Renting a room

nansie - I hope someone can give you advice about this. Not me, unfortunately, as I have never rented out a room but it sounds like it could be fraught with pitfalls so you definitely do need to get advice before you go ahead. Are you sure you want them 'to have the run of the place', for instance? What about cooking - are you likely to clash in the kitchen? Bathroom, likewise. Washing machine? Central heating? TV? Seems to me you would need house rules unless you ae an extremely easy-going person. What about visitors in their room - overnight stays - pets? I don't mean to sound downbeat about this but do think carefully.

www.theguardian.com/money/2015/jul/13/rent-out-your-spare-room

dj I knew you'd find a link. Well done!

Hi nansie - my best advice would be to make sure you have a properly drawn up License and don't be afraid to ask questions. I do credit checks, ask about finances, personal circumstances, jobs and hobbies. I have never had a bad experience in spite of having people of all ages, cultures and backgrounds lodging in our home for the past thirty plus years.
Many of my friends have tried taking in lodgers and it hasn't worked for a variety of reasons, but mostly I would say it's because they haven't been clear about the 'rules' from the beginning. It does take a fair degree of commitment and compromise, but can be a very enriching experience and with the new tax allowance it can be financially rewarding too.

welcome nansie. Depending upon where you live, you may be able to find someone who only wants to stay Monday to Friday, leaving your home free for your own use at weekends. Some people choose not to uproot their family if they move with their jobs. My late DF was moved to a different office with the company he worked for, and they decided not to move as they had friends and family where they lived, and also DM had a full time job that she was not willing to change. So DF rented a room from a younger work colleague at the new branch, it helped them with their mortgage as they were just starting out. It may be worth a call to personnel department if you have multinational company nearby.

Might be difficult to make this work in a "smallish" house. There would certainly need to be ground rules; and the Mon-Fri idea is a good one.

Interestingly I am just reading "The Paying Guests" by Sarah Waters. Set in the 1920s a widowed mother and daughter (in her 20s) let out a floor of their large house, and the subtleties of sharing a home are brilliantly illustrated.

Mum rented out a room to a young policeman after she was widowed. It seem to work really well and she still exchanges Xmas cards after 25 years. She is 97 now.

Forgot to say she contacted the local police station.

Luckygirl - I've read that book. It's brilliant. (Sorry, off thread!)

Sorry to go off thread but can someone tell me what DH and DF ect stand for? Thanks

If you click on Acronyms on the top of the page after Active etc, all will be revealed. Welcome! Sally345.

I don't have an acronyms bit on my phone so please enlighten us. I thought I had it all sussed. Obviously not ! :/

Just checked on my phone and cannot find acronyms on the mobile site. If you click on Go to desktop site which is under Gransnet banner at the top, you will find a much clearer way of using the site, in my opinion. Acronyms is at the top of the page after Active etc. Hope this helps.

Much quicker just to say --- DH dear husband ---DM dear mother etc etc

We've always rented a room and more. By accident the first time- as we lived near the Campus of a large University, and this mature student (late 20s) couldn't get into halls and started knocking on doors. He stayed for supper, then for 2 years. It paid for DD1's UNI lodgings, which was brilliant. After that, it never stopped- always by word of mouth, and then we had an arrangement with the Uni about their Post Docs from abroad. It paid for all sorts, was great fun (bar 1 woman who turned to be a nightmare) and very enriching- we've visited many countries visiting them in their home, getting to see and experience things tourists never do.

I'd really recommend it if you think you could cope with someone in your kitchen and sometimes not doing things exactly as you would, and at times choosing to watch a programme different to the one you'd like. Not sure about current regs, but at the time it was tax free too.

it was a brilliant way, btw, to stop the empty nest syndrome- as the nest was never empty ;)

Many thanks Purpledaffodil very helpful all has now been revealed

I am asking, [partly for myself, and partly for the op to think about, what do people do about having others stay over in the room from time to time?

Hello I am new to Gransnet. I wonder if anyone can suggest ways to find an occasional room to rent. I live in the midlands but would like to help my daughter who lives in Tameside with child care for school holidays. I shall be staying at the local Travelodge over half term but it's hard to contemplate this for longer periods. In an ideal world I could house swap but guess matching up with a south bound gran might prove a problem!

Hi heavens and welcome to GN

're finding a room, it may be worthwhile looking on Spare Room, their "advanced search" lets you specify duration of stay, etc.:

www.spareroom.co.uk/flatshare/search.pl?searchtype=advanced

Good luck anyway!

Thank you Grannyknot for such a quick and helpful reply. I am exploring Flatshare. I expect I am not alone with this need to be in another town for part of the year but without being paid! A friend has done this regularly and can use a spare room with her daughter so sometimes there is an easy solution.

The other place you could try Heavens is Airbnb:

www.airbnb.co.uk/s/Tameside-District--United-Kingdom

Hope you find somewhere that suits.

Thank you, that's helpful too, I will try it and see....

I know people who use airbnb all the time with success. One thing to watch out for is to pay airbnb rather than the person letting the room as their have been scams.

I can't advise about how to choose a tenant but I can tell you of someone who has successfully rented a room in a house for nearly 2 years. They have become the best of friends. I think it worked because they both just felt it was right when they met. Perhaps, like buying a house, when it comes down to it you just know.

I don't have the up to date figure but it must be around £5000 a year you can take for renting a room without having to declare it for tax.