To expect my working from home to be respected

The trouble is so many private landlords buy up the lower prices flats for the rentals market. I’ve had friends in this exact position being outbid by them all the time.

Could your Mum intervene and have a word with him ? I presume you are paying him rent to live in the house which in my option entitled you to some level of privacy . If not like others have said it may be you need to try and set up a desk in your bedroom although I appreciate that’s not ideal and shouldn’t really be necessary.

Your dad is being an idiot.
It is his house but I have DC similar age to you and would do everything to support them and be proud of them.
Maybe he's lonely, maybe he doesn't really get WFH, lots of people don't, or maybe he's marking his territory or trying to prove a point.
Can your mum intervene?
I think a calm conversation later may help.
Of course he may sometimes want to retrieve something from the room or want to pop his head round the door to say goodbye etc
That's OK but should be try to be avoided if he can hear you are on a call.

I the meantime
Use headphones
Blur your background
Maybe put a sign on door if meeting is in progress or door stop inside door. Although I can imagine you dad getting loud and stroppy about this!
See if you can negotiate more days in the office.

Perhaps he's feeling emasculated after retirement and is marking his terriorty, trying to prove that he's more Important than you.
Hope you find your own flat soon.

People keep suggesting the OP should use her bedroom instead, but from the way she describes her father's behaviour, it sounds like he'd do exactly the same thing there as well - walk in whenever he felt like it - whether to say bye or just to make the point that it's his house and he can go into any part of it at any time.

Set up an office space (eg for use online) in your bedroom, which presumably he doesn’t need to come into for any reason.

I can understand if he needed something from the family office, but the way he’s spoken to you is upsetting.

If that doesn’t work OP and you can’t negotiate more time in the office, you’ll need to move into a temporary house share or studio flat.

I would have a conversation with him when he’s calm, and you’re calm.
Just say ‘oh dad about the other day’…. Tell him you respect it’s his house and you’re just the lodger, but you do need privacy while talking to clients on the phone…. You appreciate the office is a shared space but could you both agree to knocking and waiting before entering to give each other respect and privacy…
If he’s resistant to this reasonable request then he’s just being a pig

He sounds very rude. Regardless if it's your house or not, you pay rent and tbh he's just being rude and nasty to you. What an awful way of speaking to someone.

I'd set up the office in your bedroom if possible, and get one of those rubber door stops and a decent set of noise cancelling headphones until you can move out.

Dad is very supportive of my daughter and proud of her work. He has always had a home office/study and suggested she use it rather than the bedroom. He would be horrified if she offered to pay !
But, at the age of 95, he just really doesn’t understand the wfh concept - not does he really understand the internet and how she can simultaneously be talking to people on Georgia and Vietnam.
Entitled and stroppy? Please!

Do you do teams calls with headphones on and your background blurred?

If you do then there should be no major issues as your dad wouldn't be able to hear what was being said, and they wouldn't be able to see anyone else in the room if your dad did pop in to grab something. At my company we work from home 3 days a week and nobody bats an eyelid if someone in the family enters the room when someone is on a call, normally just passing through.

If it's a really sensitive call (how many of those do you really have in a week?) then go into your bedroom to do it.

Yes I think your dad is being a bit of an arse about it but I can also understand his irritation at you effectively barring him from a room in his house unless he asks permission to enter. And to be honest, as much as he might be a bit of an arse, it is his house and if he's not willing to accept the conditions you want, then you need to find another solution (such as outlined above, or by going to a workspace.)

I think people who wfh often don't understand they are working from HOME and in your dds case and ops, someone else's home?
They're not coming into a work environment and pottering about. The work environment is being brought to their HOME. Did your dd pay towards using his home as her work environment, and fully explain by her being there she was expecting total control over areas of his home? Or was she just entitled and stroppy with her not 'being best pleased'?

@footballinthepub I had a similar situation to this a long time ago. It’s depressing isn’t it. And very stressful. I don’t think he means to be annoying or disrespectful to you (I could be wrong), but I do think boredom plays into this. Yes he may be wandering in to get something from the room but it’s only because he’s got time on his hands. I am not sure what the answer is, I would probably go elsewhere to work but you shouldn’t have to and obviously you would incur expense doing that which isn’t great when you are trying to buy somewhere. I really feel for you though as I had the same thing happen with almost the same comments!

I do think that sometimes the older generations just don’t understand the wfh concept. My daughter is flexible and can wfh when she wants. She had a couple of meetings whilst she was visiting her grandad - both with government agencies abroad - and, despite her and me both explaining to dad that she shouldn’t be disturbed, he just wandered in and out of the home office. Thankfully her meetings were with people she knew well who didn’t mind her grandad pottering around. She wasn’t pleased tho.

tough one, but I think he can act in his home however he wants. Work from home has encroached on people’s lives.
when I work from home I don’t begrudge the odd interruption. They happen in the office too. My partner however can get a bit annoyed if I interrupt him, but I don’t get too wound up about it.

Not hard is it? If you're burning with resentment about other things to do with them living there you tackle those - you don't jeopardise the kid's career, the one thing they need to protect in order to move on and out.

All I can tell you is that IF one of my adult sons were living with me, and IF that son was paying rent, and IF he worked from home, I'd go out of my way to give him the privacy he needs. I'd make sure I got what I needed from the office before his workday started, OR I would tap lightly on the door and wait for a "come in." That's me.

This isn’t a drama. Buy a headset and put a background on or as someone else suggested move your desk. At the end of the day you’re living in your parents house and using one of their rooms to WFH. If it’s not working then there’s normally a few places that offer working space. We live in the sticks and there’s WFH office space available a half hour drive away, perhaps there’s something like this near you? I hope you manage to get a flat soon, it sounds like you need your own space.

As you are contributing you can use the house. Maybe you can say that you’d like to contribute more so you could use the office? However all our advices are a bit pointless because your Dad is basically unpleasant person who wants to show that he is the master of the house. He doesn’t respect you and probably never would. You can’t reason with someone like this.
If you would work in your bedroom would he do the same? If no, that’s your answer then.
Another option is to negotiate with mum if she lives in the same house. Ime someone else should talk to him, someone of his age or older as he clearly won’t listen you.

Put a lock on the door.
Move your set up so you face the door (if he walks in he can't be seen from your camera showing you).
Sign on the door outside.
Desk back in your bedroom?

He's trying to remind you he's the king of his castle

To those suggesting she work in her bedroom : she really shouldn't. It's bad for your sleep, and therefore bad for your health.

Exactly, he is just a bully!!

He sounds like a bully. Couldn’t imagine treating my child or anyone else in this way!

Maybe hang a sign on the door when you'e on a call? Get one of those backgrounds that obscure your surroundings. Agree with others who said to work in your room.

It is a shame that your Dad is being so selfish, but, if that is the way he is, it is your responsibility to find somewhere where you can work.
Whether putting a desk in your bedroom would work, or explaining to your employers that you don't have a secure place to wfh so will have to come in to the office each day.

When you live with other people you respect what other people need, no matter who's house it is. However your Dad sounds completely firm in his belief that he should be allowed to come and go as he pleases, so I think you will have to either be ok with that or work else where.

I don’t have much advice for you but i get really frustrated that people don’t understand that WFH is still working.

My Dad tried to pop in the other day - I said no I’m at work, he said oh I thought you worked from home? As if we don’t still have the same workload and can do as we please all day 🙄

I think there are some easy compromises here. DH and I both WFH a lot of the time and these have helped us:

Get a headset - no more worrying about overhearing confidential calls
Blur your video background so it doesn't matter if anyone walks in
Move the desk around so you have your back to a wall
If all else fails, work from your bedroom