Tips on how to be a good lodger?

[kittenkipping]

Any one here have a lodger that can give me some tips on how to be a good one? After living as a family for years in my own home a change in circumstance has meant that I am now going to be a lodger in another city 5 nights a week. I’ve never lodged nor flat shared in my life.

aside from the basics pay on time, keep tidy and quiet has anyone got any tips? I really want a good relationship with my landlord and for this to smoothly .

I think the basics are fine.

Don’t invite visitors without permission, don’t be over familiar. Replace anything you use up, just generally be a considerate person.

Clean your room, keep the bathroom clean and tidy, don't do your washing at unsociable hours. Be responsible around closing windows and locking up if you are going out and leaving house empty.

Maybe check from the start about what is expected of you in terms of tidiness/cleaning responsibilities?

This one sort of comes from both sides for me - I was a lodger once and the person I was living with/renting a room from didn't lay out what they expected from the start, then got really funny and upset with me when I hadn't telepathically realised they expected me to hover & mop the communal areas (that I hardly used as I mostly stayed in my room, which they knew) and clean the bathroom once a week (which whilst fine, they never did themselves, strangely enough and I always left it clean/tidy after use anyway...) and had certain rules regarding the bins and kitchen usage that I had no way of knowing beforehand.

Ultimately they ended up expecting more from me in that regards disproportionate to my use of said areas and it amongst other things soured the lodger/landlord relationship in the end...I felt like a live-in cleaner at times!