renting a room in my house

[minimonkey]

not sure if this is in the right place but hey! I have a house and i have a spare room - i want to rent it out. I live here and i know that the inland revenue have the rent a room scheme whereby you can rent out a room up to �350 ish without paying tax as long as you live in the house too. I haven't told my mortgage company and i just wondered what would happen if i did - will they increase my mortgage? Also does anyone have a simple tenancy agreement? or is it just as easy to write your own? thanks in advance for help

[Ethel]

You must tell your mortgage company, but it is doubtful they will raise the rate.

This is because if they ever need to repossess, they will be aware of the non-family member resident in your house and the terms - they will not want a sitting tenant they can't evict.

You must also tell your insurance company - your insurance may go up, both buildings and contents.

If you currently get a single occupants' council tax discount, you must inform the council tax office as well.

You should be able to write your own agreement - include the rent, when and how it should be paid, and specifics such as telephone call costs.

[WendyS]

You might also want to include other things in your tenancy agreement like:

Will your tenant be able to use your washing machine?
Are you prepared for your tenant to have overnight visitors sharing their room?
If the tenant has a computer and wants internet access, will they have their own telephone landline installed?
Will you be charging weekly rent or monthly? If monthly, will this be every four weeks or every calendar month?

It's better to sort these things out in advance rather than suffer misunderstandings later.