Does any one here house share?
I'm thinking of renting a couple of rooms out to help pay the bills but I've never shared with anyone other than family or partner before.
Any pointers for me?
be very careful you let the right people into your home, if you decide you don't like them after a few weeks its not as easy as asking them to go, once in your home they have rights and could take you months to get them out, personally i would get it in writing that they are there for something like a 12 weeks 'trial period' and within that time you can ask them to leave at any time no questions and make sure they read and sign it b4 they move in, with a winess so theres no come back on you, my friend had a woman stay with her for a while was supposed to be just while she found a home and she was stuck with her for about a year cause she couldn't get her out, the police said they was powerless to evict her as my m8 invited her to stay and was now this womans home too, it had to go thro court and took months and months. within this time the person has the right to say where they are, and when the woman did leave she took half my m8 house with her!
Thanks for all the advice!! Some serious thinking to do now :shock:
H.x
I am a hot blooded student......
H.x
As some of you are already aware, my partner left me in December and i have had to get a lodger in to help pay bills and mortgage etc.
I am only asking a fraction of what i could be asking for rent wise.
It has been a great relationship since he moved in a few months ago...HOWEVER...
this all turned sour last Sunday when he took something i said the wrong way.
Now we don't talk and avoid each other which i shouldn't have to do in my own home.
He is twice the size of me so asking him if he is not happy here maybe he should leave
is not an option.
Give it very considerable thought before commiting yourself.
You can earn up to $4,250 (sorry dodgy keyboard haven't got pound sign) from renting a room before you pay tax on it. Have a look on the gov web sight under 'rent a room scheme', which works out to just over 80 a week.
Hope this puts your mind at rest.
H.x
Damn. I much prefer detention. :twisted:
H.x
I have had a VERY bad experience with "The Lodger From Hell".
I split up with my husband and kicked him out of My house this time last year. A couple of months later a mate of mine needed somewhere to stay and asked if she could rent my back room "if it was all done properly".
This lass, I thought, really needed somewhere to stay. She had had to move back to the NE after running up huge debts at uni, her parents moved to Amsterdam soon after, leaving her nowhere to stay. She had moved in with her boyfriend and his parents, but she was sleeping with her boyfriends best mate. She wanted to finish with her boyfriend (who was also a mate of mine) but it would leave her homeless. She was a student nurse at the time and couldn't afford anywhere on her own.
I agreed that she could stay and she offered £250 month rent. She agreed to sign a contract if I had one drawn up but asked if she could move in immediatley, without a rent bond as she had no savings. As she was desperate I agreed.
She got her boyfriend to move all her belongings in and build bed, wardrobes etc - then dumped him. The first thing I did was inform mortgage company, Insurance and Council Tax that she had moved in. When I told her I'd done this she got really funny and said she thought she was just staying as a mate and wasn't expecting to have to sign anything - this made it really difficult to sort a contract out as she just got defensive every time I mentioned it.
She then said she couldn't afford the rent until a standing order that she was sending to her dad in Holland every month, to pay back debts that he had had to pay off for her, was reduced. She told me this may take a couple of months due to it having to be done by snail mail. Could she give me £150 month until it was sorted. Feeling sorry for her I agreed.
Her (now ex) boyfriends best mate, who she was sleeping with, then decieded that he didn't want a relationship with her, his mate was more important. She stayed single for a couple of weeks, then took back her original boyfriend because "she couldn't afford to be single". So the sob story that she really wanted to be on her own and needed somewhere to stay was a load of rubbish. She only wanted to stay with me so she could be with her lover - I may not have minded if she had told me the truth earlier.
After livinging with me for 5 months, still paying reduced rent and refusing to sign a contract and not contributing to food shopping or toiletories etc, her boyfriend asked her to get a flat with him. She didn't tell me about this however, until they had a flat and had signed the contract. Incedentley two nights before she told me she was moving out I had sat up most oof the night with her crying about how she didn't love her boyfriend and was scared he was going to propose. She then left, without giving me any notice or the final months rent. When I asked for the rent, explaining that I needed it to replace the (brand new) carpet in her room that had been stained and had a huge cigarette burn in it I was told to "Fluck off" and to "stick your friendship up your arse".
As far as taking in a lodger to help pay the bills - she actually cost me more having her there. She still owes nearly £500.
I've since discovered loads of items missing, from clothes to a mobile phone. Legally I don't have a leg to stand on as I couldn't get her to sign a contract.
Another thing to watch out for is if one of you becomes unemployed. My sister has had a lodger for a couple of years. She recently lost her job and tried to claim JSA. She was told she is ineligable as her lodger is financially responsible for her!!!!!!!!
If you do deceide to go ahead, take good legal advise first.
It's all red tape and a pain in the ass!