Buying Apartment - doing Rent A Room

Maz2016

Hi all, I’m looking at buying a 3 bed apartment. I was thinking of renting out the 2 spare bedrooms for 12-24 months on the Rent A Room scheme to boost my savings and help me with renovation costs.

I know I can earn up to €14,000 per year including utilities and bills on this scheme. If I did this for 2 years, €28k is not to be sneezed at.

Its been 10+ years since I shared an apartment with anyone (besides family) never mind strangers. Can anyone tell me what to expect? What do I need to provide (I presume a bed, locker etc and full access to common areas?)

Any info or tips most welcome

dennyk

What you provide your licensee is entirely up to you, but most licensees would expect a furnished room (at least a bed and storage) and reasonable access to the common areas at the very least. The most important thing is to put all of your license agreement terms (particularly the amount of the rent and when and how it will be paid, exactly how splitting utility bills will be handled, notice periods required from both sides to terminate the agreement, and any house rules you wish to enforce) clearly in writing so that there are no disputes about those matters in the future.

Maz2016

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119527780#Comment_119527780

Thank you. Your correct licensee is the correct term. I presume if I do a license agreement I refer to them as a licensee and not tenant? One tip I was given was to do a 3 month agreement with the possibility to extend month by month by mutual agreement- that way your not tied into any long term commitment

endofrainbow

Personally I wouldn't be including utilities and bills, I'd keep these separate if that's allowed.

Caranica

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119528536#Comment_119528536

100% this. People will use utilities more sparingly if they see their usage being mirrored in the bills

PropJoe10

I'm a landlord that utilises the Rent a Room scheme, and while I pay for the bins, everything else is split between me and the tenants. As someone else said, I definitely wouldn't include utilities in your rental figure, as it'd give your lodgers a chance to go to town on gas and ESB.

Maz2016

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119531183#Comment_119531183

Thank you. I was thinking of paying bind, internet etc (I’m on a cheap internet anyway) and only splitting gas and electricity. Do you just tell them when the bill comes that the bill was €x and it’s €x each?

Thanks for the advice.

I pay the things that I would pay for anyway….the bins & service charge, the wifi and the standing change component of the bills. Everything else split evenly, including cable (which I wouldn’t have if I were on my own)

and I got a licensee agreement off the internet, amended it accordingly with room access, notice period, bills etc, and we both signed

we also, importantly, agreed guest arrangements. It’s up to you what you want to request. But what you absolutely don’t want is for one person to suddenly become a couple every night

Maz2016

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119531242#Comment_119531242

Thank you. That’s very very fair of you about the electricity etc. I think I’ll do that too. And yes I most definitely do not want couples so good advice about guests.

PropJoe10

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119531203#Comment_119531203

Exactly. I do a monthly bills roundup and have a WhatsApp group with the lodgers in, they then transfer the money to my account. Works nicely, but make sure that you set the expectations as to which bills you'll be splitting from day 1.

Hope it helps!