What should I consider before renting out a room to a lodger?

[congan]

I am in my early 60s and recently widowed. Have grown up kids who’ve flown the nest.

Whilst I will probably downsize, for now I’m in a 5 bed house in a “desirable” area but a bit short on income.

So I’m thinking of renting out a large en-suite bedroom with adjoining sitting room on a monthly basis. My preference would be to keep my kitchen private but I could put a fridge and microwave, kettle, toaster, etc in the sitting room.

The room can be accessed without coming into my living room or kitchen. I e I could rent the room out with minimal interaction with the lodger, but it I liked them of course would be happy to chitchat.

Before I put an advert out, what are some things to think about? Any tips?

Where would they access water / wash up?

You’d be better off doing bed & breakfast style Lettings with a coffee machine, kettle (check your bathroom has potable water ie from mains not tank) and give them breakfast items - bread/cereals etc but expect them to eat dinner out. It worked for friends of ours who attracted “work away from home” people who’d come two or three nights a week. Works well if your house is close to businesses or industrial estates. You can’t have a lodger without a kitchen - the smells of cooking would be annoying for a start and most people wanting a home would need to be able to cook.

That’s weird. My friend has a lodger but keeps her livingroom private. Your lodger will need to cook, and do you have a washing machine in your kitchen?

Sounds more suitable as an Airbnb than a full time lodger. Would you like to life somewhere full time with no real cooking facilities and having to do your washing up in the bathroom sink? Also where would they wash their clothes etc?

If long term let they need to be able to cook a full meal in the kitchen once a day, and wash and dry clothes. Could you put in a kitchenette with hob rings? They tend to do breakfast in their room if going out to work. Maybe you could give a rota for the kitchen/day for laundry?

Most important for us were:
clean and respectful
no overnight guests
single folks not couples - our couple stayed in and cooked huge meals, singles tended to be out and about more
ideally someone who is going out to work everyday rather than working from home full time
over 40, quiet professional types (our one very young lodger was out late every night and ended up being a bit of a nightmare)

Unless you have 2 kitchens you can't keep your kitchen private. Where will they cook?

The en-suite bathroom?

But I agree it’s a bit weird. Most would want access to the kitchen.

Not being willing to let them use the kitchen is a bit crap for a lodger, they will live there.
Airbnb might be more suitable

No lodger will agree without a kitchen. They need to wash up, cook, wash clothes.

If you don’t share your kitchen, bathroom or living room, then despite what you call it, they are unlikely to be a lodger legally and you may have created an assured tenancy with all the rights that entails by allowing them to move in and pay rent and you would need to go to court to evict them.

My friend had great success with a weekday only lodger but he had access to the kitchen. Another had success with one lodger who worked 12 hours shifts and was only there from Monday to Thursday. He ate at work

Would you rather a woman? Maybe someone professional so older? No overnight guests? All week or half the week?

You need to put a proper kitchenette with a sink in it if you're going to expect them to live there full time and have zero access to your kitchen.
Not a full oven but hob and air fryer also.

One of my friends has 2/3 night a week lodger who is allowed to use kitchen/washing machine etc but in practice eats at lunchtime and only has cereal at night. You might find that if you interview carefully you get what you want with only minor kitchen use. Assuming you live somewhere where a part time let would be viable.
I can't imagine living somewhere full time where I couldn't use a proper kitchen at least some of the time.

I also agree this won’t work. You can do without things like a washing machine for a few days but if someone is living there they need access to these things. People can’t live off toast and ready meals.
Maybe you should set up a mini fridge/coffee area somewhere yourself to limit your own time in the kitchen.

We have a friend who only had weekday lodgers which worked well for him as he only saw them for a few hours a couple of evenings a week.

Id also remember that people typically do WFH at least some of the week for a lot of jobs so you will need to have good WiFi for them to use.

I once briefly lodged with a woman who seemed to think I should spend all my time in my room and not really access the bathroom/kitchen.

Having been a full time lodger, they do need to be able to “live” there. Ie prepare and cook food, somewhere to store food and equipment, somewhere to wash clothes. Otherwise that sounds really miserable.

You could maybe offer a couple of nights a week, cheaper than a hotel, for contractors working in the area?

You could probably put a small kitchenette with very basic appliances etc in the corner of the 'living room' for a few grand, especially if it adjoined the ensuite, and that would be worth it in the long run.

I think you would be better doing air bnb as others have said you can’t expect them to eat out all the time and or pay for takeaways as well as pay to launder clothes elsewhere.

A lodger needs a kitchen
you can do air bnb if you don’t want them cooking

you need to agree rules about them having overnight guests and be upfront

Why do you want a private kitchen? Worried they’ll be messy? Or cook all day? Then perhaps you discuss when they cook or when
you need to be able to cook, and the level of cleanliness expected on the advert and you might attract one you’re happy to share with.

As a student I wouldn't have cared a lot about the kitchen if the price was right. A fridge, microwave and kettle in the room and private bathroom would have worked fine. A
laundry would be necessary within a reasonable distance and I see few if them nowadays.

A friend is renting out a room due to financial reasons.
It has definitely been the kitchen that has caused the most trouble.
It is recommended to have clear agreements about the use and extent of cooking and fixed laundry times
Also the number of guests and the number of overnight guests and general noise level are issues worth to consider. People's perceptions of this can be miles apart.

^^This.

I’ve had several lodgers.
you need to be extremely honest with yourself - are you very laid back or are you quite set in your ways?
how much experience do you have of people generally?
if you try to make rules about absolutely everything then the environment can become quite tense and unwelcoming.
however if you don’t have some basic rules you could end up with difficulties.
there was a recent thread when someone thought the lodger was using the washing machine excessively 5 loads a week.
some posters felt that the lodger was totally reasonable.
One lodger I had was via the university.
i had requested female but he was male and I compromised - that was a mistake as really I wasn’t comfortable with a male for various reasons.He was quite cocky and inflexible. For example took over my small kitchen with no consideration.

ifnyoundo it make it clear to your home insurance what the situation is. I recently arranged with my insurers that I could have people stay that are not family, but there is a condition there must be no electrical cooking equipment
in the room, I guess they mean air fryer or microwave.

i had lodgers in the past, they had their own room and use of kitchen and bathroom, but not part of the deal to use living room as their own. Main thing is to be very clear what is on offer.

Why don’t you just downsize from a 5 bedroom house? I appreciate it takes a lot of money and effort to downsize

on the threads on her getting a lodger for me would be the last thing I would do