Dealing with a lodger

Clothes horses are called that in the UK too right?

Buy a dehumidifier to use in the bedroom when drying washing. Solves the damp mould problem and lodger can keep the washing in their room. Seems their preference

Apologies, I thought you were referring to THEIR previous situation, really wasn’t clear to me.

I am with you too OP.

You look after your things.
Not everyone knows how to do stuff. Guide this person.

I wouldn't like that in my house either. I'd mention it again, but I'd say he might be embarrassed at you seeing his jocks on the line. 😊

If you keep him on, maybe invest in a dehumidifier for the Winter. That'll sort the potential damp issue out, if he uses it in his bedroom when it rains. Or a tumble drier perhaps?

I may have missed it, but how do you dry your laundry when it's wet outside.

So you only want advice you agree with 😂

Yes.

I also have a lodger and a flat prone to mould. I have two small dehumidifiers, and I gave the lodger one and said that as the flat is prone to mould, she should either open the windows or use the dehumidifier.

It's a bit noisy so I don't expect her to use it when she's in her room, but I do expect her to run it sometimes when she's out. The amount of water that collects in it acts as a heavy hint that it's really necessary!

I see what people mean when they say that the lodger needs to feel at home, but I don't think that means you shouldn't make clear what your preferences are. I have some detail in my online listing about what kind of person I am and what kind of household arrangements I like, and I give more details to anybody who comes to have a look.

You've got plenty of advice, you just don't agree with it and feel the need to call those posters nasty.

‘Previous poverty’ is a horrible statement. Shame on you, really. Shame on you.

What are you expecting him to do in winter? You won't want his stuff drying in the bathroom. It's much better tucked away in his room. I think YABVU.

it's hard for me to see it treated like a student house now

It's really difficult to have a lodger

The added thing - is he not going to make his room smell? That horrible 'single man smell' of inadequately dried clothes that people can get from drying indoors if stuff takes too long to dry?

I have a particular hatred of that smell and will always hang washing outside to dry (which can be a challenge as I live in the North), but maybe it's an angle to take...?

Brilliant suggestion. Not necessarily in the Summer months of course but certainly in Winter

Unless I was absolutely desperate to find somewhere to live I would never want to be a lodger living in a house where there was nowhere to dry washing other than in my bedroom.
I’m well aware that the OP has an outside drying area but being realistic in this country there are not many days in the year when you can guarantee that if you peg washing out either in the morning before you go to work or leave it on the line overnight it will be dry when you bring it in.
My view is that as the ‘landlady’ (for want of a better word) if you are providing washing facilities, you need to provide somewhere/something for drying too which will do the job all day everyday not just when the weather allows. The question may have already been asked but where does the OP dry her washing if it can’t be hung outside.
The OP’s worries about mould are justified and a reminder to her lodger about the need to dry washing outside, as mentioned in the agreement is not unreasonable, providing there is some sort of alternative provision for him to use when it’s not practicable for him to peg it out.
As for not taking the washing out of the machine as soon as the programme finishes - I couldn’t get het up about this unless I had a pressing need to use it myself. In my view it’s bit like dealing with little children - you choose your battles and to me this isn’t one of them.

There’s no such thing as common sense, people are all different and all think their way is the best. Your expectation isn’t unreasonable, but if he doesn’t know that’s what you expect then him hanging washing outside of your way in his own space isn’t unreasonable either. Leaving washing in the machine for several hours will have no impact on it really, it’s more important to regularly dry the seal, leave the door open if you can, and avoid using animal fat based softeners which cause a sticky base that mould likes.

if you want him to do things - dry washing outside, immediately empty the machine - or not do things - use the washer late at night - then you need to tell him clearly.

Seems to have switched though from 'i told them about the outside space' to 'i made it clear before they moved it was the absolute number one rule' and 'it's common sense so they should know'
There's nothing to suggest that the lodger is being deliberately obtuse. It's entirely possible they think they're being polite keeping it out of the way (that's certainly been the 'common sense' in most shared houses I've lived in - don't take up the communal space/landlords space wherever possible)

Wow, I think that the sun is getting to people. Surely if anything the lodger is the one not suited to lodging? He’s asked not to hang washing in his room so he hangs it in his room.

Just give him a gentle reminder, it’s dry out so hang it outside. Remind him that it’s the only rule and that it’s to prevent mould. No need for confrontation or nagging, just a polite reminder.

Totally agree. Also in Summer it's not going to be an issue regardless.

I'm with you Op.
My lodger has been with me two months now and washing clothes was one thing wenhad to agree on. I asked him how many loads he did a week and if he dried clothes outside,after having family members who did a load a day and through the winter used any space in the house to drape them over.
My lodger does a big load at the weekend,may be two and puts them on the line.
Not sure what will happen in the winter but he can have the spare room to hang clothes up. He is very in to having all windows open and says he keeps his wi fow open all winter...phew. it's hard to get a perfect match but some things are so important to me. I'm not bothered about other stuff but very aware of mould and damp!

OP 'am I being unreasonable?'
Most replies 'yes'
Response 'you're all horrible and have no standards'

I know you were upset by my previous comments about not being suited to be a landlady. That isn't nasty, it's realistic, most people aren't. I had to move around lots for years due to work, house shares and lodging. You very quickly realise that what is 'common sense' for one person isn't for another, and it's actually just different ways of living.

As someone else mentioned, I leave clothes in the drum - because I put them on when I go to work. I dry washing in my room - habit, to keep them out of other people's way, and not having space. I do now have a yard but wouldn't dry outside due to having bad hay fever (and a neighbour who likes random bonfires) I do open a window of I'm home but shut it if I'm out for security.
All of those things to me are common sense, but to you would be interpreted as low standards. They aren't though - they're just different. And accepting those differences is necessary if you want to make money from renting out a room. If you find it really hard to accept differences like that, as many people do, then it's not well suited.

In my years of sharing space I had to deal with people selling furniture that came with the property, people inviting randoms over, someone who cut the wiring to all our electrics (paranoia) someone growing weed in the wardrobe, men who rented single rooms who had declined to share they expected their kids to sleep over, a landlady who threw out anything in the kitchen she decided was junk, regardless of who it might belong to, a landlady who invited half her family to stay from abroad for three months, someone who regularly left the oven on at night after making late dinners after their shift, someone who kept putting the alarm on in the day when I worked nights... If putting clothes on a dryer in his room is the worst thing this lodger has done, I think you should count your blessings.

These were all in 'professional' house shares btw, not in student accommodation.