January 2024 - Data from the UK’s leading flatshare site, SpareRoom, reveals that there has been a huge rise in homeowners taking in lodgers. Comparing January 2024 with January 2021 there has been an 89% increase in new people taking in lodgers*.
January is always a busy month for people renting out their spare rooms as it's a great way to make an extra income and recover from the financial strain of the Christmas period. However, this recent spike is no doubt down to the current cost of living crisis we’re experiencing, including mortgage rates, which remained high throughout 2023. Now more than ever people are looking at ways to make extra money and afford to stay in their homes, renting out a spare room is a great way of doing this.
To find out the average monthly room rent across the UK head to: https://www.spareroom.co.uk/rentalindex/
Matt Hutchinson, SpareRoom spokesperson comments: “Living costs have soared recently and the start of the year is always a tough time, as people face the financial hangover from the holidays, alongside increased heating costs and bills. So it’s no surprise the number of homeowners looking for a lodger has spiked in the first week of 2024. Particularly when you look at how much you can earn by renting out your spare room. You’d have to work a lot of hours in a second job to come close to the income you can earn from a lodger.
The good news is, all these extra rooms are really helping add to supply in the rental market, which has been in decline for several years. If government wants to help both homeowners and struggling renters, they should seriously consider increasing the tax threshold for the Rent a Room Scheme, an incentive specifically designed to encourage people to rent out their spare rooms. It’s a real win-win policy, and there aren’t many of those around at the moment.”
SpareRoom has lots of helpful information and advice for people looking to make money from their spare room by taking in a lodger. This includes the best questions to ask potential lodgers, tips for sharing your space and advice for talking to lodgers about money. For more information head to: https://www.spareroom.co.uk/content/info-landlords/advice-landlord/
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Notes to editors
*Data looks at new people renting out their spare room, comparing numbers in the first week of January 2024 with the first week of January 2021