To increase lodger rent in October with energy increases??

[yellowcourgette]

Hi everyone,

I have a moral dilema - I am just about to take on a new lodger, starting 1st September. I agreed to rent her the room before the new ridiculous energy hikes were anounced.

I would like (read: need) to increase the rent in line with this increase in energy costs. I essentially need to do this in November, so I'd like to put it in the contract now so there's no nasty surprises for either of us. Nothing has been signed yet - I'm just reviewing the contract to send over.

I am stuck between feeling like I cannot cover 'her share' of the increase in energy (i.e. what she'll use) and that this is a fair request, and feeling awful for springing a price increase before she's even moved in! I feel like a shitty landlord but I simply cannot cover the additional cost increase for another person.

I was thinking of saying something like the rent will increase by 30% of the increased costs (roughly calculated from when I've been here alone vs having a lodger) but putting a cap at X amount (thinking £50).

Can people point out if I am BU with any of this, and if so what your advice would be?!

Yes, you are being unreasonable.

It's 3 weeks until she moves in somewhere advertised at £x and now you suddenly want to raise the price. Leaves both of you stuck if she can't afford the increase and it was falsely advertised.

Depending on how long you'd discussed her staying, then you could suggest a rise in 3 or 6 months time. But again you could have the affordability problem and prices are due to rise again in January.

Before calling me greedy, please read my multiple posts stating that this is to cover their relative costs only; I've looked at the past bills, and an extra person works out at about a 30% increase in bills. Also the posts where I've specifically said I'm going to broach this before signing and open to a chat (which I have now done). And where I've been very clear that this is about making sure both people are happy.

Sometimes I think people are just a bit nasty for the sake of it!

I don't think you can justify it by saying the extra person will increase your bill by 30% because that's what the original rent was to cover surely, the increased costs incurred by having a second person in the house plus profit for you to use towards your share. Suggesting to increase it by a percentage of the increased usage doesn't work, she has no control over your usage so for all she knows you might be doing everything you can to save energy right now but then use it without bothering to try and save in the 'assessment' month thus making the increase seem higher than it should and leaving her paying more than she should be. I'd run a mile.

Any price hike in November should be coupled with an offer to allow them to vacate in November without any fees at this time too. That at least gives the person time to move elsewhere without seeing any additional costs incurred.

Who else in all the land knows exactly what their rent/mortgage/bills will be in 3 months, never mind 6 months time? And why should OP take the hit to make sure that this lodger is the only one of us who does?

How could you not have known about the price increases unless you advertised this in the middle of last year? You say you didn't think it would be as bad, but it's been predicted to be very bad since the beginning of this year. Have you been burying your head in the sand and hoping it wasn't right?

You can ask for more, but she can tell you to bugger off. You may have to accept you may lose her.

Yabu. You can't increase her rent just after she moves in. You have a contact and surely you need six months before any changes. If a landlord did that to me I wouldn't move in as be worried they do it again. Looks very unprofessional

Sorry but this should all have been worked out before you advertised. She will have a set salary/student loan and have based her affordability on this. One of the benefits of lodging is a set bill each month. You can't go messing and increasing after a month or two. You do sound unprofessional and greedy. Despite your justifications upthread.

Remember you aren't doing her a favour letting her stay with you. She is paying you already for this. This is a business transaction and as such you can't just change the goal posts at your whim. I would cancel and find somewhere else to stay. The rise in bills is not her problem to find a solution together for. She is the lodger.

If I was your lodger to be, no amount of you having a discussion with me beforehand would make any difference. It is an awful thing to do and Im really suprised that you think you are reasonable. I would pull out and let you readvertise at new price (so losing a few weeks rent which could have made up the difference anyway!!!!!)

I would also be upset at your "gentle discussion", this is on your terms and what if the lodger doesnt agree?

I rent out two rooms in my house to lodgers. One has been taken for over a year and we've not put her rent up in this time. The other is being advertised. We've priced the room to reflect its worth compared with other rooms to let locally, taking into account the increase in energy prices.

Personally, I'd have priced your room accordingly from the outset. You mentioned the rate you're asking for the room hasn't changed in 18 months. Whilst the probably lower than average rent makes your room more attractive to prospective lodgers, it's not realistic and has led to the predicament you're in now.

You have to decide now whether you can afford to keep it at the lower rate for the first six months after she's moved in, or risk losing her altogether and having to put it back up for rent at a higher price and quite possibly having it empty for a couple of months whilst you find someone else. I'd say the former is the safer option, financially.

I'd also make sure you make it clear your expectations of reasonable use of things like washing machine, tumble dryer, very long/multiple daily showers, etc, are up front to avoid potential conflict down the line.

So you work OP? Considering the impact of the increase in costs, I wouldn't be happy as a lodger if I was out of the house from 8 to 7pm but paid 50% contribution when the landlady was home all day for instance.

Or even if I was happy for temp to be at 18 degrees but landlady needed it at 22 degrees, all on in the night etc...

I think you need to meet and ascertain how much gas and electricity will be used by each and do a percentage based on living habits. That's the fairest way to go.

YANBU OP, the rate and scale of these increases couldn't have been foreseen. But yes you need to separate out the utilities part of her rent and tell her this will have to increase every 3 months given the current situation. If I were her I might be a bit annoyed but as a reasonable person who reads the news I would understand.

If i was the tenant and you raised this now, i would think you were a flaky landlord and be worried for the stability of the future and be looking else where now. Particularly as its one month rolling. I would have no faith that you were trying to be fair etc, id just think you are raising the rent now, there is another increase due early next year so will the same thing happen then. I guess it depends how much the lodger values financial stability.

an extra person works out at about a 30% increase in bills

How? When my adult kids moved out, my energy bills didn't change by anything like that much. And there were two of them. The house needs heating whether there's one person or three people in it. Yes, the washing machine was on more often and more people used the shower back then. But I reckon my energy savings were only in the region of 10-15%.

I don't know why you asked the question OP if you didn't want to hear the answers. The vast majority have said that YABU, and now you are getting upset about it.

Tell the lodger and if they don't like it they don't move in. She'll probably be annoyed but it's not like you're being greedy.

I can see your argument but it's too late to hike the price up and you certainly can't tell her her rent will go up by an unspecified amount in a couple of months - who would agree to that?

I think you can definitely talk about fair use of energy and some basic rules about temperature etc. Explain costs have gone up since the rent was agreed so in order to keep the bills manageable, you need to do x. Then if she is unhappy with it, she could negotiate paying more to cover the extra? I have done this twice in the past although not in the UK. I paid to have the air con / fan on my room. It meant I was comfortable but wasn't taking advantage of my flatmate.

You say you're both reasonable, kind and professional people (not sure how professional is relevant - are blue collar workers not good tenants?) but a -you don't know her so how can you say this, and b- she might not think you are so reasonable/kind/professional if you agree x price and then tell her you're planning on raising it to an unspecified amount and if she doesn't like it she can leave....

I think your main challenge will be that by directly linking rent to utility prices like this, you should expect her to ask for in line reductions if/when the energy prices go down again.

If they ever go back to 'normal', that could leave her expecting a big rent reduction.