Mumsnetters are always telling people to get a lodger

[SlothfullyYours]

Have you had one? Been one? How does it work.

Do they have a shelf in the fridge? Cleaning rota? Do they use the lounge in the evening/weekends?

Can they have friends over? Boyfriend/girlfriend to sleepover?

I had a lodger for a couple of years after being made redundant - 20 years ago now but it meant I could pay my mortgage whilst I got a new self employed business off the ground . I was lucky - we got on well , we were quite close in age and are still in contact loosely now . This was in the Midlands

Fairly common in London. I've been a lodger and it worked fine, we lived the same as you would in a house share except the other girl owned the house.

I have friends who have been Mon-Fri lodgers. In one case the landlord didn't really want them around but needed the cash and had weird rules about what they could do. That arrangement is one that didn't last long.

I would not feel at ease in my own home with another person there not matter how quiet or clean they were. I am too fond of my own company. I enjoy having the occasional visitor but after a couple of hours am looking at the clock and wishing them gone.

We did it pre kids (DP and I). Just advertised on spare room.com. We looked on there first to get a feel for the market rate. We actually just agreed to the first person who came round and didn’t bother checking references, which seems a bit mad on reflection but he was a lovely young man.

we also had foreign students for a bit which was interesting but didn’t pay much.

I live in a city and know people who have had lodgers - usually older foreign students.

I can see why the majority of lodgers would be men. I'd be worried about ending up as the subject of a Netflix documentary if I let to a random bloke.

I am currently a lodger. I spend Mon - Thurs night in another city and come back to DH and kids (adults living at home) on Fri afternoon. I pay €500 to a widowed lady living on her own for a single room, shared bathroom and a shelf in the fridge. We get on great 👍🏻

A neighbour did it , although she had previously looked after an aged relation and had part partitioned off her house ( bedroom lounge bathroom )
She made a mini kitchen with a microwave & kettle but would supply a meal if required .
It seemed to be men who worked in the area and just Monday night to Thursday night .

My DM had one, it helped her after her divorce.

I used to have lodgers when I bought my house on my own. I could just about afford the house and my horse, but I wouldn't have been able to do much. Having a lodger meant I could go on holiday and out for meals and stuff. Pre COVID I was hardly ever home and it worked well, but then covid and working from home, plus a decent pay rise for me meant I didn't need to have them anymore. I was a single women around 30 at the time and the 3 lodgers I had were all professional women of a similar age. They had a shelf in the fridge or freezer and free use of the house apart from my bedroom (and I didn't go in theirs!). I live in south Manchester near the tram and always had loads of interest and could be really selective. Their room was a decent size double in a 3 bed house, one room mine and the other spare. I wouldn't do it now, as I do prefer living on my own and I can afford it but if my finances changed and needed the money I would!

Even having had lodgers most of my adult life, I wouldn't automatically recommend it to others - it's depends on a lot of factors to determine the pros and cons of it.

I've had a lodger for over 14 years. It's a friend of my husband's who at first just needed a place to stay for a bit after his landlord decided to sell up and then it just continued on. We had a couple for 2-3 years before that who had also been friends - I don't think I'd do this with a complete stranger without using one of the vetting services I've seen advertised.

Current lodger bought his own fridge/freezer (due to the house layout, both fridge/freezers are in the dining room half of the kitchen-diner - there is no room in the kitchen part for one), has his cupboard in the kitchen, he does his laundry one day a week and asks us if he needs to use it on different days. We don't do cleaning rotas, he just cleans his own stuff and we'll discuss if there is a house project that needs all hands on deck.

Lodger used to have friends over and run regular game nights, but that stopped with COVID and his disabilities getting worse. I'm concerned for his wellbeing, that's always a hard conversation to have especially as there is that mix of being a friend and the landlady.

Previous lodgers, it was a bit awkward having that conversation, more that it was clearly a 'it's them conversation', but needs must. You can read the different laws around ending it and other parts of it here: https://www.gov.uk/rent-room-in-your-home/ending-a-letting

Rent is going to be very location based and on what agreements have been made. We've varied rent based on lodger's job changes, willing to go cheaper when he needed to get out of a horrible job for something lower paid in exchange for specific help around the house and with his car.

We had lodgers for a few years in London when my older kids went to university. I did it through an agency run by one of the mums from our primary school, which reduced the risk of problems, although she took a cut of the rent in return, so swings and roundabouts.

Her speciality was finding short-term accommodation for young interns, mainly from Germany. It worked well, and we had very few probs.

I would say think long and carefully about the layout of your house and your family's living patterns, so you can anticipate what will annoy you and put boundaries in place from the off. Especially if you have a kitchen diner you will want to give some thought to when the lodger can use the kitchen so they're not impinging on your cooking space or family time. What kind of cooking are you prepared for them to do? Heating up ready meals in the microwave or making sarnies is one thing, cooking full-on elaborate dinners is quite another. Ditto bathrooms if you don't have an additional bathroom for their exclusive use - we only had one family bathroom, so we had to tell lodgers that they would need to do leisurely bath or shower sessions in the evenings, and morning bathroom visits needed to be brief, otherwise we'd not have been able to get ready ourselves. Where and when will they do their laundry, and how will they get it dry?

Think very hard indeed about whether they can have friends staying over - we were relaxed at the start, but later moved to a hard no, as you've then got multiple people clattering around, using the bathroom/hot water supply and generally making your family house feel like a student let.

There are agencies that specialise in Monday-Friday lets, and if I were doing it again I would probably start with that, as the chance of conflict is reduced if they're not around over the weekend.

ive been a lodger and it can be VERY problematic

The two people I know have spare bedroom/lounge area and bath set up for said lodger. Mini bar fridge and microwave set up.
My one neighbor exclusively rents to international female students, parents co-sign contract which includes home by 10pm no guests.

Yes. My lodgers have all had DBS and references.

My advert always says clearly women only but you would be surprised how many men ignore that. Like I am going to make an exception for someone who has already shown he will ignore boundaries 🤔

About half of mine have been early career people in their 20s either saving for a house or in the process of buying one, but I have also had people doing summer jobs or academic research in the area, a live in care worker who needed somewhere to keep her stuff and stay between placements, and recently students on a placement year at a local firm. About half were English and half from overseas. It adds interest to life.
The zookeepers were best for entertaining answers to the ‘how was your day at work?’ question.

You wouldn't let to a "random bloke". I let to a man who had been a colleague and friend for years, it worked out well.
Lots of women need to lodge as well, not everyone can live with parents or afford high rents for a whole property.
It's actually not the worst suggestion, because you can earn quite well from it and often allows people to stay in their home rather than sell up.

I've never had a lodger, but I've been one. Relatively common for uni students or such who have a placement for a few months. I was 20, and I paid for weekdays only - Saturday morning I locked my room and took the train home, came back late Sunday. I have a friend (my age, 3 kids) who lodges during the week (4 nights) as he took a job that was too far for easy commuting and he didn't want to move his wife/kids (all settled at school) for a 1 year contract.

I was and had a mon-fri lodger, costs less but it’s not their main home so much less disruptive.

My brother took in a couple of lodgers when he divorced as his house was far too big for him and living near a popular city, the (high) rent helped pay for his divorce.
Other than that, I can't think of anyone I know IRL who has done it.

Gary & Tony (MBB) always seemed to rub along and made it look fun although I think the rent (the main reason for doing it) was usually late or completely absent.

@SlothfullyYours if you look on Spare room.com you can see what the going rate is for rooms in your area.

They have a lodger agreement you can download and customise.

I also looked into hosting international students on trips/studying at a local language school. But I decided that was too much chopping and changing and too much involvement (packed lunches, meals) for me.

I advertise for women only. Hasn't stopped men responding 🙄 but I've had plenty of women wanting to rent. London is hideously expensive for a one-bed flat and I've had enquiries ranging from students to mid-sixties in age. I didn't think being in a house with children would be very appealing, but plenty of people see it as having advantages over a more conventional house share.

My neighbour had a lodger but he was a friend of a friend and he was a single man in a 4-bed house.

I would never have a stranger lodger while DS is a child. I find it odd when it's suggested on here to a single mum of two struggling with rent - I think better advice for that situation is to share with another single mum friend!

Only when in our 20s (dh and I before we married) rented out our spare room for extra dosh - but it was to friends and we lived like housemates.
Only had to do it for a couple of years.

I know someone who
lodged w a relative - she had the top floor of the house so everything except a proper kitchen. It worked well before they fell out!

I haven’t taken anyone in as a ‘proper’ adult but I can see why it’s a popular choice if your house is set up in a way to facilitate it. I’d hate to share a bathroom, less so the kitchen.

I used to rent a room out in the flat I had in London years ago and we just used to share the flat, fridge etc like in a house share. I found it better to mostly include bills so you weren't having to have lots of here's a bill conversations. I used to advertise in Loot but don't know if that's still going, I didn't do any checks other than meet them but never had any issues. Most of them weren't looking for long-term accommodation - one of them was a girl doing a Masters at the LSE and she used to invite me to lots of her parties as well and loved her. Another girl was a dance student and just wanted an academic year, really sweet quiet girl. Had one who was male and just wanted a month - he smoked and did have friends stay without asking me but he was OK still and did smoke outside. Then another male I knew which was fine and again we went out to parties together with others. It was quite rare for them to have people over for all of them so that wasn't an issue but you may be best to set expectations.

I'm still in ouch 20 odd years later with the LSE student and the guy I knew before. It was more to have company than for money but money meant I could pay off mortgage early. Didn't do cleaning rotas, I did most of it. If you advertise for female only helps if you explain an all female house if it is, when I looked for rent sometimes you would get a middle aged man advertising for female only lodgers.

When my dad was at university he lodged with a elderly French woman that he called “Madame” and who would cook Sunday lunch for him and his fellow lodger including “sherry trifle” that was full of vodka. He has fond memories.