Anyone have a lodger?: Do we need any legal documents?

[DrNortherner]

We might be letting our spare room out to a Romanian student in January for 3 months.

She asked if she needs to sign anything?

Normally do it through a language school, this time doing it direct so a bit stuck.

Thanks

I would put the bare minimum at least on paper so that you have something. Doesn't have to be complicated, just time, money and basic do's and don't's.

I would probably also ask for copies of ID documents.

not a legal requirement, but it would be desirable to write down:
how much she will pay and for what period of time (ie £50 per week or £25,000 per calendar month, or whatever) and what day(s) it is payable on, and any extra charges eg gas, phone;
what rooms in the house she can and can't share with you;
basic ground rules eg no cooking or guests in the bedroom, where she should do and dry her laundry;
and state in writing that you are not giving her 'exclusive possession' of the room (those are the magic words).

If you want her out, you have to give her 'reasonable notice', and it is better to do that in writing (in case you are challenged on it). Reasonable notice depends on the circumstances. If you just get fed up, then usually what is reasonable is the same period of time as she pays for - ie if she pays £x per week, she gets a week's notice, if she pays £y per month, she gets a month's notice. If she does something bad you can evict on (say) a few hours' notice, but you must not throw her stuff out when she is not there.

Thanks guys - some useful points here I had not considered.

£25,000 a month would be fab