Renting out rooms in your own house

andreac

Hi i have just split up with my fiance (his choice) and hope to keep the house that we had between us. The only thing is i cant afford the mortgage by myself and will probably have to rent a room out when everything is sorted between us. Has anyone experience of renting a room in their house while living there? and also how easy is it if you own a dog too?
thanks

veryangryman

Hi Andrea.

Similar story with myself.I live with tenants and used to live with the ex.

I dont think the dog is a big issue so long as he's not big/vicious (i assume not). Otherwise id say youd have to get him a kennel or put him in the shed most of the time. Also preferably housetrained.

Basically, what i trying to say is... You should be ok, but you have to be that bit extra responsible with the dog. Most friendly people (and TBH thats the type of tenants i like) have no problems with pets. One of my tenants used to live with a family, 2 dogs and a budgie and he loved it there!

andreac

thanks, well he is big, but not viscious. i suppose if i put on my ad thats its a dog friendly house or pets welcome then i might attract those sort of people. he is housetrained. thanks. its something i have to look into anyway.

pow wow

My housemate (owner occupier, I rent a room from him) just got a puppy and I have no problems with it. I am deathly allergic to fluffy pets but it's not like it comes in my room or anything! If you rent a room you'll most likely find the renter spends a lot of time in their room (only venturing out to cook/use the bathroom) so your dog might not be a big deal. It's no harm mentioning when people ring up that you have a dog and that it's friendly and no trouble etc. That'll give them the chance to say 'thanks but no thanks' before they come round. :cool:

Rb

TBH you won't get a huge amount of interest as renters tend to want to dodge owner occupied houses as it's almost never a good experience living with them.

The dog shouldn't be a huge problem once you let anyone who's interested in the room know beforehand, we recently took in a tenant to the place we rent and advertised it as "pets allowed" and informed those interested that I'd have my dogs around a bit, and there was still a huge amount of interest in it.

One problem with getting a lodger is that if you've insured your contents in the house against accidental damage (i.e cover for your contents against you or your family damaging them), this will render it void in a lot of home insurance policies so should you or the lodger break something (eg. your tv), it won't be covered so be sure to keep things friendly between the two of you!!

Depending on your insurer, you should look into whether your covered for theft from a paying guest also, just in case things go pear shaped and they rob the place, you should know in advance where you stand.

Also, you should be aware that as you own and live in the place, while renting a room to someone a standard lease is non applicable. All you can do is draw up an informal agreement with them and hope that they stick to it.

Mezcita

Don't forget the best bit. You don't have to pay tax on rent received by your new tenant/tenants (assuming they pay less than €10000 per annum).

http://www.citizensinformation.ie/categories/housing/buying-a-home/owning-a-home/rent_a_room_scheme

Yoink!

The_Conductor

Mezcita wrote: »

Don't forget the best bit. You don't have to pay tax on rent received by your new tenant/tenants (assuming they pay less than €10000 per annum).

http://www.citizensinformation.ie/categories/housing/buying-a-home/owning-a-home/rent_a_room_scheme

Yoink!

You are obliged to make an annual tax return and declare the income though- even if you have no tax liability associated with it. Its a nice 10,000 lumpsum- inclusive of all bills- but dont neglect the paperwork.

Magic Pips

smccarrick wrote: »

You are obliged to make an annual tax return and declare the income though- even if you have no tax liability associated with it. Its a nice 10,000 lumpsum- inclusive of all bills- but dont neglect the paperwork.

erg... any linkage on how to do this? I've looked at the citizens page, but it only mentions

"While the income you receive from renting a room or rooms in your principal private residence is not liable to either PRSI or the 2% health levy, it must be included on your annual income tax return. "

I've never done a tax return before, any help/guidance would be appreciated

The_Conductor

Magic Pips wrote: »

erg... any linkage on how to do this? I've looked at the citizens page, but it only mentions

"While the income you receive from renting a room or rooms in your principal private residence is not liable to either PRSI or the 2% health levy, it must be included on your annual income tax return. "

I've never done a tax return before, any help/guidance would be appreciated

The easiest thing of all is to do an online tax return via www.ros.ie (ROS being the Revenue Online Service). You will notice helpful notes on possible things that you may be able to claim (such as refuse charges etc) stick them all in, not only might you have your 10k taxfree, but you might also have a little rebate in the post on its way to you before you know it.

Filling out a tax return does come across as a daunting task- don't let it put you off though- you do have to be accurate- but for less than an hours work you most probably will get a refund in the post.

Magic Pips

smccarrick wrote: »

...You will notice helpful notes on possible things that you may be able to claim (such as refuse charges etc)...

Thanks for the quick reply, would tax back on laser eye surgery go onto this claim also?

I've got the revenue pin somewhere at home, i'll dig it up - is there a definitive list of what can be claimed back?

The_Conductor

Magic Pips wrote: »

Thanks for the quick reply, would tax back on laser eye surgery go onto this claim also?

I've got the revenue pin somewhere at home, i'll dig it up - is there a definitive list of what can be claimed back?

Yes.
One thing- keep your receipts- Revenue can do an on-the-spot check up to 6 years after the claim- so never throw out receipts.

S.