Airbnb'ing my second room instead of full time flat mate

techguy

Hello all,
I'm thinking about renting out a two bed flat in London (Zones 1/2) and instead of recruiting a full time flatmate i'm thinking that I could use Airbnb to let the room on a casual basis. The casual nature would suit me as I would be able to control when I have people in and also I can use the room for friends / family etc.
I can take in up to £7,500 tax free each year using rent a room scheme. I would probably only have to rent the room out a small portion of the month to offset my costs back to what I would pay for a single room.
What do people think of this idea? Has any body hosted on Airbnb in London?
Thanks

BrokenArrows

techguy wrote: »

Hello all,
I'm thinking about renting out a two bed flat in London (Zones 1/2) and instead of recruiting a full time flatmate i'm thinking that I could use Airbnb to let the room on a casual basis. The casual nature would suit me as I would be able to control when I have people in and also I can use the room for friends / family etc.
I can take in up to £7,500 tax free each year using rent a room scheme. I would probably only have to rent the room out a small portion of the month to offset my costs back to what I would pay for a single room.
What do people think of this idea? Has any body hosted on Airbnb in London?
Thanks

Yes it would work fine, as long as you're happy and can deal with guests arriving to check in at random times through out the day.

Rather than trying to rent it out a few days per month to cover the costs of the extra room why not just try and rent it out full time for a 1-2 month stretch and then forget about it for the rest of the year.

techguy

Cool.

Well I don't think a two month rental would cover the financial costs over a 12 month period. I also just don't want a full time flat mate. I think somebody who comes to London for a few days will probably have different interest and will most likely spend little time in the flat other than sleep.

I also really like the idea of having loads of random people  from different cultures etc. I am sure to meet loads of interesting people if that makes sense. I am also aware that some of them could be weird/dangerous but hey hey!

Have you hosted on Airbnb BrokenArrows?

Gravelly

techguy wrote: »

Cool.

Well I don't think a two month rental would cover the financial costs over a 12 month period. I also just don't want a full time flat mate. I think somebody who comes to London for a few days will probably have different interest and will most likely spend little time in the flat other than sleep.

I also really like the idea of having loads of random people  from different cultures etc. I am sure to meet loads of interesting people if that makes sense. I am also aware that some of them could be weird/dangerous but hey hey!

Have you hosted on Airbnb BrokenArrows?

I've used Airbnb a fair bit in London (and other places!) and, although I'm no help on the renter side, here are some tips for you from the "customer" side:

Make sure you can let the guest in at a time that suits them - if someone arrives on a red eye flight from New York at 6am, they are not going to be happy if they discover they can't get access to their room until 8pm. I've had this experience!

Many guests will have to leave at an odd hour to catch a flight etc. - make sure they are able to have breakfast (if that's part of the agreement), access the bathroom, and lock up behind them at some ungodly hour of the morning without having to pound on your door to lock up after them (I've had this experience too!)

Have clear directions to and from the flat from airports, tube stations, etc. and have an address that can be found on Google maps - you'd be surprised at the number of people that give an address that brings you to the general vicinity rather than exactly where you are staying - very annoying if you're off a long flight and just want to fall into bed.

Best of luck with it - I've had Airbnb experiences that ranged from brilliant to terrible, but the biggest bugbear of mine is not getting into the room at a time that suits me.

S.M.B.

I have friends who do airbnb on a two bed property they own. I know they regularly have issues with the key handover as mentioned above even trying to be as flexible as possible. Key lockers are becoming quite common at the moment but they come at a cost.

If renting you're going to have to either:

a) ensure that your landlord has no problem with you subletting a room
b) keep it to yourself and hope that news of this doesn't get back to him

Hitman3000

techguy wrote:

Hello all, I'm thinking about renting out a two bed flat in London (Zones 1/2) and instead of recruiting a full time flatmate i'm thinking that I could use Airbnb to let the room on a casual basis. The casual nature would suit me as I would be able to control when I have people in and also I can use the room for friends / family etc. I can take in up to £7,500 tax free each year using rent a room scheme. I would probably only have to rent the room out a small portion of the month to offset my costs back to what I would pay for a single room. What do people think of this idea? Has any body hosted on Airbnb in London? Thanks

Does your tenancy allow you to sublet? Is there a clause about airbnb?. If the premises has a management company there may also be an issue.

techguy

Great advice. thanks guys.
With regard to the key handover, when I first arrived in London I had a host who had a combination key locker at the front door and he had the key in there. I checked myself in and out of the property. It was convenient. That said, I think he owned the place.
I like the key locker concept, like Key Cafe or one of those.

Gravelly

techguy wrote: »

Great advice. thanks guys.
With regard to the key handover, when I first arrived in London I had a host who had a combination key locker at the front door and he had the key in there. I checked myself in and out of the property. It was convenient. That said, I think he owned the place.
I like the key locker concept, like Key Cafe or one of those.

The best solutions I've seen are the key locker at the front door, where the code is texted to the guests phone before arrival, or in one place I stayed at, they had a combination lock on the front door.

There's also this: Lockitron

Teyla Emmagan

You better check with your landlord. Their insurance probably won't cover short term lets. You could be going to jail if anything happened.

S.M.B.

I know people who use a Lockitron like solution too. Not sure if I'd be too comfortable using it. Not sure how Home Insurance companies look at it either.

Gravelly

S.M.B. wrote: »

I know people who use a Lockitron like solution too. Not sure if I'd be too comfortable using it. Not sure how Home Insurance companies look at it either.

Any home insurance policy I've ever held has specified that the locks must be a minimum of 3-lever deadlocks, but they don't care what operates them. If your policy doesn't specify that they are key-operated (and I've never seen a policy that has) then you are fine.

techguy

Teyla Emmagan wrote: »

You better check with your landlord. Their insurance probably won't cover short term lets. You could be going to jail if anything happened.

Why would you say jail. If I break the contract it will be a civil case not criminal. Jail is for criminals. Unless I knowingly facilitate criminal activity by the sub tenants.

BrokenArrows

techguy wrote: »

Why would you say jail. If I break the contract it will be a civil case not criminal. Jail is for criminals. Unless I knowingly facilitate criminal activity by the sub tenants.

I think its more if someone was seriously injure themselves or be killed while staying in your property. Like slipping or tripping down stairs etc.

Renting out the room via AirBNB or similar is seen as a business and any guests who injure themselves can sue you if you are at fault.

techguy

BrokenArrows wrote: »

techguy wrote: »

Why would you say jail. If I break the contract it will be a civil case not criminal. Jail is for criminals. Unless I knowingly facilitate criminal activity by the sub tenants.

I think its more if someone was seriously injure themselves or be killed while staying in your property. Like slipping or tripping down stairs etc.

Renting out the room via AirBNB or similar is seen as a business and any guests who injure themselves can sue you if you are at fault.

That is some fantastic advice.. I didn't think of that at all and is certainly something I would want to consider.
Thanks.