To charge more for lodgers working from home

[SecretBlue]

I genuinely don't know the answer to this, so will to accept the Court of Mumsnet.

I've had lodgers for 10 years so am a very experienced landlord and have only had 2 bad experiences in all that time. My kids accept it because they enjoy the financial benefits having lodgers provides.

Anyway my current lodger is moving out after 2 years to move in with her boyfriend and I have advertised online.

Now about 50% of enquires are from people who are now working from home. I don't normally rent to people who work from home. I work from home and I love my solitude during the day with no kids and no lodgers.

However these are strange times, so I may have to rent to someone who wfh.

Anyway my question, obviously someone who works from home is going to "cost" so much more than someone who is out during the day. I'm particularly thinking of heating.

I don't have the central heating on during the day and just wear a million layers of jumpers.

However I can't do that to a lodger, I was thinking about giving them an oil filled radiator.

This will cost approx £200 a month if in 24/7.

Hopefully they won't have it all the time.

Anyway I'm thinking of charging an extra £25 a week if they work from home to cover some of the extra costs.

Is this reasonable?

There’s only one way to find out - advertise at that price and see if you get any interest. You’re not obliged to offer lodgings and no one has to take up the offer.

I personally would charge extra for someone who wfh all the time as there are additional costs that you don't have when someone is out of the house 5 days a week all day.

Might be worth doing research in your local area. See what comparable rents are and if they are charging more.

If you like your solitude and wfh yourself you are going to be unhappy having someone else there so much of the time especially over winter. Maybe better to hold out for someone who works outside the home.

£25 a week sounds a lot. Presumably your central heating comes on at some point in the evening. Also will you drop the extra in summer?

Or you could tell prospective lodgers you dont have the heating on during the day even in winter and get someone who prefers that.

You may find a detrimental effect on your own Internet connection so it may impact on your own abilities to wfh. Is it unlimited? Worth bearing in mind.

I'd avoid people WFH if you possibly can, I think you'd hate it (understandable) and most people need that quiet time in their own homes.
If you find that you HAVE to (ie. You can't find anyone who isn't WFH) then increase the price to a level that not only covers the additional expense, but that compensates for this disruption to you. You can always lower the price if needed, but start high - I suspect you'll be surprised how resentful you'd feel if not only did you have less peace in the house, but you were making less too.

You can charge whatever you want OP, personally I wouldn't want to just be covering cost but also more for the additional inconvenience but that's up to you.

I don't think it is unreasonable but I'm not sure if I'd want to live somewhere where the only room that's warm in the day is my bedroom but then when I use the kitchen or bathroom it's freezing. So you'd have to make that clear.

I think that it's also a good idea to find out if wfh is a permanent thing or just because of covid, again I'd prefer someone who will go back to work when this is over.

Or you could tell prospective lodgers you dont have the heating on during the day even in winter and get someone who prefers that.

I don't think you'd get many takers for this, and if you did - I'm not sure of the legalities. I'd presume you'd need to heat the house if a lodger was present.

I would agree with pp about holding out for someone who doesn’t wfh.

I’ve wfh a lot over the years and now my DH is here too. Even that is a very difficult adjustment to make after being on my own during the day.

Depends if you're still below the rent a room allowance or if you'd start paying tax on it.
Is the heating on low not cheaper than the single oil radiator?

@Madre1972

I would agree with pp about holding out for someone who doesn’t wfh.

I’ve wfh a lot over the years and now my DH is here too. Even that is a very difficult adjustment to make after being on my own during the day.

Definitely. It's just not worth it. Whilst you've had great experiences with lodgers before, how many of them would you have wanted around 24/7.

You also need to have a think about what WFH actually means. Are you expecting them to work in their own room? It's very claustrophobic to be living and working in the same room all of the time, so that combined with the additional costs, may put people off.

£200 a month for an oil filled radiator for one room? You'd be better off just having your central heating on at a reasonable level, surely?

I wfh for years, and during lockdown I had my dd (teenager) with me for 6 months. She spent most of her day in her room, but I really missed my solitude and space.

I'd hold out for someone who doesn't wfh, it's not just the extra cost, but the impact upon you during the day

I don’t think that £25 extra is reasonable, my bills certainly have not gone up by that much since I have been at home during the day for the last two years. I don’t think it is reasonable to tell a lodger no heating (other than the oil radiator) during the day either.

I think you would be better off finding someone who does not WFH.

Wow thanks for the great responses, I expected to get jumped on for being a greedy landlord.

I'm nodding my head and agreeing with what everyone has said!!

As a couple of PPs have mentioned I probably would become resentful if they were not paying extra. Especially at losing my solitude during the day.

The thing is there are so many rooms on at the moment, maybe as much as 3 times as many. So I may have to accept a WFH person, although saying that it's only been on a day or so and I have 3 viewings already.

I'll see how the viewings go today and then add on my advert about paying £25 extra week of wfh.

Fangks Vipers!

Fuck me, £200 a month to geT a room?

Daytime use of an electric radiator is £200 a month? For 5 days a week? (I assume you have the heating in at weekends for the kids?)
Wouldn’t it be cheaper to run the heating but turn the radiators off in the other rooms?

There is a tax break now for people WFH
blog.moneysavingexpert.com/2020/04/martin-lewis--working-from-home-due-to-coronavirus--claim-p6-wk-/

HEAT

If you do 2 prices for wfh/work out home you're going to get into a pickle when they start doing 1-2 days in office/week, then 3. Will you pro rate the £25/ week at that point?
I think it's fair to pay more because of the heating and electricity etc but seems hard to administer in practice

Must be cheaper to put heating on OP? A few people have said it but you haven't said if you agree.
As for losing solitude, that's a big decision, but if you can't find a lodger who doesn't WFH that's what you'll have to suck up.

I think the thing is - you could get someone who works in an office right now, but will still at some point have to wfh anyway.
And it’s not just the heating - it’s the strain on WiFi, extra electric, loss of privacy - how far away will you be from them if they’re on the phone all day etc?

Sorry not very helpful, but I think you may be better holding out for someone who is highly unlikely to ever wfh if you do yourself.

Also at that sort of cost - you’re almost starting to compete with them getting a desk in a shared office space.

I’d have the heating on instead of the radiator. Electricity is far more expensive than gas, presuming you have gas. But yes £25 sounds reasonable.

I've been a lodger where basically the LL wanted me to pay the rent and fuck off unless sleeping. That was what the person before me did. I worked from home some of the time and she really, really didn't like it. It's horrible to be resented. I moved out and found a tiny but lovely place of my own in the end. Not saying that you are that extreme OP, but just that I think you will miss your solitude and probably resent the lodger if they WFH.

£100 a month does seem a lot for heating their room - we don't pay that much in our 3 bed house. But I guess the new lodger won't know what the previous lodger was paying.

We had lodgers many years ago and I agree with the PPs, hold out for someone not wfh - if you are the kind of person who needs periods of solitude, then no amount of extra money will make up for losing that.