Charging rent to friend

[Deadsouls]

I'm not sure if this is a WWYD. But couldn't find the relevant section.

I have a house in London (zone 4), and am renting out the double room to a lodger. The lodger is a friend who wanted to move to london.
She's a student and in a moment of feeling generous, (or codependent) ended up charging her £360 per month inc. bills. This was because it was what she could afford.

Anyway 6 months down the line - I'm suspecting that I'm undercharging for the room. Another reason I charged less is because I'm a single mum and live with my 2 kids (9 and 6), so it's a family home and the kids wake up early, can be noisy etc. So I thought this would mean that the house would not be an attractive prospect and I'd have to charge less to compensate for house, early waking etc.

Now I'm thinking I will have to broach the subject of raising rent with the lodger. She knows I'm helping her out. She said when she earns more, she'd pay more but that doesnt look like that's happening anytime soon.

I found out from 22 year old niece that she pays £480 per month plus bills for a smaller room.

At the moment I feel I'm taking more care of the lodger's needs than my own.
WWYD

Finishes studying in June

Thanks for the replies. I would probably only do it when first year was up which is May

Look you know her trust her she is happy where she is even with the kids could you be bothered with another lodger that you don't know and your children might bother them. A pp said better the devil you know up her rent i am sure she would pay a reasonable increase, dont get greedy because x area makes ££s more

Greedy wasn't the right word to use that was mean of me sorry

I'd wait till she's in work tbh, then give her 2 months notice then up it slightly (but check if you have to follow the government index - as I said I'm not sure if lodgers/landlords have the same regulations as private tenants)
Although you could broach the subject with an idea of how much you are thinking of charging and see if she's happy with that.

It's not to do with greed, it's because I'm a single mother supporting two young children. I'd much rather not rent a room out but it helps with the mortgage/bills/living etc

Thanks letmesleep
I will check government index. I didn't realise this was so complicated. I've always hated talking about money too which is my thing. I find it so awkward.

Have you had any other lodger apart from her?

Having a stranger would be much less pleasant.

If she can only afford the current rent then I would look into what a reasonable increase might be, but not implement any increase until after she had finished studying, because I wouldn't want her to be forced to leave.

Trills

No I've had no lodger apart from her. And I do get the advantages of it's comfortable, the children like her, she's familiar, is willing to take on the noise etc. So those are great pluses.
And I would wait till after studying finished as it's roughly a year after she moved in.

I think in going after an extra £150 a month you might regret it.

hoddtastic

Oh no! I wouldn't go after extra £150 pcm. No was more like £40-60 extra pcm

As i said im sorry I think i meant you might not get a better lodger if you charge more and it you and the children are uncomfy in your own home.

Rounding it up to the £400 seems reasonable

MrsJayy
Apology accepted, you did say you didn't mean it. And yes you're right. I would take less for a lodger with whom we felt comfortable.
It reminds me that my own single mother rented out all the rooms to lodgers when I was growing up. I actually really liked it or at least having different people around.

MrsJayy
That's the figure I had in mind. It might not seem much of a difference but to me it is!

Im sure your friend wants to be fair too

mrsjayy is well lovely

£400 is still really cheap IMO. I can't see how anyone living in London can object to that for rent & bills. Especially with a friends family, rather than a family you don't know & might not much like. Are you in s comparable area to Clapham Common or not?

As I said my god daughter pays £600 there for a flat share, rent & bills. I'd rather share with a family I know.

Hopefully £400 works for both of you

Yes AnnieAnon
I hadn't considered that from her side it's advantageous too. She's gets to live in a comfortable home with people she knows.

It feels awkward though bringing this up, particularly as she asked if she could pay the last rent a week late because she's so short of money. I said No in the end for a lot of reasons, but thought it was best to keep the boundary.

But now I know she is short of money as she told me. Now I feel in an awkward spot asking her. However at the same time I think that she needs to up here game if she can't survive financially paying a comparatively low rent.

As I said, I find it difficult. Especially bringing it up with a friend. She always said she would pay more when she could, but I don't think she's going to bring it up.

No, she's not going to bring it up. You will have to.

I think 400 sounds very fair rent

IMHO if she is short of money then she should still pay you first before buying a daily Starbucks or Costa or new shoes or whatever she buys with her money

What I sort of mean is that she should think ok I have £xxxx this month and I need to pay my rent before anything else just like if you have a mortgage or rent from landlord that isn't a friend iyswim

So therefore buy other stuff with what is leftover and just eat jacket pots for a week to save money

Good luck OP

Blame brexit and put her rent up

Northern
That is a good idea
Or I could blame Trump, just blame Trump, it's all his fault

It's quite right for you to give a discount for the fact that it's a messy and noisy family home and a discount because she's a friend - your own quality of life would go down if you were hosting someone paying full market rate who had higher expectations.

All true and considered Mori
Which is why I would not consider raising the rent to the current market rate.