Renting Out A Room - Is It worth it?

[Tinseltangle]

Just looking for other people who have done this as Im not sure if it would work for me or not.
I have a double ensuite room available, im not home a great deal but could really do with a little extra income.
Can you give me an idea of the pros and cons. I am worried that the costs might outweigh the income, any thoughts?

I did this for years but stopped this year because the cost wasn't worth it - increased utility bills plus the loss of the 25% discount for council tax meant that I was only clearing about £50 a week.

I've done it and largely had positive experiences and certainly the money helps a lot (work out your costs inc increased energy bills, loss of single person council tax discount and so on, charge rent accordingly), depends a lot IMO on (a) careful selection of the lodger and mutually agreed expectations and boundaries and (b) your own personality, you need a certain level of flexibility/chilled-ness, if you are the sort of person that is very rigid about your home and hate other people in your space (no judgement, some people just are) then it just won't work. My best experiences were with lodgers that had busy lives and weren't home too much and were on the same page as me on housekeeping/tidiness expectations, reasonable noise levels at different times of the day, visitors to the house etc. I had miserable experiences with people misaligned with me, one lazy slob who smelt bad and never seemed to wash himself or his possessions and one neat freak, anxious type who would whisk away breakfast bowls to wash up from under your nose and got very upset if she could hear the normal sounds of me going about my life e.g. TV on at 10pm at the weekend. Both of those were in the early days and I had a bad feeling about them from when I first met but was too nice to say no, I later got much more ruthless about only choosing people who I liked in the first place and then being very upfront not only about 'rules' but about how I lived my life e.g. I am a night owl and do stay up late, I won't make a huge amount of noise after 11pm but you will hear me moving around, if you're a 'needs absolute silence after 9pm' person don't live here.

I also had quite clear boundaries about things like what's communal in the flat (I provided toilet roll, cleaning materials and kitchen equipment but everything else inc. all food was not shared, lodgers have their own designed cupboard and freezer shelf, I started off saying they were welcome to a swig of my milk or a couple of teabags or whatever but the aforementioned lazy slob essentially stopped buying his own food and starting living off mine which was very much not part of the deal so now it's nice and simple, what's mine is mine and not to be touched and likewise I won't touch yours! I also very much changed my expectations re how much of a friend the lodger would be, most of them were pleasant enough people who I'd happily share an occasional meal with or watch TV of an evening, but the relationship remain more landlord/lodger than true friends, for a reason!

Yes we have for ages pre Covid ... not done since, but plan to again...

For us this was key:
My best experiences were with lodgers that had busy lives and weren't home too much and were on the same page as me on housekeeping/tidiness expectations, reasonable noise levels at different times of the day, visitors to the house etc.

Definitely advice a significant interview when choosing - I ask what a typical day and typical weekend looks like for them - as well as significant others. We did have a no one-night stands rule ... because didnt want to meet strangers in our house, and had a young child... plus no smoking etc.

We did a three stager - be clear in ad what you're looking for - use phone chat as first interview (some clearly wouldnt work!) - and then proper interview where both parties work out whether it might work for them and encouraging all and any questions.

Some of our best lodgers were unexpected - eg woman in her mid 20s, a total delight and just wanted a couple of years of ease of living in someone else's house while focussed on career, rather than a flat share... So ask them why they're interested in sharing with you

Happy to answer any specific questions if you DM me

Initially we had two lodgers, rather than house share and definitley pitched it as this becuase we were a family - and more recently once we could afford it we had a Mon-Fri lodger which worked fantastically well... We didnt want someone sharing our space (he used gym, ate out, hugely considerate) ... and our main criteria was "not to see a lot of you but when we do, to enjoy seeing you" ... it was a great yardstick. But depends what you're looking for...

So best advice is to work out exactly what you want and how you want to live and then be clear about it... and trust your judgement. If it doesnt feel quite right it probably won't be.....

I've had a few Monday to Friday lodgers, works well as the weekend down time is relaxing without them.

I'm very untidy so having lodgers has helped keep me tidy. I've not had one for a few years now though - I've expanded to fill my house with junk.