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've a few friends and family members who have had lodgers in real life. It works if you get the right lodger. One friend has a lodger from mon to fri which means the house is hers at the weekend. The lodger likes it as it's cheaper and he returns home to his family at the weekend. We live near a major employer hence the mon to fri works well

Here are the rules around it - its tax free up to £7,500 a year, there are different rules on how to get rid of someone if its impossible to make work. I never had issues and think if you discuss things before hand it helps like meals, bills, friends over etc.

https://www.gov.uk/rent-room-in-your-home/the-rent-a-room-scheme

We had a lodger. A woman who was a student doctor and needed Monday to Friday accommodation. She worked crazy shifts but when she needed to sleep we were very quiet around the house so she could get her rest. She was no trouble at all

I've been a short term lodger for work. I'm in theatre and often tour, weekly, fortnightly or monthly. Sometimes get self contained, Airbnb etc, but often a room in a house. Use of kitchen, own or shared bathroom. Rarely use the living room. It can be a good option for people to try out having a lodger as we're always wanting a fixed, short stay, and if you don't like the person here this week, they'll be gone on Sunday.

Can’t think of anything worse, privacy invaded, someone using my bathroom and kitchen, could be noisy, disrespectful of my property, abuse the facilities by taking long showers etc. Might work if you know them well, but otherwise too many unknowns.

DD had lodgers, usually colleagues, some fairly short term til they got their own place. After she had DGC, she took in young international students on exchange visits. It all helped a single earner with the mortgage. That was in the North.

My in laws had a lodger for a few years when dh was growing up. For financial reasons. I think they also occasionally paid her to babysit. They all liked her and it worked well. She is still spoken about fondly. I can't imagine they changed a huge amount but it obviously helped.

I had a friend who grew up in a massive victorian house in Chiswick. She told me that her parents took in lodgers in order to afford it.

She and her siblings were always being warned to stay away from the lodgers. She said they were always really creepy, and that it tainted her childhood.

DP's parents had lodgers on & off and said a similar thing about his own childhood. They only had them for a few years though.

I could not live with a lodger. I'd find it very awkward.

We’ve had a couple of short term lodgers before (overseas sports people coming for 3 months over summer) we loved it and it was great for us as a family when my DC were sports mad and we used to enjoy eating and chatting together plus my DC got loads of free coaching and we were definitely more restrained in terms of shouting and arguments which wasn’t a bad thing ☺️ . I would definitely have a lodger again but either weekday only or, for short stints. We did welcome our own space and being able to ‘slob’ a bit more freely once they’d gone but then found it strangely quiet and it’s like we all retreated to our own spaces again which I don’t enjoy.

I wouldn’t want to share a bathroom so would only consider if we had an en-suite room plus someone working away from home or at least fully occupied all the time so they weren’t there 24/7.

I had a lodger when I was newly divorced with school age kids. I live near a few large workplaces attracting international workers. I would only take female lodgers tho, no men. And only on short term contracts, with no guests allowed.

We only had one bathroom, but the lodger generally left for work quite early, so it wasn't an issue. There was a downstairs loo also.

Weve had lodgers, the layout of our house house works well. The top floor is one massive bedroom with ensuite. They got a cupboard in the kitchen, a shelf in the fridge and were welcome to use the living room.

It started when a daughter of a friend of a friend needed somewhere to stay for her uni course in our city, and worked really well. Then i signed up to host international uni students (they stayed anywhere from 2 weeks to 3 months). We stopped during covid, but would happily restart again if we needed the extra income. Looking at Spareroom the going rate is around £700-£800pcm bills included for my area.

I’ve had lodgers on and off in 3 different houses ever since I bought my first flat 25 years ago. Helps pay the mortgage.

Some odd ones but no trouble, some I’m still friends with. Some for a couple of years, others a couple of nights (theatre digs). I prefer men as there’s no expectation you be ‘pally’. It’s been me and DS since he was 8, he’s now 17. DS had no issues with this. The lounge has always been just for me but bathroom shared. Shelf in fridge and own food cupboard, they are only expected to clean their own room.

I've known a few friends who were lodgers or had them when they were growing up. Our house is in a great location for it, 5 mins walk from a zone 2 tube in London, 2 bathrooms, spare bedroom on a separate floor. But personally I would never want one, despite missing out on a tax break.
While I have young dcs at home I wouldn't want someone living here who wasn't family and having access to the dcs, and when they've flown the nest I'd likely spend a lot of time on my own at home and wouldn't want someone else here. I wouldn't have wanted to be one when I was younger before I had my own place either - I preferred flat shares where everyone had the same status.

No, you literally can get a free 30 minute initial consultation with a lawyer.

With very very few

and not with anyone decent as they’ll be scrounging for business

DS has had lodgers since he bought his flat. They pay his mortgage. Sometimes students. A vet on a long training course. A lad who's Mum had kicked him out. They have their own bathroom, but could share a lounge, though he is seldom there as he is at his own girlfriend's. Essex commutable to London.

MIL has lodgers. I have to be honest it does make me feel awkward about DS staying over there as I don’t think there’s a huge amount of research done on them. I also find it a bit odd when we go round there and there’s a random lodger sat in the living room talking to us.

She earns a high salary and it’s from wanting to make money than not having a choice but to have lodgers to pay the bills.

I’ve been a lodger and I have friends who have lodgers. Sometimes it works well, sometimes it doesn’t, like most living situations. It’s not some outlandish set up. Lots of people in house shares and HMOs live with a far greater number of strangers with no say in who they are and mostly muddle along.

I’ve had international students. Short lodges as they are usually here for a term or so.

my top floor is bathroom and bedrooms so they have their own space only kitchen is shared.

the younger ones on school trips/exchanges are bloody hard work I prefer the older ones.

one of my own children is back with me at the moment so no space at the moment.

it does pay quite well and because they have their own floor it’s quite separate.

Exactly what I was going to say! Or get a job in the local supermarket stacking shelves. In theory, taking in a lodger sounds fine if you have a spare room but I think the reality of it is somewhat different. I have a spare bedroom after my DD moved out, and I've had quite a few people say to me oh you should take in a lodger. Absolutely no way. I would hate the Idea of a relative stranger in my home. I'd never feel really safe, and I'd be constantly worrying about clashes in the kitchen and bathroom. Plus my cat would be hiding under my bed the entire time as she hates strangers! 😂

As well as the - pretty common - 'house/flat share' type arrangement you can link up with companies that have people needing accommodation on a shorter term. For example, a lot of theatres have people who stay for the duration their show is in theatre. Or I have a friend who has to go and do some work at different sites (car manufacturing) for a couple of weeks every 3 months or so. They have people who let rooms short term, just to the company. I knew an older lady who used to have apprentices from the local big industry. Or, if you are near a training hospital, you get Drs who have to do 6 month placements usually miles from home - I'm sure other training professions have to. You'd have to ask around your area.
Another option is companies that do language schools and want placements for students (which is different in that you have to feed them, but the pay isn't bad, and they are fairly short term which makes it tolerable if you don't get on).

My lodger from when I bought my first flat, became a good friend and is still my friend over 30 years on.
My dd has a lodger in her house now. It was accidental at first - someone she shares a hobby with needed accommodation at short notice, so dd said she could stay until she found somewhere, but found it was a very easy way to boost her household income. The lodger works long shifts and tends to be in work, or asleep a lot of the time, and then out and about with friends or studying in her room the rest of the time. There's not been any conflict over shared space in the 8 months they've lived together so far.

It is up to you what boundaries you put in place. But it will also depend on what space you have available, and of course what hours everyone keeps - pressure on a single bathroom if everyone has to be out before 7.45am is different from people working on different schedules.

My mum and her OH had one when they were in their late 40s. The lodger was around for weekdays only and went away every weekend. Hence it worked.

A neighbour had one for a few years until they found it too much and so asked him to leave.

Really it's not a situation that would work for everyone or even most ppl.

My ex was left with a massive house on his own after his wife left, so he took in a lodger.
They lived there full time. There was plenty of room for him though. He had his own cupboard in the kitchen, and a floor including home office to himself.

I live alone in a terraced house. No way would I be sharing that space with someone I hardly know. I wont even want my DP to move in.

Growing up my when my mum was a single mum she always had a lodger he had the smallest room he has his own fridge freezer, a cupboard in the kitchen.
He had friends over and his girlfriend used to sleep over sometimes. In the evening he would be in the living room with us like part of the family.
Sometimes he use to eat with us but no often.

DH was a lodger when young as was I. My BIL lodged in the week when he worked away and DH and I had a lodger for a few months when we bought our first house as it was very easy money. We named our shed after him as that was one of the first things we bought with the money.