Changes You Will Need To Make To Your Home When Taking On A Lodger
If you have a spare room that’s lying dormant then one way of making use of it would be to rent it out or take on a lodger, this earns you a bit of spare cash for not doing very much at all. This quick guide will go through what you’ll need to consider in respect to your home and any changes you might want to make to prepare for this.
Decorating The Room
Is the room that you’re looking to rent out completely ready and decorated to an acceptable standard? You may not have thought about it much as the room probably is mostly empty and you don’t go in much but is it decorated in a really old style or does it have any mould or damp that needs addressed before you even think to advertise it, if you do these things it might actually benefit as you could get a higher rate for a nicely decorated room. It’s very easy these days to find inspiration and decorating ideas that can add value to your guest room.
Furniture Purchases
Much like the décor the furniture is also important to have a think about furniture as a lodger may spend a reasonable amount of time in that room it will need to be attractive and comfortable, especially the bed, have a good think about buying the correct bed and this will give you much more chance of getting someone to take the room quickly.
Bills & Utilities
You’ll need to carefully consider if a share of the bills are included in the monthly rent you are charging? Will they pay a share of the bill or just one payment covering everything. The thing is that with an extra adult in the house the bills will rise as there will be more baths and showers, the heating may end up being on more, so it’s important to have this sorted out before you begin. You might even want to check that you couldn’t be on a more suitable tariff to reflect the new household situation, it’s easy to find out online what the best deal is and you can use moneyexpert.com to switch the best gas and electricity accounts for your household.
Space Needed In The Home
It’s not only just the bedroom that will be used by a lodger as they will probably want to use cooking and washing facilities and you’ll need to workout schedules on when this happens to avoid conflict with yourself, unless you are including meals and washing in their rent, in which case you’ll need to ensure you are charging extra for this. There will be a similar Issue with recreational areas as well, you might even want to consider an extension which might seem a bit much but it will free up space in the house and actually increase the value in the property long-term.
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