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??

That is explains it. I have a preteen, so still a lot of growing as a parent to fo before I can contemplate them making own decisions. But I did want to report these accommodations to the authorities, the estate agents just shrugged their shoulders, so I thought I would stay in the lane tbh.

You are absolutely right, as this thread shown me 🥰

But look at Mon - Friday lodgers. Can work out well as they tend to be business people or trades who come back at reasonable hours and go home on weekends

Thank you! I will :)

I suspect my daughter lives in this city as she is at Conti and they all commute to Woking. Honestly £500 gets you a slurry pit there, £650 got her an okay place with damp. This year she has splashed out and has a nice flat, but it's £900 a month. She's an adult and gets to choose how to spend her money.

Lodgers want to rent a room, they don't want to fit into someone else's idea of a 'lifestyle'.

People need to be able to come and go as and when it suits them, not you.

Yes Need, I think we are in the same page!

Thank you, crock. I think I am perfectly ok to look for people whose lifestyle matches ours. As I mentioned, I am happy to rent well below the market price to the right person. Just sounds like it is not to a student. I learnt my lesson here.

I rent a room to a 17 year old student at a drama college - she is doing a 2 year A level equivalent course. Locally, the students who do the degree course want to live out for independence. As she is under 18 I discussed the ground rules with her mum. I also have a 17 year old of my own so it was a similar to what I set my own teen. She just has to let me know if she’ll be later than about 11pm so I don’t worry. Im happy for her to have a couple of girl friends over and would be fine with one overnight guest but no boyfriends staying unlesss they’ve been introduced to me etc first and her mum has confirmed ok same as for my own teen.
If it was an over 18 I wouldn’t be setting any rules except just for courtesy let me know if not going to be back that night.

My student is only here in term time and I don’t charge in holidays, other hosts charge half price in holidays. I charge £125 a week so your figure seems quite high , we’re half an hour outside London on the train.

Possibly you should be looking to do 'homestay' rentals for younger school age students who need a family to live with away from their own home but are too young to be independent
.

Definitely not for you or your lifestyle. When I was at drama school I had a friend who was a lodger in a house. She had a bedroom in the attic that the landlady didn't go into and there was more than one bathroom, so sharing was not a problem. However, when she came down from the attic she had to walk through the bedroom of the adult son (who was away, mostly) to get downstairs / to the loo etc. He was home for holidays and would lay out in his bed, naked. They were both adults, she just ignored him, but it was awful.

She otherwise did not have a curfew and was not expected to cook in the kitchen, just make cups of tea, warm stuff up in the microwave and keep minimal things in the fridge, like milk.

but hell, this was the 1990s. I'm sure expectations are WAY higher now.

Home by 9pm just not possible for a student at a drama school/conservatoire.

You need to change your mind set - you’d be renting to a lodger not adopting a foster child as a role model for your DC.

Below market rate and walking distance to college is attractive. However, the person will be an independent adult. A 9pm curfew, blanket ban on friends over and expected to push off home over any holiday is very unreasonable. You could say quiet time after 10 pm? Friends only allowed in room, not main house unless introduced? The person would also just be renting a room to facilitate their own life; they shouldn't be expected to mentor your child. I'd rethink your expectations here.

My son is a drama student at what I suspect is the institution you are referring to. As a second year he rents with friends and pays £650 a month for a room in a house near the institution (which is on a larger campus, near a cathedral, right?!). Yes, it's a bit scuzzy, but they are young and VERY busy with their course, their additional pursuits, their social lives. It isn't really up to me as he is an adult. I might prefer a cleaner house, but then I don't need to be networking or rehearsing till late at night! When he's home in the holidays I do ask him to be quiet if coming in late at night, but I can't tell an adult when to be home. I'm afraid he and his friends just wouldn't like your arrangement.

Is there a 16+ qualification at the drama school? If there is there will be a need for local housing options that would probably be more aligned with what you are thinking of in terms of house rules. No 18+ student is going to opt for nice house with strict home like rules over similar price but not so nice room in a shared house where they can do what they like.