Potential Tenant

shoes34

I have a room to let which is advertised on daft and a potential tenant came to see the house yesterday evening. They are travelling a lot for work around the county and are not sure if this town is the most central town for them to stay in. They don't want the room until the New year which is fine as I don't want anyone moving in until the New Year.

They suggested that they take the room for a month/6 weeks and see how the travelling distance is and I can keep the ad on daft and also show the room to any other potential tenant and they may take it on a long term basis.

This house is not situated in a major city so not a lot of people looking to rent here. My question is if I do decide to let them move in for the month/6weeks how do I charge for rent and also oil and ESB? As the tank is full at the moment if she did move in only for 6 weeks do I ask them for money towards the oil they have used?

thanks.

seamus

I'd insist on a full deposit, regardless, on top the month's rent.

If she doesn't like the place, she gets the deposit back, no hassle. If she does, you already have the deposit, no problems.

Just treat it like a short term lease. Make a note of how much oil you have in the tank and what the meter reads on the day she moves in, and if she moves out early then just charge her the cost of what's used, divided by two.

odds_on

Remember, you are still going to have to pay the PRTB fee whether it is one month or a year agreement

riclad

Say TAKE 80 euro ,for oil,electricity, give her refund if she uses 60 euro,s worth,
take esb meter reading be4 she moves in.

djimi

odds_on wrote: »

Remember, you are still going to have to pay the PRTB fee whether it is one month or a year agreement

If the OP is the poster that I think they are (was on here a while back asking for advice on a tenant that they had living with them) then they are an owner occupier, so no PRTB. I could be mixing them up with someone else though :P

odds_on

djimi wrote: »

If the OP is the poster that I think they are (was on here a while back asking for advice on a tenant that they had living with them) then they are an owner occupier, so no PRTB. I could be mixing them up with someone else though :P

Thanks djimi, as you say if it is owner occupied then the occupant will have a licensee/lodger agreement and not a tenancy thus no registration with PRTB.

See how easy it is to give incorrect advice without the full information - I understood the OP as having a room available in a shared house but not one with the owner resident.

Baralis1

My advice would be to rent the room at a fixed price per week with all bills included. Calculate the total average cost of all the bills incl oil, ESB etc per year at their current usage and divide by 52. Then recalculate as if the tenant had really upped the usage, i.e. oil on for 12 hours a day, ESB doubled and divide this figure by 52. Determine an average between these figures and add on to the weekly rent. Of course this is a very rough guesstimate, not an exact science. Work it out in a way that you'd be comfortably covered for bills unless the tenant goes mad altogether but that you are not pricing yourself out of the market.

If the tenant wants to pay it they will, if the don't they won't. In my experience, tenants will be happy to pay slightly extra to have a single payment without the hassle of worrying about organising bills, paying bills, worrying about oil deliveries etc. I know I myself paid a slightly higher than normal rent for just this convenience in a really nice house.