Room to rent for acting student

[BlueAndYelow]

We live 15 mins walk to one of the best acting schools in England (a home county). My nearly teen is dreaming to become an actor and to help with cost of living I was contemplating to rent a room to a lodger.

So I am wondering if renting to a student from this school is a good idea. My thinking is:

• This is income that we need
• The student will spend most weektime at school and hopefully most holidays back at their home base
• My dc will have an older role model in the field they are targeting

We are considering charging no more than £7500 per year which gives below market rents even with 2 summer months not rented.

I understand the drawbacks of renting to a student, but I need to get more feedback from people who have actually done it. We will stipulate very strict rules (at home before 9pm, quiet time after 10pm, no friends over, keeping shared spaces tidy and not messing own space etc) in the hope it will be better for the student as well as us. Obviously, it will not work for people who will want to taste the better parts "adult" life - staying out late, whilst I would expect to adhere to our rules. Am I out of my mind??

At home before 9pm is totally unreasonable especially for a student in the arts who will regularly be performing at events that don't end till 10pm. You cannot control the student's social life outside the house.

You can stipulate quiet time after 10pm and if they return to the house after 10pm they must do nothing but go direct to their room and go to bed - no disruptive things like late night showers or making themselves a snack supper in the kitchen.

I have had many lodgers and it has been an almost entirely positive experience. However I don’t think your strict rules will work. Very few students are going to be happy to be in by 9 and that probably applies even more to acting students, who are likely to want to go out to see (or even perform in) plays.

I would not encourage any student to accept such conditions. Teen DD (13) got in after 9pm last night and that was just a school event.

Lots of students work in the library until late at night or work on group projects together in the evening. Your 9pm curfew is unworkable for students, even without the theatre aspect.

Thank you everyone! I am not trying to be nasty I am just trying to see how this matches our current lifestyle.

These responses are really helpful!

Yes you are out of your mind. Any student with a brain will not accept those rules

Oops pressed send a bit too early.

So, what would you expect as a reasonable arrangement? At home before 11pm (unless pre-agreed)? Or would you just expect to have open door as long as it is quiet?

We had 3 Ukrainian families almost without any breaks in between since April 2022, so we are used to sharing our home. It is just they had young children and at home every evening. I don't know what to expect from a student but I have an open mind and can consider everything. Then decide if it works for us or not.

Home by 9pm? No that doesn’t work. An acting student could well be in rehearsals until 10pm and then will likely want to go for a drink with the rest of the cast afterwards and there’s really nothing wrong with that!
Networking is a huge part of success in the Arts and some of that networking is done after hours.

I think quiet house after 10pm and no unplanned overnight guests is fair and I know many students who would be fine with that but you really cannot be telling someone they have to be in by 9 (and you might want to consider that your own DC is going to need/want the late evening license if they’re going to be acting…)

I can't imagine any student or their parents would want to pay for the privilege of having to be home by 9, not allowed friends over, not having mess in their own room, not feeling welcome to stay during the holidays. My kids would be happier at home.

Just to be clear, I have put the above starter conditions just to match our current lifestyle. I am very grateful for all the feedback. I am not out to get anyone, just trying to understand how this might work or not! 🥰

It’s fine to have a rule about no late night noise but a student should be free to come and go as they please.

I wouldn’t expect to have a say in what time they come home. It’s reasonable to stress the importance of being quiet after a certain time.

We allow guests by prior agreement, which in practice we have allowed to become very relaxed where it is a good considerate lodger with a steady boyfriend. I think it’s a bit harsh to not allow them to have, say, a friend around for tea occasionally, but obviously you don’t want strangers wandering around your house unannounced.

Unless you are smokers yourselves and don’t care, it’s important to be upfront about a strict no smoking rule.

They are entitled to privacy in their room and you should not be going in there except with prior notice or in emergencies, so although it’s fine to expect them to keep it in a hygienic state and not do anything that would damage the fabric or contents, it’s not really up to you if they keep it tidy or not.

Unless they will have their own bathroom then when you are interviewing them you need to find out if your schedules are compatible, eg you won’t all be needing the shower at the same time.

For £750/month you want a newly adult student to live like a child and be grateful for it? I think this is completely unrealistic and I can't see anyone going for this. What a miserable student life.

Age of these guys is 18+
This is high education institution. As a medical school student at this age myself I would have been crawling home after 12hr solid studying. But I realise if there are shows they will be coming home late. So, yes, expecting them to be at home at 9pm is not realistic.

If they don't it is absolutely fine. But this was the thought behind getting a student in rather than a regular lodger. So, happy to stand corrected.

We would not formally rent in July and August as we have family and friends visiting us every year.

Probably student lodger is not for us. That's why I am posting here. Thank you for brutal feedback.

Unless the people boarding are very young (11 rather than 16) then the time constraints in your post are very unreasonable. I would expect school events to end later than 9pm sometimes and would you really feel ok about giving an eviction notice to a teenager if they didn’t clean up after themselves or were later than your curfews ?
How would you feel if the student didn’t travel home regularly (train travel is expensive or family based overseas) and you had them at yours for Christmas etc?
A family/teen who’d be ok with your rule of no friends coming over would be in a pretty sad situation. Would you be ok if friends knocked on your door for the child ? I understand why you would be wary of girlfriends /boyfriends in their room but it goes back to how happy you’d be punishing rule breaking.

This could be a good basis for play...

You have a simple stage set, different perspectives of living, ages conflicts and...
...possibly could end up with a murder mystery.

They are allowed a social life, part of being a student is enjoying new experiences, meeting new people, they should come and go when they want as long as they are quiet and respectful. Surely at med school you went to the social clubs, sports clubs, parties, did you live in halls. What eating, shopping, bathroom, bills arrangements are you considering.