What sort of rent should I charge people for sharing my house?

Question

Ive just bought my 1st house and im going to rent out 2 of the rooms to help pay the bills.
Its a 3 bedroom property,the 2 lodgers shall share a bathroom and my room will be ensuite, the house is a good size semi and has a lounge and dining area, huge garden with pond& shed , good size kitchen and a study too. The drive will accomodate 3 cars & my mortgage is around the £400 mark amonth.
Plus What can I expect utility bills to be in a 3 bed semi ?

Macclesfield/Cheshire area.
All bills in, they just buy there own food etc.
Not getting a land line coz surely will end in tears with some crazy phone addict fool.

Yeah , im lookin at mates as potential lodgers, cause I get on well with all my mates and I know its different to live with people but thats something I will just have to find out ..... If people want to install things they can as long as theyre gonna be repsonsible for them ....

Rooms For RENT =
Room 1 = Single with fitted wardrobes
Room 2 = Double with fitted wardrobes
1 Shared bathroom - It also has a downstairs loo!

Answer 1

Rent in London for a room in a shared house is about 80 per week for a single and 120 per week for a double room so you cant charge that much. In nottingham the cost of a double room was about 50per week. + bills. I would suggest that you charge 55per week for the double and 45per week for the single and then your mortgage is covered and all you need to do is to pay the bills which in a 3 bed semi will come to approx:

Water £80-100 per quarter
Gas: up to £180 per quarter in winter if you have gas central heating.
Electric: £100 per quarter

This means that you will be paying about £30 - £50 per week. Seems pretty fair to me.

Answer 2

Try looking on rightmove.co.uk to see how it compares locally.

I have to say that I have just been looking for houses to let and sharing with the owner makes it a much less attractive option, no matter how chilled out and nice you are, so you will have to reflect that in the price.

Utilty bills. 150 quid gas winter 90 quid electric. Per quarter. That was a big old 3 bed terrace house though.

Good luck in finding someone!!

Edit: for Macclesfield prob about 60-65 p/w all bils inc?
Good idea about the landline, will you let them put one in if they need it though?

Answer 3

I know someone in your shoes and she charges £75/wk - all-inclusive. Thing is it's a 4-bedroom house and they are all double bedrooms. The house pays for itself. Are yours double rooms? People might not be willing to pay above £80 for a double bedroom.

Answer 4

depends where you live as to the price you can chrge, will they be single rooms? will they pay bills on top or soley rent? limits on the phone? use of the TV in the living room etc etc, think about all the details. what would you pay to live there? single room round here (oxfordshire) looking at about 250-300

Answer 5

70 pounds a room, n 60 if its a small room, but it all depends on where u live n the goi rates. hav a look in ur local paper n check out what other people r charging.

Answer 6

Good luck to you, I would say that 2 people paying £50 each would cover your mortgage

Answer 7

divide it up between the other 2 and yourself. the bills the same or else put the bill included into the rent they pay every week/month and you will be ok then.

Answer 8

depends on where you live? i reckon you could easily get at least £200 per room per month if not more, go and talk to local estate agents they'd probably know the sort of price to expect

Answer 9

about £280 each would be ok per month - make sure your house insurance covers letting in case you get a couple of pyromaniacs and the insurance is invalid

Answer 10

Look around your neighbourhood and see what others are charging for a similar rental then go for it.