hi, I'm on ESA (WRAG) and currently am in a two bedroomed flat and as my son has gone to uni and will be moving out of halls of residence in the future, I will be deemed to have a spare bedroom.
I'm trying to work out all the hoops to go through in order to cover my costs with renting a room.
Already it seems I would be no better off, as I would lose single persons council tax benefit - which would be approximately £88 per month - and I can only keep the first £20 of rent each week which is £86.66 per month.
Also, if I rented out the room I would have to pay extra for home insurance and for wear and tear & furnishings, so at this point I would be worse off. Is there any way I can recoup the cost of these?
As far as charging for other bills - electricity (i have no gas) and water meter costs and phone - I wondered how it would be best to arrange a charge for these?
At the moment my electricity is averages out at £61 per month but I am extremely careful with it - I'm currently looking into here on the boards what the best option would be to provide heat for the spare bedroom, given that there is currently a convector heater there and am thinking about buying an oil filled radiator.
But how would I charge for it? I'm having trouble getting my head round how to work out the cost of a person's electricity useage and am worried about getting landed with a big bill I can't afford.
My water costs are billed approximately quarterly through the Housing Association I rent with and work out to be currently about £20 per month.
Am I being too picky in how I'm working this out and is there an easier way?? Can I just charge them for bills based on half my current outgoings?
I realise that this is a rental question, but because of the restrictions on me placed because I'm on benefits I posted it here in the hope that other people might have some experience or knowledge of the best way to go about things. Thanks for reading.
I'm trying to work out all the hoops to go through in order to cover my costs with renting a room.
Already it seems I would be no better off, as I would lose single persons council tax benefit - which would be approximately £88 per month - and I can only keep the first £20 of rent each week which is £86.66 per month.
Also, if I rented out the room I would have to pay extra for home insurance and for wear and tear & furnishings, so at this point I would be worse off. Is there any way I can recoup the cost of these?
As far as charging for other bills - electricity (i have no gas) and water meter costs and phone - I wondered how it would be best to arrange a charge for these?
At the moment my electricity is averages out at £61 per month but I am extremely careful with it - I'm currently looking into here on the boards what the best option would be to provide heat for the spare bedroom, given that there is currently a convector heater there and am thinking about buying an oil filled radiator.
But how would I charge for it? I'm having trouble getting my head round how to work out the cost of a person's electricity useage and am worried about getting landed with a big bill I can't afford.
My water costs are billed approximately quarterly through the Housing Association I rent with and work out to be currently about £20 per month.
Am I being too picky in how I'm working this out and is there an easier way?? Can I just charge them for bills based on half my current outgoings?
I realise that this is a rental question, but because of the restrictions on me placed because I'm on benefits I posted it here in the hope that other people might have some experience or knowledge of the best way to go about things. Thanks for reading.