What would you, as a live-in landlady or lodger, like to see in a good lodger agreement?

[SandDunesAndGorse]

What would you put in a lodger agreement?
Through an unexpected turn of life events, I'm about to advertise a room for a lodger.

I'm curious about what makes for a mutually good atmosphere in a landlady - lodger relationship; I want a home that feels like a home for us both, where a lodger feels comfortable to relax in shared areas, invite friends and take up a bit of space, but, at the same time, avoid grating boundary issues.

I'm quite easy-going and tend to see the best in people, but don't take well to thinking someone is taking advantage of me, so it feels important to get this initial stage right.

I have teenaged DC who will be with me half the time.

If you have experience of sharing your space with a lodger, what would you put in a lodger agreement?

If you are a lodger, are there any arrangements in particular that have turned out to be useful to ensure you feel respected and as if mutual expectations were clarified?

I kept my lodger agreement quite brief, it was primarily the rent, notice period and deposit details. I initially had a long list of points about guests etc but I scrapped them last minute as I felt like I'd written up a list of rules for a teenager rather than a competent adult woman. Having said that, me and my lodger are similar age/life stage and I prefer the dynamic to feel more like housemates - I would probably feel differently if they were quite young or if I had DC in the house!

I did however have a very thorough interview/getting to know you stage where we discussed all our expectations, routines and annoying habits! I think this is really important and I probably spent around two hours chatting to the woman who did eventually move in (she's lovely and we've had no issues!).

I was brutal with filtering people out early if anything didn't sit well with me and I only considered women in full time employment (Mon-Fri, not WFH). My notice period is 28 days with a clause that the contract is terminated immediately in the event of any drug use, criminality or violent/aggressive behaviour (this bit was in the lodger agreement).

Good luck, and be picky! It's a thousand times better to wait for the perfect person than to overlook small issues that will no doubt become bigger issues when you're all sharing a living space.

If you are basically hoping to find a lodger who is out of the house during office hours Monday to Friday, you need to be upfront about this in your advert to avoid wasting both your own time and that of prospective lodgers. A lot of people in office jobs these days do a mix of office and home working, so you need to think about what you can live with, eg if the lodger works from home 2 days a week, are you OK with that? You also need to bear in mind that even someone who never works from home could still be at home a lot during weekday daytime depending on their job and shift pattern. Don't be afraid to ask prospective lodgers about the detail of their weekly routine!

Funnily enough I've just been looking at Spare Room for a house share. One owner was advertising a 1 bedroom flat for £900 utilities NOT included. In fact it's actually a 2 bed flat but the owner has specifically said they will use the 2nd bedroom occasionally (but rarely) at weekends but that mostly the tenant will have the place to themselves. What a bloody cheek! I hope they're going to offer a discount on the rent to cover the cost of using the utilities when they stay. And it's unfurnished to boot!

Get a cleaner so no one is resentful at cleaning up after each other

Put a cap on bills eg "rent is all inclusive up to a gas/electric bill of £200/month. Anything over will be split equally" - this stops people taking the piss and having electric heaters or the heating on 24/7.

That's genius! The water has always been metered as the previous owner lived on their own, and can't now be un-metered, so I'm keeping an eye on that.

As for the heating -I'm quite happy to have the indoor temperature hovering somewhere between 18°C-20°C in the colder months, but I know from reading threads on here that many people prefer considerably warmer homes.

Good shout!