So far I have only focussed on the positive side of having lodgers, keeping them insured and so on. Today I’m going to talk about when it all goes wrong and you need to get rid of your lodger. Before you go rushing around and kicking people out you need to carefully how to get rid of a lodger the right way and not get yourself into any legal hot water.

Regardless of how much they may have annoyed you or upset you, you still need to be careful in the way you get rid of them and you cannot simply throw all their stuff out on the street and expect them to find somewhere over night. Not only is this a little morally wrong(you don’t want them living on the street!) but also if their possessions were to get damaged or stolen then you may be held liable.

Because a lodger is simply sharing your home then you shouldn’t require any formal court order to remove them (although if you have a written contract then read this since you may have inserted certain points) but you will however still need to give them written notice and give them a reasonable amount of time to find somewhere else to live, this is usually a period of 28 days unless they have behaved particularly badly in which case a shorter notice period may be acceptable.

You may be more concerned about actually finding a lodger than the costs involved of keeping one and relax, it’s extremely easy! There are many websites dedicated to finding lodgers such as roombuddies and gumtree. One thing to remember when listing a room available for a lodger is to be open and honest, after all you will be living with this person and they will soon know if you have told any fibs!

Think about what you’re willing to give and make a clear description of what comes with the room and exactly what the rent covers (e.g which bills are included and which will be considered extra). Describe the room and property accurately otherwise you’ll simply be wasting yours and the lodgers time. When it comes to things like describing the size of the room as single or double then make sure to provide the dimensions if there could be any doubt over which category it falls into which will let the lodger make their own mind up.

Remember that a lodger doesn’t only care about the room or house they’ll be staying in, they also care about who they will be living with.. you! You need to sell yourself just as much as you do the property. Go into details about yourself such as your age, profession and your personality. The last thing you or the lodger wants is to live with someone who is the complete opposite to them where conflicts could arise.

Okay so a few people have emailed me saying that it’s all well and good earning money by renting a spare room a lodger but what about rules and regulations which govern the whole lodging idea. Now this is a very fair point, I should have be as quick to point out the rules as I was to point out the potential monetary gains! As we have already discussed, if you earn more than £4250 a year from your lodger then you will need to pay tax on this as you would any other earning, bummer right?

Contrary to what many think, you do not actually need to be a home owner to legally take in lodgers. However you may find that if you are renting yourself you lease agreement does not allow you to take people in so make sure you check this before making any decisions. Also quite obviously (but some people thought otherwise) there is no restriction on what sex your lodger is, just because your a male doesn’t mean you can’t share with females and vice versa.

When it comes to meals, laundry and such like you are under no obligation to provide these to anyone you are sharing your home with, it is their own responsibility to take care of this unless you both agree otherwise. So really when it comes down to it, the rules are simply common sense.. it’s not like leasing a property to someone where they have certain rights and such like.

I was looking around for decent resources on lodger topics today just to see if there was anything I could mix in with my own knowledge and I came across a government run website about the rent a room scheme, you can find their website here.

The Rent a Room scheme is basically an optional exemption that allows you to receive a certain amount of income from renting furnished accommodation without paying tax on the gross income. The amount to be exact is upset £4250 a year or £2150 if letting jointly! This is a pretty sweet deal and makes renting a room in your home a little more appealing.

You do not need to be a home owner to take advantage of this scheme but the property needs to be your only or main home.

If you decide that you are ready to take in lodgers then one thing that you absolutely must do is get in contact with your home insurance company and tell them that you intend to take on a lodger. Quite often having a lodger wont actually effect the price you pay for your insurance policy but they may restrict cover such as theft of contents by the lodger may be exluded.

If you fail to tell your insurer that someone else is now living in the property with you and intend on making a claim on the contents or buildings then you may find that the claim is repudiated on the basis that it could have been caused by the new person at the property. Some insurers may increase the excess you have to pay and therefore if you fail to tell them then they may feel like you were trying to cheat the system to save money.

So first things first when taking in a lodger, check your home insurance!

I have promoted the living with lodgers lifestyle to all my friends and I really want to spread the word. There is a distinct lack of information on the internet about the benefits of renting out a spare room to a lodger. If you have a mortgage to pay off or just want to have a little extra money each month after paying your rent then a lodger could be the perfect solution.

Whilst the idea of having a lodger may seem a little scary at first, if you sit down and work out some rules and consider if having another person in your home would really effect you that much then you will probably find that its a great solution for you to make a little money on the side for pretty much nothing. The main problem I see with the little information there is online about taking in lodgers is that people rarely discuss the common rules you should have in place before even considering this.

Through the life of my blog I will tell you what rules you need to outline, any costs you may not have expected (such as insurance changes) and just general guidelines you should try to follow.