Rent a Room Scheme Experiences

JimmyMW · 07-04-2022 3:47pm #1

Long story short, due to unplanned/unforeseen financial circumstance I find myself in a position where I will need to rent out a room in my house to maintain a relatively comfortable financial life. As I have a small child who lives with me for a portion of the week it is essential that I have separate spaces. I have read through the revenue requirements regarding the rent a room scheme and I am in a lucky position that I will be able to successfully create a one bedroom self contained unit with minimal alterations to the existing spaces. I have also read the regulations surrounding licencees VS tenants and should be able to have the renter as a licencee. I want to know has anyone done something similar in the past and how did it work out? Is there any problem which is not obvious or pitfalls etc, I appreciate any advice given.

mike_2009 · 09-04-2022 4:47pm

Been doing it for 4+ years. Once you get a good licensee it's easy!! Just inform revenue of the rental income each year (around start of new tax year in January). Agree some type of receipt for the rent - an email / reply is what I'm doing. Be clear about sharing spaces / cooking / kitchen times, with my licensee working from home that's created a new dynamic / some tension over break times. I've been on the opposite end of renting a room with a kid staying in the house at the weekend, it was a nightmare for me though, lots of crying/admonishment from the parent, it was awful, would avoid that myself in the future but that was just that particular situation. Make sure you inform licensee in advance though, I'm sure you'll inform them.....best of luck with the screening of applicants..! Get a friend to meet them with you if you want another perspective?

timetogo1 · 09-04-2022 5:02pm

I've been doing it for a couple of years. Ill do it forever.

Print out a list of your rules and give them to people when they are viewing. If they're not happy with the rules they don't need to apply. In your rules let them know you have a child. Children cry, that's life. Obviously it's not your goal but they need to know they're sharing a house with a kid and there could be tantrums. They have to be OK with that. If not, they can move elsewhere.

One of my rules is just leave the common areas as you find them. We haven't had a problem with that ever.

Get them a dedicated space for food storage in the kitchen.

I include the bills in the rent (I.e. They just pay a set amount each month) . Simpler for them and me.

Plus I include some common stuff they can use (fruit, eggs, condiments, milk, washing powder etc.). Saves them buying bulky goods and saves on storage and realistically only costs me a couple of quid extra a week.

Get them to pay the rent to your bank account. It's easily auditable if required by Revenue. You just tell Revenue each year how much rent you took in. As long as its below the tax free allowance they don't care.

endofrainbow · 09-04-2022 6:47pm

Make sure anyone you do rent to is Garda vetted - can't be too careful these days and if they genuinely want the room, they'll have no problem with that.

Dial Hard · 09-04-2022 6:49pm

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118903962#Comment_118903962

You can't just ask people to get Garda vetted. There are specific criteria involved and renting a room to someone isn't one of them.

JimmyMW · 11-04-2022 2:25pm

All, thanks for the reply's above

GAAcailin · 11-04-2022 2:34pm

It sounds like you can create a self contained unit and your tenant won’t be sharing kitchen/ bathroom?

you should also clarify rules re access to the garden if you have one, also where should the tenant park if they have a car. Where they can / should dry their clothes. Also rules re guests/visitors etc.

you also need to ‘accept’ that you are receiving rent in return for giving up some of your personal space. Takes some re-adjusting.

good luck with it

JimmyMW · 11-04-2022 4:49pm

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118911308#Comment_118911308

Yeah this is where my concern lies really, I have to be mindful of my small man, he is obviously number 1. However I have to be fair on anyone renting also as they are paying for doing so, I am very much in 2 minds on what I will do yet as the alterations are essential in my opinion and will cost circa €10k so giving it a go to see how it pans out is not an option. If I am to do it I will need to commit to it for a significant period

CreadanLady · 11-04-2022 4:59pm

My main concern would be for the safety of the child. I think it would be prudent to accept only a female as a licencee, with one condition of their accomodation being that there can be no visitors unless you are informed a week in advance AND approve of the visitor.

CreadanLady · 11-04-2022 5:02pm

Hang on a second. If the modifications are €10,000 then you probably won't see a return on it for about 2 years. You can hardly be that hard up if you are investing €10k and waiting 2 years for a return on it.

With a small child, you are better off just keeping your home a safe zone for you and your child. The childs best interests are served by having the home a safe place free of strangers.

JimmyMW · 11-04-2022 5:05pm

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118912092#Comment_118912092

is this reasonable thou?

JimmyMW · 11-04-2022 5:09pm

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118912107#Comment_118912107

My return on investment would be about 1 year due to location, however I am looking at this long term 1 year of tight living and then a more comfortable financial situation for the remainder of the mortgage would certainly be worth it in the long run financially. I do agree with you regarding a family home, ideally you would not do this.

Mrs OBumble · 11-04-2022 5:19pm

It's totally reasonable to apply whatever rules you want re sex of the licensee in your own home.

Your child's safety is mostly due to your actions: basically don't leave the child unaccompanied with the lodger, any more than you would leave them with a sports coach, scoutmaster, etc.

Vetting is pretty irrelevant- all it shows is that a person has not been caught.

JimmyMW · 11-04-2022 5:34pm

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118912188#Comment_118912188

Just to be clear here, there will be absolutely no interaction with my child and any licensee within the dwelling, as stated in my opening post i would be making adaptions to create a 1 bedroom self contained unit. Where my concern started in my head is, lets say a licensee comes in late some night after a night out, is slightly drunk and causes significant noise etc or has someone over and causes significant noise (if you get my meaning), this would be an issue for me, ie waking my small man etc. I cant have that so is it reasonable to count this out in the rules????

Mrs OBumble · 11-04-2022 6:19pm

Your house, your rules. No prob IMHO, though it will cut down your pool of candidates.

You need to think about:

What rules you want (no noise, no visitors at all, no overnight visitors, no fúcking). If its the last one, be very clear about it.

And when they apply (all days or just when your kid is staying).

JimmyMW · 11-04-2022 6:56pm

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118912421#Comment_118912421

🤣 I love the straightness of that, thanks for the advice, I will consider all opinions above and will have to give more thought myself to the whole situation before i make any decision

Margaret Clarke · 11-04-2022 7:06pm

Obviously OP’s house, OP’s rules, but yikes. Are only men potentially dangerous?

Have you ever heard of Deirdre Morley?

GAAcailin · 12-04-2022 3:03pm

Also remember the minute you earn a cent over €14,000 the whole lot is taxed; in addition you can't deduct bills from this. I.e. any contribution to the ESB, Internet is considered rental income.

So you can't charge more than €1160 per month rent over a calendar year including bills

Roger Mellie Man on the Telly · 12-04-2022 11:41pm

Can someone tell me how exactly to declare rent a room income to revenue using their online service please?

Mrs OBumble · 12-04-2022 11:45pm

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118912574#Comment_118912574

Statistically, people with penises are far more likely to be convicted of abuse crimes. I certainly think this is probably because they commit more crimes.

LunaLoo · 13-04-2022 8:33am

Just a suggestion but would it be possible for you to host an English language student? There are lots of agencies looking for hosts for anything from a few days to an entire school term. There are plenty of 18+ as well doing internships as well.

CreadanLady · 13-04-2022 9:50am

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118912125#Comment_118912125

Yes. Practically all violent criminals and sex offenders are male.

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118912574#Comment_118912574

The reality is yes, the level of danger from a woman is very very low whereas it is quite unpredictable with a man. They might be lovely and kind and genuine, or they might be pedofiles. You just do not know .Yeah but that poor woman, Deirdre Morley, was suffering from an untreated mental illness so she was not responsible for her actions and she is as much a victim of the situation as the children. That incident was an indictment of irelands mental health services. Sure the Gardai initially assumed it was the father did it until the became clear that that was not the case.

timetogo1 · 13-04-2022 10:04am

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118919163#Comment_118919163

I can't see any mention of it on their online service, that would be too easy.

Maybe it'd fit in this section

Emp / Off / Pen not subject to PAYE

Income arising from an employment, office, pension or directorship that was not subjected to PAYE.

That's under Additional Incomes in Manage Your Tax for 2022 in MyAccount on Revenue.

I'd give them a buzz to be sure.

I used an accountant (not just for the rent a room) and the Form 11 they used has a section for Exempt Income where they put in the rent a room. You wouldn't want to do a Form 11 just for rent a room though. Major pain in the hole.