Finding a lodger

[Forwhatitsworth101]

What would put you off renting a place?
Struggling to find a lodger for my place. Could be that I’m in a prime competitive city.

Ultimately I hated my lodging days. The only big motivator was price, and the joy of getting an all bills included deal. You might need to drop your price a bit? If you're in an Airbnb city, a lot of formerly short-term rentals have gone back onto the long-term market so there's more choice to be had for renters.

I was never a lodger, but visited several places with my BF at the time whilst he looked. His was more of a flat share, although TBH, I'm not sure what the difference a lodger is? He was added onto the tenancy agreement though. Some of the things I recall putting him off were: -

• smoking inside (if a non-smoker yourself)
• dank, stale or mildew smells
• one woman was Jewish and had very stringent rules about cutlery, shelves in the fridge and NOT touching plates and cookware-despite saying how relaxed she was about it all.
• Another house was obvioulsy a party house. We visited on a thur and there were still beer bottles and BBQ/party things lying about on the balcony and inside from presumably a previous weekend
• price, location and availability of either parking or public transport were other major factors

Are you advertising the right demographic for what you want- age and profession wise? How are you priced in comparison to others nearby? Why did your previous lodge leave?

have you tried Spareroom?

DH and I had lodgers in our 20’s. It probably felt not too far off a flat share for them given the similar age, lifestyle etc.

I think it’s important that someone feels like the property could be there home too, eg they’d feel comfortable in the communal areas have have space for their kitchen stuff, books etc. If you expect someone to just sit in their bedroom, then lodging is much less attractive than just getting a house share.

Thanks for the replies
I’ve never had lodgers before and probably won’t be in the house a huge amount as I often stay at my partners place where he lives (he won’t be staying here if I have female lodgers). I wonder if it is the area as I’m in Birmingham but not the best area of the city. It’s also a pretty Victorian terrace so lots of features including sash wi does but I guess lodgers don’t care about those sort of things? I also have to compete with the hundreds of flats to rent and flat/Houseshares available.

I have lodgers and have never had issues finding anyone despite not being in the best bit of the city.

Price has to be fair, look at what else is available. People will expect to pay less than they would in a house share where they would be tenants and have more rights.

Are you including bills?
Are you allowing a fair use of the space?

Sounds potentially desirable for a lodger. It will probably boil down to the right price.

I lived on the outskirts of London and managed to get a lodger without too much difficulty. I was a pretty flexible person and agreed a one month rolling contract as I felt if either of us ended up hating the other person we wouldn't want to be stuck with them. The bedroom wasn't massive but a small double, wardrobe and drawers fitted nicely. I met a few people i didn't really like and i actually ended up coming down on price because someone i really liked made an offer and figured i'd rather get a little less a month and live with someone i liked. We ended up living together for 2 years before i met someone and got married.

We weren't best mates but we always got along and we respectful to one another.

Things will always sell for the right price i find.

Lodgers love to have an Ensuite. Many houses can't offer that, but if you can, it really gives the edge because people do prefer not to share the loo and bathroom if it can be avoided.

Important things are ; parking, reasonable access to communal areas and storage space in at least some of them, lack of bossy rules, owner being low-key and not desperate to import someone to the house who will become their best friend - so giving people space, decent sized bedroom ideally with Ensuite, modern decoration and any provided furniture being clean, simple, modern and working, decent shower, modern, clean kitchen and bathroom, neutral carpets ideally, good orice with bills included, no rigid rules about when heating on, the odd person staying over, having friends to visit for an evening etc....but no-one should expect to turn it into a party house or move in their boyfriend.

Location is important - close to good transport or walking distance to key places of employment like hospital are good. If your location is t good for easy public transport to the town or places of work, you will command a lower price.

Also, age of owner can be important. Most lodgers are younger (not all clearly, but many are) so if you are in that category, it gives you an advantage. Most young people seeking lodgings don't want to live with a middle aged person.

Realise you can't do anything about your age or the location of your property or probably if it has an Ensuite.....but these things might explain a lack of interest.

If you are an older middle aged lady, you might have to wait longer to find a similar person who will want to live with you.

Oh, and lots of people seeking lodgings don't want to live with children. That will reduce the market significantly too.

Sorry to mention lots of negatives. I can remember being a lodger in my 20s. I'd have hated to live with 'old' people over 30 and worse still with kids. That might have been my immaturity, but I needed to feel I was sharing with people like me at that point.

It could be the time of the year. Also uni students not going back for a while.
Things will hot up in Sept.
Where are you advertising?
Post photos in your advert so people can see the room.
Say a bit about yourself in the advert too.
I had a lodger. Ensure you say you will do a room inspection every 3 months and you do it. I had probs on moving out day.
Also insist on certain cleaning regimes once you get them.
I let mine use mutual space but she liked to stay in her room - phew!

There's a balance to be had between showing you keep a clean house and expect lodgers to as well, and being a control freak with a long list of rules. It's about being clear about some basic expectations but not nit-picky.

I remember looking at houses that wanted a lodger and there were quite a few eccentrics that were the owners. Sometimes they lived in big, oddly furnished houses and were very eccentric. I'm sure someone move din, but they wouldn't appeal to a lot of people......but you can only be who you are and there's no point pretend I g to be someone else...that's a recipe for disaster.

I also had lodgers for 2 or 3 years before getting married. The best one worked evenings from a bout 7-12. That worked well as I saw her for about an hour when I got home from work, but she had the flat to herself most of the day and me most of the evening. She paid half the heating bill (other bills included) which was good as it stopped her having it on 24/7 but did give her freedom to use it when she wanted to.

One lodger I had thought it would be okay to store up washing up for a week and then do it all in one go. He had just stopped being a student. I had to spell out that minimum once a day was required. He thought that was a bit harsh but agreed.

Another lodger I had didn't stay long because I had quite a lot of friends round regularly. She was airline cabin crew and wanted quiet during the day (including weekends) on days she had just returned from flights so she could sleep - I understood, but wasn't prepared to not invite people round and so we just weren't compatible.

It really helps if you have a similar lifestyle, attitude to things like cleaning so it can naturally work rather than the lodger always feeling they are having to live in a way that doesn't feel easy to them.

However, establishing some basic guidelines is important too and the prospective lodger being open to them is vital. It's no good having a lodger who thinks the house is totally theirs to do with as they like. It needs to feel like their home for them, but at the same time, for them to know it's your house. It isn't a relationship of total equals in the sense a flatshare is. Getting that balance across to a potential lodger or seeing if they understand it isn't easy, and when it doesn't come across or the lodger isn't up for it, it can make it harder to find someone.

Which way are you looking for a lodger - an agent / a website?
I reiterate that Spareroom is great because you can mention that they will have the living areas to themselves (and just peace and quiet) often as you are there part time. It really is a great bonus for many.
Also you can put up some photos on there.

FB might be also good but I never used that.

If you just stick an ad in a shop window or look through agents, people wouldn't know this.

We've never had a lodger but a friend of mind did and the lodger was there Monday night until Friday morning as he worked in our city but his family lived elsewhere.

I lodged as a student. The worse had such rigid rules about when I could use the kitchen and living room. I couldn’t have anyone over, and she had strangers (to me) stay when she went away. Plus her drunk son turned up at 1am when I was on my own and insisted on taking things out of my room (which she said she would clear out but never did).
The best just left me to my own devices. There was no living room so it was just my room and the tiny shared kitchen and bathroom but I was out most of the day.
But I was a student then and would put up with a lot as it was just temporary. If I had to do it now I’d be looking for an en suite, and use of kitchen and living room unrestricted, though of course I’d be mindful of having people over.

smoker
pets
shared bathroom
single bed
lack of storage
no parking
ridiculously strict house rules
I think it takes a brave person to share with someone they don't know. A lot of people find housemates through friends / family / work connections. If you're in an area that has a decent range of businesses that recruit young people / fresh graduates then you might have some luck finding someone but with the current increase in home working a lot aren't even living close to their offices at the moment.