Even though we are now officially out of recession people are still seeing the side effects from the last few years and budgets are still tight. This means many are trying to find ways of making extra income to live a little more comfortable. One of the ways people have been doing this is to take on lodgers in their properties. This means that they then become “live in landlords”.
Spareroom, who are a website which offers letting of single rooms have conducted a survey and the results show that in the last year, they have seen an increase in 25 per cent. They say that this is the seventh year in a row where they have seen an increase in single room lets and is now becoming a trend.
Lodger
Many households are opting to have a lodger because it doesn’t require a lot of extra work for often a good income. If you have a spare room it is much easier to rent this out than buying and renting a new property. Obviously there are many benefits of having a second home in terms of capital growth but it does help pay off the mortgage till you are in the position to buy a second home.
Housing Market
Over the year we have seen the housing market peak and trough yet the housing crisis still continues. The trend of live in landlords could be down to people helping out friends and family as it is often hard to pay rents even with help from social housing associations.
Insurance
It is important that if you do make this decision you make sure you are fully covered with the right insurance. Having adequate landlord insurance is essential as well as this you will need to work out if you need landlord insurance too. Although and extension to your property insurance may be enough. According to statistics 38 per cent of live in landlords aren’t properly covered which means if you do need to make a claim then your insurance isn’t valid. Who knows in the future renting a property or a room could become the norm rather than owning a house.