Lodger house rules

Once you’ve found your lodger, it’s time to chat with them about how things will work – before any money is involved!

You can’t presume you expect the same things, so it’s best to be totally clear up front and avoid any issues down the line.

What to consider

Here's a checklist of things to think about:

Rent – how much, and when is it due?
Deposit – how much, and when is it payable? Make sure the lodger knows what the deposit is for and what happens to it. As a live-in landlord, you’re not currently obliged to use a tenancy deposit scheme for your lodger’s deposit.
Bills – what bills (if any) are included in the rent? If your lodger is responsible for a share of bills, how will these be divided and paid?
Insurance – let your lodger know that their belongings won’t be covered by your contents insurance and they’ll need to arrange their own cover.
Extras – will you include any extras in your lodger’s rent, like laundry or meals? Think about Council Tax too and what facilities your lodger will use.
Cleaning – think about who’s responsible for cleaning what, and how often you’d like this to happen. Check out our guide to cleaning and lodgers.
Smoking – find out if they’re a smoker, and let them know where they can smoke in the property (if at all).
Pets – does your lodger have a pet? Consider whether you’d like to share your home with a pet too, and if so let them know where the pet can go in the house, and if you have any boundaries.
Boundaries – let them know if any parts of the property are out of bounds.
Parking – does your lodger have a car? If so, let them know where they can park this, either on the property or locally.
Guests – will you allow your lodger to have guests or a partner to stay over? If so, how often would you be comfortable with?

Overnight guests

A common complaint we hear from lodger landlords is that their lodger’s partner spends too much time in the property. It can become a real problem if it’s just you and your lodger – as you can start to feel outnumbered in your own home.

One solution is to implement an ‘overnight guests rule’. This basically means your lodger’s partner can stay over as many nights a week as your lodger stays at theirs – meaning the maximum number they can have their partner stay in a week is three. If this does happen, they’ll also be at their partner’s for three nights – giving you the place to yourself.

Try to chat about this before they move in as it can be a really tricky subject to bring up once a pattern and routine has been established in the home.

Formalising your rules

Include any house rules (like those listed above) in your lodger agreement. This gets rules formalised in writing, and gives you a basis for reference should any disagreements arise down the line.