Well the 21 days of tips has now concluded. If you are a lodger landlord, I hope you have enjoyed it and found it useful. To help you find your way around it, here is a list of all the posts published in the series: Day 1 – What is a lodger? This looks at…
Our last few tips have looked a problem lodger situations, but of course this is not the norm. Most lodgers get on very well with their landlord. However all good things have to end, and sooner or later the day will come when your lodger leaves. There are many reasons. Most of my lodgers, for…
Although hopefully this will never happen to you, very occasionally lodger landlords will need to evict their lodger. Todays tips give guidance on this. Caution – todays tip only applies to lodger landlords who share living accommodation with their lodgers. The guidance given here regarding eviction, will *only* be applicable to landlords with lodgers living…
In most cases your lodger experience will be a positive one. However sadly, this is not always the case. If you do experience problems, todays tips should help. Stage 1 – talk to your lodger If you are unhappy about something, have a word with your lodger about it. For example if he is not…
Making friends Every lodger / landlord relationship is different, as all people are different. However on the whole, it is best not to be too friendly with your lodger. Although you may personally like your lodger, the main reason they are in your house is to earn you some money. In the majority of cases…
Documents and record keeping Although not yet as bad as tenancies, there can still be quite a lot of paperwork involved in renting out a room. It is possible to do things just on a handshake, but this is not really recommended. This is probably a good place to list all the paperwork which could…
Inventories and deposits tend to go together. Again, these are things that not all lodger landlords will bother with. However, when letting a stranger into your house, there is no harm in being careful. A deposit is a payment taken for the landlord to hold against any damage to the property or breakages. If when…
Taking in a lodger is not the same as taking in a tenant, and a formal lodger agreement is less essential. Many lodger landlords never use a formal written agreement, and operate on a handshake and mutual trust. However although this is fine when things are going well, if there are any problems, it is…
When you decide to take in a lodger, you need to keep very much in mind that this is a financial business relationship. You should therefore treat it that way right from the start. This does not mean that you should not be friendly with your lodger (although see Day 18). However, you must be…
Rent Todays topic is in many ways the most important, as for most people the main reason they are renting out a room is for the rent. The first thing to consider is how much you are going to charge for your room. This will depend upon many things, among them: the location of your…
If you are a landlord or a tenant, you will help and guidance on Tessa's other sites, Landlord Law and the Landlord Law Blog.