Vetting a Housemate

nermal15

I’ve been renting a 2 bed apartment on my own for a couple of years now but the rent is being raised so I need to find a tenant for the second bedroom.

Any advice on how to choose someone, particularly when it will be just the two of us? My letting agent has told me they’ll need references and a background check from them. Also, what basic ground rules should I establish at the start? I haven’t done the house sharing thing since college so I’m a bit rusty.

Baby01032012

Does your lease disallow sub letting? The agent isnt your letting agent, it is the landlords. If i was you i would take on a licensee rather than a tenant for the landlord. You remain the only tenant, licensee has little rights and you can ask them to leave at any stage rather than a tenant who would have same rights as you. You can also claim rent a room relief and retain the amount they pay you tax free. Although after 6 months they have the right to be added to the lease if they wanted to.  
Are you in a RPZ, if so is rent being raised above the 4% limit?

BrokenArrows

I agree with the previous poster.
If at all possible you should avoid going through the letting agent. They just want to charge you for the background check.

If its not against the lease then just rent out the room yourself and they will be a licensee. If it doesnt workout you can just tell them to leave.

As for picking a person then its all down to what you want. Do you want a friend or do you want someone who quietly sits in their room 24/7 and stays out of your way.

When ive interviewed people in the past ive simply stated in the past on the advertisement what i was looking for and then invited them over to view the place and have a chat. You will find out pretty quickly if you are likely to get on with someone.

Ground rules should be stated regarding them having people stay over. You dont want to end up living with 2 other people. So your rules should be any guests can stay over a maximum of X nights and should not be left in the house alone etc.

nermal15

Thanks for your suggestions! My lease does state that I’m not allowed to sublet so I’m happier playing by the rules in that regard. Also, I’m not in a RPZ.

Meeting a few people this evening so hopefully it will go well!