Rent a room - need help

twinkletoes23

Hi

I’m thinking of renting a room in my house. It’s my main residence. I haven’t rented a room out in my house before so have a few questions that I hope you can help me with.

• Do you get your tenant in the rent a room scheme to sign a lease?
• I was trying to find an example of a relevant template for a lease agreement , but couldn’t find one online . Would anyone point me in the right direction ?
• I assume you get a months rent plus deposit upfront. Is that correct ?
• Do you ask for references from previous landlords ?
• Best websites to put ad up - is daft.ie still the main one ?
  
  

Thanks again. Appreciate your help

Buddy Bubs

1- no but some do up an agreement or house rules

2 - no need, there's no lease involved here

3- that's up to you completely.

4- that's up to you again. Not a bad idea if you're letting someone live with you.

5- yes daft.ie is a good one. My home.ie would be another

It's a very loose agreement to rent out a room in your own residence. There's very little laws around it. Can be ended at any time by either party without breaking the law.

You have to declare the income to revenue, although you probably don't need to pay any tax as you'll earn less than 14k in a year for 1 room. If you earn more than 14k you have a tax bill to pay.

GalwayGaillimh

They aren't tenants they are a guest in your home.

You can think of some ground rules and make a written license agreement with them only if you like it's not compulsory… it's your house you make the rules.

If they piss you off badly you can kick them out without any notice .

otherwise you can say a months notice or a weeks notice from either side entirely up to you.

SupaCat95

Daft.ie are going to ask you to pay a fee plus it market is the way it is, you are going to be swamped with applications.

However if you want a certain kind of tenant (not suggesting they are better people) put a notice up in the local factory or hospital canteen. Dont worry you will get tenant, better still is a friend of a friend. Check references.

DubCount

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/2058345956/rent-a-room-need-help

Do not refer to them as a "tenant". This has a specific meaning, which you dont want to go near. They are a lodger or licensee, but not a tenant.

Do not sign a lease. There is no requirement for one, and it will only give you more obligations than you need to give. You might decide to do up some general "house rules" so that everyone knows where they stand before the start. No pets, no overnight guests etc. - that type of thing.

Get references. Employer references and previous landlord references. Trust your gut instinct about people - it will be better than you think.

Daft.ie is still the default go-to place to advertise. As a previous poster has said, putting up a notice in a local hospital etc. is a good route.

I would charge by the week. That makes it more obvious if there are going to be arrears etc.. A deposit of 1 month or 4 weeks is appropriate.

Good luck

drury..

Better still don't bother unless you need the money

twinkletoes23

Thank you everyone . I do need the money so I have to rent the room out

I just wanted to double check what was reasonable.

I was hoping there was some licensee agreement template that I could use rather then having to draft one from scratch for the rent a room scheme

CollyFlower

Get Chat GPT to draw up something for you.

Caranica

Don't give them a lease, that's contracting away your rights. Set a few house rules, detail rent payment, bill splits etc and get them to sign that. Do not mention term of stay, that's your insurance if they turn out to be a problem.

mrslancaster

Agree with DubCount OP, a person renting a room in the owner's home is not a tenant, years ago the term used was usually lodger, and everyone knew and understood what that meant. Tenant is a different thing and a lease is an agreement of a tenancy so is not needed for an owner who lets a room. Having a list of house rules is a good idea though just so everyone knows where they stand.

OP, just to say, if you are not the owner of the property, ie. if you are the registered tenant, make sure taking in extra occupants is complying with the t&c's of the tenancy agreement. Someone who knows more than me about landlords & tenants told me recently, that if a tenant takes in a lodger or any paying guest, that could be 'commercial activity' which might not be allowed and could be a breach of the lease.

Roberto_gas

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Del2005

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/122001128#Comment_122001128

You have to inform the landlord if you take in a licensee, if it's against the lease and you don't inform the landlord it's grounds for termination.

If it's allowed and you are in a Part 4 tenancy the licensee can request to be added to the lease and the landlord can't reasonably refuse. So your €14,000 annual tax free income can quickly become no income and someone you can't get rid of, as they will be paying rent to the landlord and only the landlord can evict them after giving the noticed required for your length of tenancy.

(7) A person who is lawfully in occupation of the dwelling concerned as a licensee of the tenant or the multiple tenants, as the case may be, during the subsistence of a Part 4 tenancy may request the landlord of the dwelling to allow him or her to become a tenant of the dwelling.

https://www.irishstatutebook.ie/eli/2004/act/27/section/50/enacted/en/html#:~:text=(7)%20A%20person%20who%20is,a%20tenant%20of%20the%20dwelling.