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Thinking of getting a lodger?

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  • 04-07-2020 9:42pm
    #1
    Hannaho
    Registered Users Posts: 724 ✭✭✭


    My daughter is going away to college in Sept and my son has moved to the West with family and will go to school there in September. I will have 3 spare rooms, and was thinking of renting out 1 or 2 of them, probably just one, to have a bit of extra money for my daughter while she is in college. The family home is in Dublin. Just had a few questions re getting a lodger: is daft.ie (sharing) better, or digs.ie or hosting power.ie (seems to be mostly students looking for places)? Given Covid19 and the working from home, and students possibly doing courses online in Sept - would there be very few people looking for lodgings/room to rent at the moment? Also, in case things did not work out, is the ban on evictions for the rent a room scheme still on? Apart from ground rules and a month's deposit - what else should I be aware of if getting a lodger? The house is large - about 1700 square feet - so we wouldn't be too much in each other's way. Any advice on this topic, would be really appreciated.


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    #2
    Samuel T. Cogley
    Registered Users Posts: 10,684 ✭✭✭✭Samuel T. Cogley


    There are various posts on this so it's worth going back through them. My overriding advice is go with your gut in relation to a lodger. If you think they're going to be trouble / you're not going to get on / they're a bit strange, they probably are. Other than that write as little down as possible - keep it so that you can give minimal notice if something goes wrong. A list of house rules is fine.

    On the other hand be as fair as you can. They're paying a lot of money in most cases. The occasional overnight guest should be permitted and if they don't have a telly in their room it can get a bit awkward in the main living room. Heating is the big one as winter rolls around - I personally charge a percentage of bills to try and keep everyone honest.

    On covid I think the jury is still out on whether the eviction ban applies. My reading is it doesn't but there have been some fairly high profile differences of opinion on this. Regardless the guards are unlikely to get involved if you do need to put someone out so it all goes back to go with your gut.

    Whatever else you do start with one and go from there, being outnumbered in your own home probably isn't going to work.

    Daft is what I've always used. Don't forget, although the money is tax free up to €14K you still need to do a return.


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