Some of you will hate this.

[With a crooked smile]

We've often talked on here about how the government will encourage / force the occupation of spare rooms.

The idea of increasing the rent a room relief is being more widely discussed again.

No one with a spare room is going to be that negatively affected by interest rate hikes. People will just cut their cloth according to their coat

https://12ft.io/proxy?q=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.telegraph.co.uk%2Fmoney%2Fconsumer-affairs%2Ffirst-time-buyers-now-need-lodgers-afford-mortgage-property%2F

[Joncrete Cungle]

I could put the kids in an old caravan in the garden and rent their rooms out for more than the mortgage, Kerching!

[King Penda]

6 minutes ago, Joncrete Cungle said:

I could put the kids in an old caravan in the garden and rent their rooms out for more than the mortgage, Kerching!

People will actually do that 

[With a crooked smile]

6 minutes ago, Joncrete Cungle said:

I could put the kids in an old caravan in the garden and rent their rooms out for more than the mortgage, Kerching!

Don't give @King Pendaideas!

[King Penda]

43 minutes ago, With a crooked smile said:

We've often talked on here about how the government will encourage / force the occupation of spare rooms.

The idea of increasing the rent a room relief is being more widely discussed again.

No one with a spare room is going to be that negatively affected by interest rate hikes. People will just cut their cloth according to their coat

https://12ft.io/proxy?q=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.telegraph.co.uk%2Fmoney%2Fconsumer-affairs%2Ffirst-time-buyers-now-need-lodgers-afford-mortgage-property%2F

I can’t see many actualy declaring it

[With a crooked smile]

Just now, King Penda said:

I can’t see many actualy declaring it

Yeah we spoke about this before. I think for those with 2 spare rooms each below 7.5k they will slip through the net easily.

In London where you could be asking £800 a month for one room in an online advert there's slightly more risk.

I made out like a bandit with 3 spare rooms in the past.

[spunko]

Where is thise risk exactly coming from, HMRC? Border Force? The Police?

I don't see any risk whatsoever here. This country doesnt have the manpower to investigate even 1 in 100 crimes that get reported.

The only 'risk' I can see,  is coming home from work and discovering that your lodger Abdulaziz has sublet your living room out to 6 of his contemporaries.

Personally, I'd rather be living under a bridge than sharing my home with some ethnic.

[Shamone]

1 minute ago, spunko said:

Where is thise risk exactly coming from, HMRC? Border Force? The Police?

I don't see any risk whatsoever here. This country doesnt have the manpower to investigate even 1 in 100 crimes that get reported.

The only 'risk' I can see,  is coming home from work and discovering that your lodger Abdulaziz has sublet your living room out to 6 of his contemporaries.

This forum is comedy gold today. Alas I have to leave it for a bit to cook a curry,

[spunko]

Just now, Shamone said:

This forum is comedy gold today. Alas I have to leave it for a bit to cook a curry,

Don't tell your lodger, that's cultural appropriation.

[AlfredTheLittle]

1 hour ago, With a crooked smile said:

We've often talked on here about how the government will encourage / force the occupation of spare rooms.

The idea of increasing the rent a room relief is being more widely discussed again.

No one with a spare room is going to be that negatively affected by interest rate hikes. People will just cut their cloth according to their coat

https://12ft.io/proxy?q=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.telegraph.co.uk%2Fmoney%2Fconsumer-affairs%2Ffirst-time-buyers-now-need-lodgers-afford-mortgage-property%2F

It's been obvious for at least a couple of years now that this is the only way things can go. Rapidly growing population means more people per house, obviously that also means more traffic, litter, and less services, so generally shitter quality of life for many.

[With a crooked smile]

2 hours ago, spunko said:

Personally, I'd rather be living under a bridge than sharing my home with some ethnic.

That never has to happen. It's always been a no from me when Abduls come calling.

[belfastchild]

3 hours ago, Joncrete Cungle said:

I could put the kids in an old caravan in the garden and rent their rooms out for more than the mortgage, Kerching!

Couple of houses near me have the grown up kids living in converted garages.

Im getting deja vu with this thread, almost sure I typed this in before, spooky, anyway, back in the early mid 90s a few of my friends had lodgers to help out with the first time mortgage. These were with houses costing about 40-50 grand!

Edited August 19, 2023 by belfastchild
added first time as it didnt really make sense without it

[Boon]

I did really well out of this, the rent a room allowance is generous. Certainly saved my bacon in the GFC as that was me.

I do wonder what the second order effects might be this time around. It wasn't as common then. I do think the people that ended up being lodgers were those who simply lacked enough friends to get a place together. But now with current pricing the lodging option looks attractive.

Most people that are gonna be financially stretched I feel are going to be in properties that are unsuitable for rent a room. 
Small new build flats in the south for instance where a couple has bought, and they want to rent a room out.

A lot of would-be landlords are just unsuitable for rent a room as well. People with young kids for instance. Is it really worth it for either party to live in a house like this. 

In fact I think a lot of people will be unable to hack being a live in landlord. I did it for about 5 years but towards the end I realised I didn't need the money that badly any more, and suddenly having the lack of hassle was worth more than the money.

If it becomes mainstream I think lodgers are going to need better rights.

[With a crooked smile]

4 minutes ago, belfastchild said:

Couple of houses near me have the grown up kids living in converted garages.

More and more common. If you can convert a garage or do a fairly self contained loft extension it's a no brainer. If the economy does tank builders are the first to go and the labour cost comes right down.

[belfastchild]

Just now, With a crooked smile said:

More and more common. If you can convert a garage or do a fairly self contained loft extension it's a no brainer. If the economy does tank builders are the first to go and the labour cost comes right down.

Told the story before about how I thought building control were being overly picky when I had my garage built. Really really picky kept asking about water supply etc which I was never putting in (and still havent).
Talked to a planning officer I knew socially and they said it was more about future conversion to hmo as that size of garage was unusual and could easily fit about 10-14 bunk beds (FFS!).

Saying that when family were over last week I was out in it in the campervan, great to have a toilet to myself!

[With a crooked smile]

19 minutes ago, belfastchild said:

Told the story before about how I thought building control were being overly picky when I had my garage built. Really really picky kept asking about water supply etc which I was never putting in (and still havent).

Just before I left the corporate world I sold NI Water a solution whereby they can text a customer a Web link for a browser based (no download) mobile Web conference. It also geolocates the developer to help detect if the hole in the ground they are showing online is in the area they say it is.

Edited August 19, 2023 by With a crooked smile
Whole to hole, lol

[Bobthebuilder]

14 minutes ago, With a crooked smile said:

If the economy does tank builders are the first to go and the labour cost comes right down.

That's incorrect, I am a builder and have been through a few recessions. What happens is most trades who cannot drum up their own work move to a different job, those that have the people skills to go out on their own tend to do well. (cheap trades are just shit basically).

2008 to 2015 was the most profitable period in my business to date, in fact I bought a house during that period and paid the debt off.

[With a crooked smile]

1 minute ago, Bobthebuilder said:

2008 to 2015 was the most profitable period in my business to date, in fact I bought a house during that period and paid the debt off.

I smashed out a really good refurb during that period, the plaster was particularly cheap and had previously worked on a self employed basis for the most expensive bathroom /kitchen shop in town.

[Van Lady]

18 minutes ago, With a crooked smile said:

More and more common. If you can convert a garage or do a fairly self contained loft extension it's a no brainer. If the economy does tank builders are the first to go and the labour cost comes right down.

Agreed.

My son is a builder but currently there is no problem with regular work. He works for a long established building company that builds houses in Cumbria and Dumfries & Galloway but they also get contracts for other building work.

Son is looking ahead and starting up a side hustle for stuff like building garden walls, putting up feature walls/lining inset stoves recess using slim bricks…. etc in anticipation of house building slowing right down. There’s always folk out there who want smaller jobs done. 

[Van Lady]

26 minutes ago, belfastchild said:

Told the story before about how I thought building control were being overly picky when I had my garage built. Really really picky kept asking about water supply etc which I was never putting in (and still havent).
Talked to a planning officer I knew socially and they said it was more about future conversion to hmo as that size of garage was unusual and could easily fit about 10-14 bunk beds (FFS!).

Saying that when family were over last week I was out in it in the campervan, great to have a toilet to myself!

At a house I lived in we (was still with ex husband then) replaced an old wooden L shaped garage/shed with a breeze block built, slate roof, wet dashed then painted white rectangular garage matching the house. It had electricity but no water. No planning permission for it. It was an improvement and nothing was said in the village other than how nice it was. Ex was a joiner and had loads of machines and stuff.

It was huge…..the buyers converted it to a holiday home over 15 years ago. They didn’t get planning permission for that either but it’s been sneakily done with all windows and doors off the side road where it’s situated. No complaints. I’d have done the same if I’d had the means.

[Van Lady]

On topic.

Around 2005 when I was living in a very new bungalow (nice but usual shit new build) I rented a room through the spareroom site.

I was a bit apprehensive due to having two young teenagers, a boy and a girl, but within a few days I’d made an agreement with a mid 20’s year old male with a fiancé. He was seconded to a council job in D&G but home was Aberdeen.

The main bedroom had an en-suite and there was a living room plus a sunroom off the kitchen. Plenty of room for privacy. Nice fella and his fiancé was too. He arrived sometime late on Sunday and went home on Thursday. Occasionally he stayed the weekend due to snow in Aberdeen area and sometimes his fiancé came to stay. It worked really well and we had no hassle or disagreements at all. Thanks Andy, you paid my mortgage for me until I moved on, downsized and became mortgage free.

[Bobthebuilder]

1 hour ago, With a crooked smile said:

I smashed out a really good refurb during that period, the plaster was particularly cheap and had previously worked on a self employed basis for the most expensive bathroom /kitchen shop in town.

Plasterers / painters are a different thing to sparkys, gas men and anyone else who has to sign things off for building control regulations, the gulf between some trades is massive.

[JoeDavola]

5 hours ago, With a crooked smile said:

No one with a spare room is going to be that negatively affected by interest rate hikes.

Um....I'd count going from having your own place to having to revert to having to share with a stranger being a fairly negative effect.

It's a backup plan I'd keep in mind especially if I wasn't planning on being in the house for long stretches during the year but I'd hardly envy those who do have to resort to that - regardless of the tax breaks.

Some things more important than money quite frankly.

[With a crooked smile]

4 hours ago, spunko said:

Where is thise risk exactly coming from, HMRC? Border Force? The Police?

I don't see any risk whatsoever here. This country doesnt have the manpower to investigate even 1 in 100 crimes that get reported.

The only 'risk' I can see,  is coming home from work and discovering that your lodger Abdulaziz has sublet your living room out to 6 of his contemporaries.

Personally, I'd rather be living under a bridge than sharing my home with some ethnic.

Isn't that Muslim woman one of the most popular girls on pornhub? They all look the same to me.

[Chewing Grass]

5 minutes ago, With a crooked smile said:

Isn't that Muslim woman one of the most popular girls on pornhub? They all look the same to me.

Don't know, I've only ever seen her from behind.