Active discussions

Meet the Other Phone. Flexible and made to last.

Meet the Other Phone.
Flexible and made to last.

Buy now

Please or to access all these features

Talk
AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

Original poster

To charge more for lodgers working from home

138 replies

SecretBlue · 04/10/2020 07:45

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?

OP posts:
Scweltish · 04/10/2020 10:19

@C8H10N4O2

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.

I have no idea where the op’s got the idea that it’ll cost so much. I’ve had to heat a whole 2 bed flat with plug in radiators because we had those rubbish economy 7 storage heaters that don’t work. Even that didn’t cost £25 a week.
Cheesypea · 04/10/2020 10:20

I work from home, I'm on the phone all day and flit around the house all day, the heatings on all day too. I pay less than £100 per month for duel fuel to heat a whole house.
Hold out for somewone who works outside the home. Familiarity can breed contempt.

Gwenhwyfar · 04/10/2020 10:21

"Personally I would not rent to a WFH person though."

It's often not a choice people have, is it? I never wanted to work from home, but from March to June I had to. Now I go into the office most days, but a government decision could change that from one day to the next. You just don't know in advance who has to work from home.
Also, people can get ill or lose their jobs and need to be home all day anyway.

spottybitch · 04/10/2020 10:24

@Gwenhwyfar

"Personally I would not rent to a WFH person though."

It's often not a choice people have, is it? I never wanted to work from home, but from March to June I had to. Now I go into the office most days, but a government decision could change that from one day to the next. You just don't know in advance who has to work from home.
Also, people can get ill or lose their jobs and need to be home all day anyway.

No, it's often not their choice. But it is my choice when renting a room in my home - I can set whatever (legally allowable) terms and conditions that I see fit. If they have to WFH or lose their jobs I can give notice.
BrazenlyDefying · 04/10/2020 10:25

Why don't you have your heating on? Sounds miserable.

Frannyhy · 04/10/2020 10:26

I’m a bit different to you in that I am an airbnb host. I always make it clear that I won’t put the heating on all day to prospective guests, and avoid renting to home workers if I can. I don’t allow kitchen use which discourages them, although I’m aware you can’t do this to a lodger.

I’ve had people come down in sleeveless tops and tell me they are cold. My answer is “put a jumper on.”

I’ve found that insulating the pipes outside my house and putting weather strip under the gaps in the skirting boards helps to keep the house warm in winter.

Gwenhwyfar · 04/10/2020 10:27

"If they have to WFH or lose their jobs I can give notice."

Wow. I see where you got your user name from!

Gwenhwyfar · 04/10/2020 10:28

"Hold out for somewone who works outside the home."

The point is that this can change from one day to another.

ArabellaScott · 04/10/2020 10:32

Will this make your house a workplace? Are there any implications wrt insurance, capital gains tax, as well as costs?

I'm an employer and when employees wfh we are technically liable to check their home as a workplace, if they injure themselves at home I'm a bit wary we might be somehow held responsible for it. In practise, we try and provide decent equipment, but I find it a bit of a funny area, really.

Taylrse · 04/10/2020 10:33

Just be upfront and honest about the prices straight away, then people can decide if it's something they are ok with.

I have been a lodger twice in two different houses as a student and then as a mature student.
We were allowed the heating on at any time, but we were sensible about it and didn't take the piss.
I think you should hold out for someone not WFH though if you're expecting them to stay in the bedroom. I always think as a paying lodger I don't want to be locked inside my room for 10 hours a day. I want to use the rest of the house without feeling uncomfortable

Gwenhwyfar · 04/10/2020 10:34

"Will this make your house a workplace? Are there any implications wrt insurance, capital gains tax, as well as costs?"

I don't think so as the lodger won't have registered the home as a self-employed person's company address.

"if they injure themselves at home I'm a bit wary we might be somehow held responsible for it"

Wouldn't they be covered by your insurance as they would be if they injured themselves when away on business or something?

Petitmum · 04/10/2020 10:34

This is about more than the cost of having someone using extra heating - think very carefully before you change the dynamic by having someone who will be in your home 24/7. It sounds like the arrangement you currently have suits very well.

Cccc1111 · 04/10/2020 10:34

A) someone’s job may change and become a wfh job. They may go long term sick from work. What happens then, do they get kicked out.

B) the person is renting the room. They’re not only renting it for x amount of hours a day, that they have to be out between x and x hours a day like an old fashioned b&b. You’re sharing your house with a lodger, if you can’t handle they might be there in the day it doesn’t sound like you’re some who should be taking in a lodger.

C) If I saw an ad for a room to rent excluding anyone who wfh, it would set my alarm bells ringing that it sounds like a super tight landlord, and make me wonder what other restrictions will creep in after I move.... the kind who’ll barely put the heating on over winter etc. I wouldn’t rent a room from you.

I think you should just rent it out normally. And if someone living there is wfh you’ll just have to suck it up.

Gwenhwyfar · 04/10/2020 10:35

Although you can claim £6 a week off tax for working from home.

nosswith · 04/10/2020 10:37

Reasonable to charge more, for a new lodger, I think. I have electric central heating so cannot comment on the reasonableness of the cost of using an oil-filled radiator.

daretodenim · 04/10/2020 10:38

Advertise for NHS medic of some type: they won't be working from home! Although they may have night shifts..but then likely to be asleep during the day and want peace and quiet then, which could work for you?

C8H10N4O2 · 04/10/2020 10:39

If they have to WFH or lose their jobs I can give notice

So if someone is required by T&T to isolate and therefor be home for 14 days you would evict them?

And people wonder why some workers don't isolate when instructed.

spottybitch · 04/10/2020 10:40

@Gwenhwyfar

"If they have to WFH or lose their jobs I can give notice."

Wow. I see where you got your user name from!

If they can't afford to pay and I can't afford to subsidise them or I don't want them in the house all day then I'm entitled to.
billy1966 · 04/10/2020 10:41

The thing about WFH with a lodger would be the increased presence in the kitchen.

Breakfast/hot drinks/lunch/dinner.
Storing the additional food.

You would be surprised how much people miss an empty house.

spottybitch · 04/10/2020 10:42

@C8H10N4O2

If they have to WFH or lose their jobs I can give notice

So if someone is required by T&T to isolate and therefor be home for 14 days you would evict them?

And people wonder why some workers don't isolate when instructed.

Stop putting words into my mouth, you said that - I didn't.
TW2013 · 04/10/2020 10:45

I think that you need to consider what sort of wfh person you are. Do you wfh because your job requires it but you would be quite happy to go back into an office and the thought of working in a home working hub is quite appealing then I would possibly charge a little extra (maybe £10-15 a week) to cover costs.

If you are instead a wfh person like me who would hate to go back to an office, who doesn't want chit chat over lunch or someone else wandering around then no amount you charge will compensate for the loss of solitude.

The only way wfh would probably work long term is if you were either both type one or both type two.

Atadaddicted · 04/10/2020 10:47

So ridiculous

If someone wants the room and accepts the higher cost then clearly not being unreasonable

If you do manage to rent it out, then unreasonable.

How the heck is a bunch of mumsnetters who don’t know your property about to give you any kind of useful or remotely relevant answer

Atadaddicted · 04/10/2020 10:47

if you do NOT manage to rent out then clearly being unreasonable

Atadaddicted · 04/10/2020 10:50

@Frannyhy

I’m a bit different to you in that I am an airbnb host. I always make it clear that I won’t put the heating on all day to prospective guests, and avoid renting to home workers if I can. I don’t allow kitchen use which discourages them, although I’m aware you can’t do this to a lodger.

I’ve had people come down in sleeveless tops and tell me they are cold. My answer is “put a jumper on.”

I’ve found that insulating the pipes outside my house and putting weather strip under the gaps in the skirting boards helps to keep the house warm in winter.

I would so love to read your reviews! Grin
Atadaddicted · 04/10/2020 10:55

@Gwenhwyfar

"Will this make your house a workplace? Are there any implications wrt insurance, capital gains tax, as well as costs?"

I don't think so as the lodger won't have registered the home as a self-employed person's company address.

"if they injure themselves at home I'm a bit wary we might be somehow held responsible for it"

Wouldn't they be covered by your insurance as they would be if they injured themselves when away on business or something?

From an insurance perspective whether or self employed is irrelevant The question the ask is whether the property is used for business purposes
Please create an account

To comment on this thread you need to create a Mumsnet account.

Join Mumsnet Log In

This thread is closed and is no longer accepting replies. Click here to start a new thread.

Swipe left for the next trending thread