Another, also from the same country — I don't know if there's something about South African men! I had one girl whose boyfriend moved in, and, after a while, I started to feel like the tenant. I've never had anything stolen — apart from the lightbulbs.
To make it work, she says, you have to take a "laid-back" approach. With my current renter we do our own thing with food, although sometimes I'll cook and ask her to join me.
When we bought our first flat we were delighted we were able to afford a place with a second bedroom, writes Hilary Osborne. We figured that if times were hard we would be able to subsidise our pay by renting out our spare room. But after a couple of spells as landlords I can safely say that I never want to do it again.
And my lodgers were some of my closest friends. There were lots of good things about having people share our flat — the monthly rent certainly helped, particularly when we were first furnishing the place, we had someone to feed the cat while we were away, and Saturday nights in managed to feel like socialising still. But there were downsides I hadn't considered.
I'd realised there would be one more person in the queue for the bathroom, but not that I'd feel so irked about how long they spent in the shower when I was paying the bills. Or about the fact that at one point there were seven bottles of shower gel balanced round the sides of the bath which I had to move before I could clean. I'd had housemates before, but I hadn't realised how different it would feel when one person owned the place.
At times I felt like a parent, tidying up the kitchen or bathroom after a teenager, or seething about how much electricity they were using when they put the oven on to warm a single bread roll, or their limited grasp of what could and couldn't be recycled. At other times I felt guilty — they didn't seem to feel they could invite people for dinner except when we were away or that they could choose what we watched on TV although one managed to record When Jordan Met Peter over a video I was planning to watch.
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Getting started, getting the most out of savings, problems. How to invest, types of investing, buying and managing. Help with meeting goals, tax-friendly saving, saving for children. The Rent a Room scheme is open to owner occupiers or tenants who let out furnished accommodation to a lodger in their main home.
Our free and flexible Couch to Financial Fitness plan will help you build confidence to manage your money. Step by step we can help you cut your spending, develop core saving muscles, and create better habits for the future. You can then do one of the following:. If you earn more than the threshold or already complete a tax return you simply declare the relevant lettings income and expenses when completing your tax return.
The Rent a Room scheme can be a great way to supplement your income and provide accommodation for lodgers. But the income you get might affect some means-tested benefits. If you are a working age social housing tenant how Rent a Room affects your Housing Benefit depends on how the person renting the room is classified. If you have further spare rooms, you would be subject to it. You might wish to charge for additional services when you take in a lodger, such as providing meals or laundry services.
The money you receive for these services must be added to the rent you receive to work out your total income. The simplest way to work out what to do is to calculate what your expenses are. If they are smaller than the threshold, then go with option two.
You can change year to year, so long as you inform HMRC. If you run a guest house, bed and breakfast or provide services such as catering and cleaning as part of a letting business, you can still take part in the Rent a Room scheme. But this advantage might be outweighed for some people by the fact you cannot claim any expenses related to the letting. But he could opt out of the scheme and treat his income as a normal rental income. This means he can deduct expenses and only his final profit is taxed.
In this example Frank is better off in the Rent a Room scheme. Even though you cannot claim expenses with the Rent a Room scheme, you might need those records should you opt out later on. Find out about extra sources of income and support available to help you manage your household bills and save money in our guide What benefits you can claim and other ways to increase your income.
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Credit and purchases Credit basics, applying for credit, credit ratings and problems with credit. If you rent a room to a family member, different rules will usually apply. The bedroom wouldn't be considered as a spare room, but your Housing Benefit might be reduced because of a 'non-dependant deduction'.
The amount of the deduction depends on your relative's income. The deduction might not be taken if you or your relative claim certain benefits. If you're thinking about renting a room to a family member, you can get help from your nearest Citizens Advice to see how this could affect you.
Find out more about reductions to Housing Benefit if your social housing is too large. For people on Universal Credit, the rent from a lodger is not treated as income. This means that whatever amount you charge a lodger, it will not affect how much Universal Credit you get. However, working-age social housing tenants are subject to the size criteria reduction for the spare bedroom that the lodger rents.
Rupa gets permission to have a lodger from her landlord. Different rules apply if you rent a room to a family member. Get help from your nearest Citizens Advice if this applies to you. Any income from a lodger might affect your entitlement to other benefits and tax credits. It might be best if you first speak to an adviser at your nearest Citizens Advice who can do a 'better-off calculation' for you.
This is a calculation that would help you work out how any additional income would affect your entitlement to benefits or tax credits. Find out more about Council Tax Reduction and how it is worked out. There are some exceptions, for example, if the lodger is a full-time student. If you're a taxpayer, you might be able to get tax-free income by letting out furnished accommodation in your home.
Find out more about how renting a room in your home will affect your tax on GOV. Renting out a room in your home can affect your home contents insurance. Your insurer might increase your premium, but if you want to be sure that your belongings are protected, it's important to tell them.
If you don't, your insurance policy might not be valid. Find out more about home contents insurance. Any furniture you provide must comply with fire safety regulations.
So if you have any older furniture, you should check the labels to make sure that it is compliant. The gas safety regulations also apply if you take in a lodger. This means that gas appliances must be checked every year by an engineer who is registered with Gas Safe. If you're a tenant, then your landlord should already be doing this, in which case you don't need to do it again. If your landlord is not doing this, then you should contact them about it straight away.
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