to think they wouldn't be here ALL the time?

[winkywinkola]

So we've got a couple of lodgers. They're very nice - a young couple.

They're students but also told me they have part time jobs.

Turns out one has a job in a bar one night a week. The other tutors a child in English once a week. Okay, more fool me for not getting more details. No problem with paying the rent.

But they are here all the time. In the kitchen. Working on whatever assignment they've got. They never go into university, they just work in the kitchen.

I work from home in my kitchen too. It's starting to get on my nerves.

They have a double ensuite room with a large desk big enough for two. The room is warm and light.

Aibu?

mummymeister pipe down you're embarrassing yourself

Good luck. This kind of thing was why I was dead against a lodger when DD was small. OH would have been out most of the time so it would most likely barely have affected him and I would have been feeling awkward in my own house.

.
Shamelessly place marking because I can see a fight brewing and we're only on page 3!

So mummymeister, you think it reasonable to sit in the kitchen from 9am to 9pm sometimes? That's what they do. Breaking off for meals. Never in their large room with large desk to work?

I will spell it out for them. And hopefully they won't turn out to be as nasty as you say you would be.

And even if they are, they is nothing they could 'get' us on.

leeLU6 oops sorry. I thought this was a website where people could express opinions based on their experiences. I'll make sure I just agree with everyone in future.

mummy you seem to have a fundamental misunderstanding of the difference between lodgers and co-tenants/house sharers.

I have friends who are lodgers. They do not confine them to their rooms.

mummy - you don't have to 'agree with everyone' but it does help to understand the difference.

For example, my lodger pays £85/week for her room. Do you really think that represents an equal proportion of the household outgoings and that she should therefore have equal access to all areas? There's a reason why being a lodger is the cheapest housing option of all.

Why don't you work at their desk?

winkywinkola its no more unreasonable for them to stay in the kitchen for this length of time than for you to work in your kitchen from 9 - 5pm.

the difference is, is that this is your kitchen and if you want to sit at the table for a 24 hour marathon work session then of course you can -its your kitchen.

the issue is, is that if they didn't know because it wasn't spelled out to them, that you expect them to work in their room and only use the kitchen for meals then, in their eyes, what they are doing isn't unreasonable at all. They are working at the kitchen table because they feel that they can. and, to date, no one has said that they cant.

don't take common sense for granted.

I hope they don't turn out to be nasty either. I hope that you speak to them, they blush with embarrassment and retreat to their rooms never to be seen outside of meal times.

I am glad that you don't have a mortgage and that you have checked your contents and buildings insurance and that they don't care if you have lodgers.

twofingerstoGideon I completely understand the difference between lodger and house sharer. Its winkywinkolas lodgers that don't get the difference. I have no idea why. perhaps they have never been lodgers only house sharers. perhaps they looked at the cost of house sharing then at what winky offered and couldn't believe their luck! all that house for a lot less than other "house shares" were offering.

My point is that if something is important to you, so important that if it doesn't happen it will seriously impact on your work or home life enjoyment then you should put it in writing and not assume that everyone is working from the same page of the book as you are.

I'm really surprised they haven't copped on and used the desk in their room, I certainly would in those circumstances.

How much are you charging them including bills? If it's any more than 450 depending on your area then if you asked me to only use my bedroom then I'd be moving out, as a student I was paying 350 a month pre-bills to co-share a house in a very expensive town.

I'd just have a very honest chat with them if I were you.

twofingerstoGideon Anywhere other than London I'd houseshare rather than lodge at that price.

Offensive TwoSmellyDogs I don't have experience to suit the occasion. I used to be an EHO. check out other posts, you will see that this is the case.

Good luck with that Banning. In my area you'd be paying at least £650/per person/ per month for a houseshare for two people, PLUS council tax, PLUS gas, PLUS electricity, PLUS broadband, PLUS water etc. (so approx. £800 in total).
I guess I'm lucky that my lodgers have almost always been mature, sensible, independent people who think they're getting a bargain at £85 all-in. I guess that's why they stay so long.

Why don't you work at their desk?

In case this was a serious question, the answer is because their payment of rent means she has no legal entitlement to do so.

Wonky why are you going to wait a few days to tell them? Tell them today.

However you could maybe raise working at their desk to make a point. "I'm sorry I didn't make it clear enough, but the kitchen table really is my desk during the day, and you have your own generous desk. I'm guessing you wouldn't me in your room using your desk?"

Of course they should have access to the kitchen to make a cuppa and put a wash on, I think that's reasonable. It's using it as a workspace, when they already have one and someone else needs it, that is a problem.

YABVU

OP
We have a simple agreement drawn up about when rent is due in the month, how much, deposit, what notice they need to give what areas they are allowed to use

Note the bit in BOLD

So does the agreement say they have use of the kitchen or not? If it says they can use the kitchen then I think you are being very unreasonable to withdraw that. They will have factored that in when they agreed the rent. If you decide to change the conditions in the written agreement then I think you need to reduce their rent.

I don't think it's unusual to dislike working in a bedroom if there is a choice.

OhPillocks - carrying your comment through to its logical conclusion, can we assume you think it would be alright for the lodgers to monopolise the bathroom for nine hours a day because the homeowner didn't specifically say - in a written agreement - that they couldn't?

Sorry - I'm getting a bit over-invested in this thread as I have lodgers myself and would be rather bemused if any of them thought they could sit in my kitchen all day.

Strange, me and my friends are renting a house, all bills included with full reign of the house. Five of us, £85 a week. Madness that you'd pay that for just one room and not the rest of the house. I understand that with five people in a house the costs are distributed, but... I doubt that people would be paying anywhere what you're suggesting, PER PERSON.

I imagine quite a lot of people would be willing to pay extra NOT to live with five people in a house! I would.

I doubt that people would be paying anywhere what you're suggesting, PER PERSON

Have you heard of the concept of market forces? Of course people pay that where they have to

And the house I rented last year, was £95, for a fairly generous two-bedroomed flat. Everything included again... I mean, the point isn't whether or not you'd be happy living with a certain number of people, the point is that house renting is not as expensive as the OP is claiming... I'm not saying whether or not people will pay what they have to, that's kind of obvious. I'm just stating I can't imagine prices getting that high outside of London, where everything is inflated anyway. But hey, I have little life experience. :P

I don't think YABU, definitely have a conversation about how this is your work space and you didn't consider that they would be there quite so much and it is outside what you would expect as reasonable use of the facilities - could they find somewhere else to work.

Take it from there, either they'll get the hump and WW3 will break out or they'll be normal people and feel slightly miffed/embarrassed and rearrange themselves or look for somewhere else to live.

If WW3 breaks out come back with another thread for entertainment purposes!