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?

£25 is reasonable.

Dh works from home, and did pre Covid. In our house We have found it more cost effective to use an oil-fired heater in his office than to have the central heating on for the whole house (old, biggish house). Much warmer too.

If 50% of requests are coming from people that WFH that still means you’re getting requests from people who don’t. Hold out for one of those if you value your privacy and quiet time can afford to wait a few weeks longer to find the right person.

I work from home and tbh during lockdown, although obviously I love my family, I did hugely miss my peace and solitude, to get stuff done. But yes £25/week is fair and is only £100 a month

I’d be more worried about someone working outside the home bringing COVID back with them than the additional heating bill.

Hahah at Rigbsy @cdtaylornats, are you Miss Jones?? Doubt many on here won't have a clue what you're talking about.

Again my lovely vipers, I've taken every single comment on board. At the moment my central heating is a fraction of the price I usually pay. But to normally fill my oil tank for the winter would be well over £1,200. So sadly oil filled radiator for the lodger is the best option. For safety and price.

I too loathe being cold that's why I'm working the worse case scenario of it being on 24/7. And it's not just the heating it's as PPs have mentioned, the electricity and internet.

I've been doing this for 10 years, so I know the score of telling people how it is before they move in. As I tell my teenagers, my house, my rules.

For example I always make sure they know there are no overnight guests without at least 48 hour notice. If they don't like the rules they don't have to rent the room.

Most of my exlodgers are now my friends. So as again has been pointed out, not sure being with someone 24/7 would end well.

They would have to work from their room.

Yeah the more I think about it, the more it's not a goer for me.

I'll text the people viewing this afternoon and tell them about the extra charge.

Thanks again, I'll let you know the outcome if you're interested!

Could you add a £25 per week supplement for people working from home, or whatever’s it costs in additional bills for people wfh and clearly advertise it as that. Although Agee with a previous poster that you are then starting to compete with businesses that rent office space, which depending on where you are doesn’t cost much more.
I do think It’s a bit unfair that the costs of heating a business are being transferred onto the employees, or landlords. Maybe there is some way for the employee to recover it ?

Where is the lodger going to work and eat during the day, are they going to be on calls, video meetings, using and charging appliances, lights on, kettle, TV on will add to your electricity bill.

Don’t assume they won’t use the radiator all of the time. I had a lodger over Nov - Feb a couple of years ago I have my heating on a timer as I was out at work, He worked shifts, he put a heater in there and left it on permanently.

Why don’t you put your heating on, and raise the rate, how cold is the kitchen, bathroom and living area? I would object to paying to heat my room if the rest of the house was cold?

However, I don’t think I would give up my solitude, you can’t put a price on that.

I just wanted to add to the person mentioning the increased risk of bringing Covid back if they don't WFH. Even if none of you are at risk and you WFH , your teenagers may miss 2 weeks of school because of it. It is just worth balancing that with inconvenience of a lodger a home , particularly if the lodger is only WFH temporarily

Good luck with whatever you decide anyway

You might also want to advertise ahead of time that you really don't want them there and that their mere existence will be resented. I'm not being snippy; it's only fair on them.

Op, do you actually have central heating? If so what kind?

www.telegraph.co.uk/recommended/home/best-electric-heater-portable-use-around-house/

Alternatively you could put cost at xx and discount for those not wfh

Yea it's fair to change the price for this reason from the outset. I came here initially thinking you wanted to change it for current lodgers which I thought would BU.

OP have you checked the price of oil recently? It might be worth your while getting a fill as the price is good right now. We actually bought a second tank and filled two for less than we paid for one a year ago.

But to normally fill my oil tank for the winter would be well over £1,200. So sadly oil filled radiator for the lodger is the best option. For safety and price

I still don't get from this why an oil filled radiator would cost £200 per month to run during the working day. Or why oil fired central heating means you can't use it during the day.

Charge what you like but 25 quid a week for daytime use of an oil filled radiator in one room seems a lot, if you are in a competitive market and the rest of the house is staying cold.

Ooooooo @MidnightCitrus that is a clever spin!!! Do you work in marketing!!! I initially thought that was a great idea but sadly when you search you can see the price so will put people off before they even read the whole prose.

@thedancingbear you don't realise how close to the truth you are!! Neither wants to be in this position! I don't really want lodgers and the lodgers would much prefer to have their own home!! So it's a business relationship based on mutual trust and respect. That's why it's so right to get the right lodger.

@magicstar1 hell yeah!! Filled it right to the top last week!!

Can't believe the price. Ooooo a second tank! What a great idea! I'll have to look into that. How much did the second tank cost?

When I worked from home I really annoyed the rest of the family as I spend 90% of my day on the phone talking.
The noise apparently disturbed them, as normally they pottered around in a quiet empty house and my presence (in a spare room) was suprisingly irritating.
I'd try for a none WFH person or at least find out their job.
I think you'll resent a wfh loger if youve be used to ones who go out to work.

@SecretBlue I got it second hand for €60! There are loads being sold around ... we have enough oil to do us until 2022 if we have a decent summer next year lol.

I would not charge extra for WFH, I'd just put up the rent for all lodgers and then there is no discussion, it's just the price.

Personally I would not rent to a WFH person though.

I’ve got a very large conservatory filled with exotic animals. I’ve had to put in two large plug in radiators now the temperatures dropped. Costs me somewhere between £3-£4 a week and they’re on 24-7

I’ve got a very large conservatory filled with exotic animals. I’ve had to put in two large plug in radiators now the temperatures dropped. Costs me somewhere between £3-£4 a week and they’re on 24-7

That would be more my expectation. We have one in reasonably large greenhouse which houses some exotic plants and its couple of pounds a week to run. Obviously that isn't double glazed/insulated as a house may be.

Like a PP said, an oil filled radiator doesn't cost £200/month to run. You wouldn't have it on 24/7 because the main heating would kick in at some point, and that cost is overstated to start with.

However, you are free to charge what you want, and there would be an impact on other costs, especially Internet.

You can charge whatever you like, and its up to you whether you're prepared to compromise and accept somebody working from home really.

However, your figures are out. It generally costs about 20p an hour to run an oil radiator so its less than £150 a month if it were running 247. Obviously it wouldn't be.

Having your central heating on during the day instead would only increase your energy bill by a fairly small amount as it'd just be maintaining a constant comfortable temperature rather than pouring out heat.

Are you going to be charging wfh lodgers the same in the summer when the heating is turned off?

I think it's fine to charge more to a new lodger for utlities - wouldn't have been fair to do it to the existing lodger.
However, I'm a bit worried about the 'privacy' thing. If you can't have the lodger in the house all day, I don't think you should have lodgers anyway. Even if not working from home someone's circumstances can change and they may need to be at home all day anyway.

"I've been a lodger where basically the LL wanted me to pay the rent and fuck off unless sleeping."

Such people shouldn't have lodgers.

What would be the cheapest heating option for having something in addition to the central heating? I'd be thinking maybe a halogen heater, especially if the room is small.