Being a lodger.

[Derivative]

I've recently had a job offer for an internship in Northwich. 2 months.

Any tips for a prospective lodger? For such a short stay there doesn't seem to be another viable option. Looking to keep costs to a minimum.

What sort of price range should I be looking at? Is 300 quid a month reasonable or a pipe dream?

I can commute on the bike but obviously every 5 miles out is another 25 quid a month or so on fuel.

I've had a look on various websites, but of course there could be something I'm missing (deposit, people not willing to accept short stays, warning signs to avoid, etc).

[J.M.]

Had a girl living with me recently who was only here for 2 months.

From talking to her, I think that she paid the entire stay up-front (may have paid a little more too), plus the deposit. Probably £350 a month living 3-4 miles from Birmingham city centre. There are much cheaper around here though.

Things to watch out for are council tax... bills... etc.

Where I am now is £350 a month. There are cheaper that I've found since which makes me kick myself for signing the contract... but I digress. However for me that includes council tax, bills, TV licence, cleaner (every 2 weeks). Pretty much everything I could need. Means that the only expenditures that I have to worry about are the rent + shopping + petrol. No surprise bills!

One thing to look for... you wont know the other tennants... so I'd be wanting a lock on my door.
____________________
2004 R1 & 2018 XSR900

[G]

Get as many viewings as you can.
Check the local area out - crime stats etc, too.
Try and talk to other house mates.

You'll have to juggle cost versus the area and what it means to you, etc.

So, may be one close to your work, but you'd have to leave the bike on the street and pay a bit more; versus a cheaper one further out with a place to put your bike but not such a nice area.

[Liono]

It might be worth contacting holiday cottage owners to see if they would let you a property for a short period of time? Depending upon the time of year you might find owners willing to give you a good price for a longer term stay than their usual weekend or five day bookings. Northwich isn't exactly a thriving tourist hotspot though, so I'm not sure if you'll find much close to what passes for the town center.

I had a few weeks in Northwich without accommodation before the sale of our house had properly gone through and we managed to stay at a place called Yew Tree Appartments in Davenham, just outside Northwich. I can't remember how much we paid in total, but I have a feeling it worked out as being something in the region of £400 per month.

[Charlie]

Worth putting a post on forums as I stayed with Robby for 2-3 months one summer after posting on here. Worked out alright and I didn't have to go to the bother of viewing lots of properties etc. Plus his wife is a good cook
____________________
Past: Honda x8rs, Honda City fly, Honda Hornet 250, Honda VFR750, Yamaha xt600e.
Current: Honda CBR929RR & Yamaha XT660Z Tenere

[thx1138]

We charge our lodger £60 a week, £55 for rent, £5 for tea, coffee, milk, washing powder etc but not food, buys his own.

gets two rooms for that, bedroom and a spare room/games room with telly and xbox and internet, strictly speaking the second room is communal, in reality I rarely use it, except to watch UK Gold or Dave once in a blue moon, and a quick go of Trials Evolution.

We have previously used findaroomate style websites, can't remember the actual name of the site now, with some success. Though the last one form their was a 'mare. Current one is a friend of a friend.

[Zombeh]

Being a lodger, sucks - feeling like a guest in a place that you are paying to live in isn't much fun. That said - seeing as its your only option - embrace the suckage and get out the house as much as possible. Meet new people, go for runs/rides/walks, explore!

[G]

When it's easily a few hundred quid cheaper than other options, happy to feel 'a guest', if it means I can afford an extra track day at the end of the month .

[Zombeh]

Funny enough one of the biggest issues when I was a lodger was where I kept my bikes. They were usually on the - fairly wide - pavement outside the house. Which was a problem apparently even though no one ever complained. Some people just like to keep up a steady stream of bitching, which can wear you down after a while.

[BakesBeans]

My lodger pays £365 which includes everything (all bills, council tax etc). He has his room, and use of the spare room. With the bike in the garage.

We have a great laugh, and it's cheap for him so save for his own place!
____________________
Current: Kawasaki ZX636
Previous Bike: Honda CBR600F ABS, Yamaha XJ6 F Diversion ABS, Honda VFR400 NC30

[smegballs]

There is a difference between a lodger and a housemate right?

Just the word lodger always makes me thing of a weirdo in the spare room of a family home. Whereas a housemate, is just someone you happen to share a house with.

[G]

It's a bit of a sliding scale - from people that aren't expected to leave their rooms apart from passing through the hall way straight to the front door, to basically being part of a big family/community/group of friends.

My Aunt used to run a 'B&B' in her home. It was the smallest B&B in the town with one room for one person - basically lodging with breakfast thrown in.
She generally catered to theatre and other workers that would be in town for fairly short periods of time, but didn't want a full blown hotel/B&B - I think she was also the cheapest per night in the city too!

[moppy]

Try getting in touch with a few people through Couchsurfing as well. We had 2 people staying with us from Germany for a month, they offered to pay their share of the bills, all is well.

But we did have a spare room, not sure it's practical unless you have a spare room. Also obviously you have to be a nice enough guy to realise they're doing you a massive favour and try to help out around the house.

[Derivative]

[G]

Often a house share there will still be room for negotiation based on various things - more often it's the owner that's sharing their house with a few others, than someone renting and then sub-letting rooms.
But, there's still going to be some room for manoeuvre - however, if you're only looking for short term, I doubt you're going to get long-term prices down.
I'd expect a premium for short term, as they're going to have to find another new person in a couple of months.

[Clanger]

I'm a lodger, and have been for most of my adult life, it's not so bad. It has its pitfalls but it has its bonus' too.

I live in the south of England where it is pricey. Prices down here range from £400pcm upwards - and what is included in the price depends on whether the landlord is using you to supplement their income or not.

There are a few really good places online to find rented accommodation, one such site is Spareroom.com and then you have places like Friday Ads or Gumtree.

As for prices you'd pay up north, I'd have no idea of the going rate these days. It's been a loooong time since I lived up north myself.
____________________
Be who you are and say what you feel, because those who mind don't matter, and those who matter won't mind - Dr. Seuss

[Derivative]

Okay, an update.

Scrap Northwich, I'm in Aberdeen. Fun times.

The issue there is, rather obviously, it's an 800 mile+ round trip just to check out any prospective places.

I may just call up a few people and ask to stay without viewing. Potential huge disaster but realistically going to view is going to cost me at least 100 quid.

Has anyone ever been in this situation? Moving around is awesome and all but the logistics...

[G]

Consider getting a short term let to start with.

For a slightly higher rate a lot of people will be ok to rent you a room for a month or even a couple of weeks.

If you like it, you may then be able to extend it to a longer term.

Or you could look at a B&B, guest house etc for a few nights to start with.

There's a lot of people that don't use their property a lot of the time in Aberdeen I believe (oil workers), so may be some good possibilities there.

[Derivative]

[G]

Not really the end of the world for six weeks - even if it means you just hide in your room for six weeks (which some places may expect, so it's worth discussing how the house works generally.)

[Golgarth]

ring the hotels in the area. I worked out a £15 a night stay in an OK hotel for 5 weeks, quite a reduction on their £95 a night usual rate.

For something as short as that I wouldn't look anywhere else.

You see loads of sparkys and shop fitters doing the above.

[Clanger]

If you're only there for 6 weeks, find a B&B or guesthouse or a holiday let or a YHA that will give you a deal on a room for the duration.

https://www.hostelbookers.com/hostels/scotland/aberdeen/

Here you go, three hostels in one search.
____________________
Be who you are and say what you feel, because those who mind don't matter, and those who matter won't mind - Dr. Seuss