out for some gain with no tax implications https://www.gov.uk/rent-room-in-your-home/the-rent-a-room-scheme so unless your charging a fortune no tax implications.

Probably the best lodger is a weekday one. One of my mates did this as he was working away from home. As all he did was basically go back and work/study in the evenings and then leave friday morning he was a perfect lodger to have.

Rent a room people have far fewer rights than people with a lease. Almost none in fact, there are a few things you need to do to enforce this, such as maintain access to the room.

You could offer the other downstairs room to them, so its 2 rooms, plus use of a shared kitchen. Draw up a rota for cleaning, or take on the cleaning yourself as part of the "package".
I would also plan for the bf/gf circumstance and work out how you would handle that situation, agree it up front. Could be £10 a night they stay, or +50% if more than 10 nights a month. But in my experience it will happen sooner or later.

Easy to agree a quiet time cutoff, so say after 11pm its headphones, no cooking after 10pm, neither before 5am.

Keep it reasonable and look for someone who seems to accept them as such, don't be too draconian, it will only cause resentment, once someone stops following the agreed rules why just stop at one.
 
I've "lodged" twice (on top of multiple other rentings with strangers/friends). The first one I moved into a 3 bed house with 2 complete strangers one of whom was the landlord. When I went round to view it the landlord discussed the various rules i.e cleaning rotor, keep noise down after 11 etc all of which were perfectly reasonable. The lounge, kitchen, bathroom and study were all shared. It worked fine until he decided to sell up 6 months later :rolleyes:

Now I am lodging with a mate (and his gf) I've known for about a year. Mostly out of necessity until I find a house to buy, he needed extra £££ and I needed a place to stay after splitting up with my gf. Nothing formal but I know how to respect someone's house and keep it clean and tidy. It's only a small house so I try keep myself to myself at times and give them space. Again, working well.

Whether I'd get a random lodger in my own house, I dunno :o
 
It can be a good idea, but the ideal target is a young professional, i.e. someone moving to a new area often with a good paying job and long hours.
 
We had a lodger for around 2 and half years, advertised on www.spareroom.co.uk and had several responses within a week. We invited the first one that sounded nice to us over and they came in for a chat, looked at the house/room and we got to know them a little bit and decided to offer them the room. She had just moved to the UK from Ireland to work at a local school and seemed very nice/honest and turned out to be exactly that. You can get contracts etc but we kept it less formal and just agreed an amount each month with no additional costs. Regards to house usage she was:

Allowed full use of the house inc. living room and kitchen
Asked for any mess generated to be cleaned up and for her to clean her own room (if she was away i would vacuum)
Allowed guests to stay over, sometimes her partner but usually would be mum or day visiting for Ireland for a week
Given Guest WiFi access (using CloudTrax/OpenMesh WiFi APs) which only restricted her form hogging the bandwidth

To be honest, I think we were lucky to get someone that was nice and respectful and not once did we have to talk to her about anything. We supplied a bed, some storage and a TV in the room and she brought a few bits in with her and then pretty much lived in her room (it helps that the room is a very decent size even with a double bed). Based on our experience we would definitely rent a room out again should the need/opportunity arise.
 
I know someone who has had a few lodgers over the years, he's got lucky as they have been no bother plus it pays the mortgage which must be a winner!
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top Bottom