1. Residential Owner (Rent a Room)

I Vital Statistics

Earning potential before tax£2,500 to £20,000 per year per property
Capital Required£10,000 to £50,000
Skills RequiredNone
Qualifications preferableNone
Competitiveness Low/Med/HiLow
Risk Low/Mid/HighLow
The Business Model in a nutshellTo buy a property to live in and rent out the rooms for maximum profit
Potential gaps in the market and suggested USPs 
  • Monday to Friday rent a room for workers
  • Overseas students
  • Special event hire i.e. Wimbledon
  • Men/Women Only
  • Luxury professional market

II Introduction

Rent-a-room, sounds simple doesn’t it?  Well it is!  You are expected to own a property when you become an adult so this is just going a little bit beyond what is expected of you.  It wont hurt I promise.

The first ever rent cheque I ever got was from this method.  I always wonder if I never rented out a room would I ever entered the world of property.  This way of making money from property is probably the simplest way to do it.

Now I am going to tell you the way to make the most money you possibly can from this method as that is the way I am wired up however some might find it a bit extreme so you can tone it down to suit.

  1. The Formula

To buy the biggest property that you can afford with the least amount of money returning the maximum amount of profit

Let me breakdown the formula for you:

To buy the biggest property – you want to get the most rooms for your buck.  The more rooms you have the more rent you can get.  The idea is to get the most rent for every pound spent on the property.

That you can afford – you will need to get a residential mortgage to buy this property.  Residential mortgages are given based on affordability.  It will be a multiple of your gross annual salary however this is the only way you can buy this property and live in it.  This is of course assuming you do not have bundles of cash!

With the least amount of money – a smart person will put down the least amount of money to buy a property.  The less you put down the more you can buy!  This ensures you get the highest return on your investment of your cash. The more you have put aside for when things go wrong the more chance you have of success.

Returning the maximum amount of profit – rent less expenses equals profit.  You want to buy where not only the rent is a decent amount but the costs are low.  The costs being the mortgage costs, council tax, insurance and other costs associated with running a home are at a level which makes sense when looking at the potential rent receivable.

  1. Choose the right property

LOCATION

This decision is unfortunately pretty much in your court.  It is difficult for me to tell you where to live.  There are too many factors to influence this decision such as friends, family, work etc.  This decision takes in to account non-business factors so analysis of the numbers exclusively will not take you to the right decision.

However I am going to ignore all those non-business factors!  I am going to assume you are a mercenary individual who wants to make as much money as possible from this venture.  If you apply the principles that I am about to tell you then you will be able to moderate to suit your own personal circumstances.

FINANCIALS

You should choose a location that can return you the highest profit figure.  The way you establish this is to calculate my magic number called:

YIELD

Yield is calculated as:

Annual Rent divided by purchase price.

So you need to first calculate the annual rent.  This is quite simply:

52 weeks x weekly rent x (number of bedrooms minus one)

You minus one from the total number of bedrooms as this is where you live!

So if you have found a property with 6 rooms and you can get on average £50 per room then the annual rent will be:

52 x £50 x (6-1) = £13,000

If you wanted a more accurate number then you could split the rooms in to single and double rooms and allocate their respective rent to each one.  So if this 6 bedroomed house had 2 double and 4 single rooms and you was going to reside in one of the double rooms then the annual rent would be:

52 x £40 x 4 = £8,320

52 x £60 x 1 = £3,120

TOTAL £11,440

Now lets assume the total rent you can get from the property is £13,000.  Is that good? Is it profitable? Is it worth it?

The key question is:

How much do I have to pay to get this £13,000 income?

This is where the calcualation of yield is so great.  It tells you in neat percentage terms how much rent you get relative to the purchase price.  So lets say to buy this property that can return £13,000 for £130,000 then the yield is:

£13,000 divided by £130,000 = 10%

Now lets say we found another property that can deliver £13,000 rent every year but we can buy it for £260,000 then the yield for this property is:

£13,000 divided by £260,000 = 5%

So comparing the two property’s yields you have the first property yielding 10% and the second property yielding 5%.  It is quite obvious to say that a property that yields higher than another property is superior to that property.

That is to say the property that yields 10% is better than the property that yields at 5%.

AJAY’S TOP TIPTHRESHOLDS

A good yield for rent-a-room is 12%.  It ensures that there is enough profit for you after all costs and expected interest rate rises.  It is very easy to calculate.  If you see a property that is advertised for £100,000 then knock off the two zeros to get £1,000 and if you can rent it for at least that then it is a good buy!

Or looking at it another way if you found a property that can rent for £1,000 then add two zeros and if it can be bought for £100,000 or less then it is a good buy.

Now I have made a big assumption here.  I am assuming there is equal demand for these rooms.  This could be a big assumption to make.  If you buy bang in a city centre then demand for these rooms will be pretty much solid so it would be a safe assumption to make.  However if you compare a city centre house with a suburban house out of the city centre demand might vary.

If you want assess demand before you buy I always perform this little trick.  I place an advert in the local press which costs max £25 and I see how many calls come in.  If your phone gets swamped you know demand is good and you will rent the rooms out.  Try to be as specific as possible in the advert.  State the road the property is in so the caller is quite clear where the property is located.

If you do not want your phone bombarded then consider using gumtree.com and putting your email address as the main point of contact.  Then you could simply log the number of emails that come in.

And remember do this all BEFORE you buy.  This small action can save you making some very expensive mistakes.

SIZE

Generally the more rooms you have the more money you can make.  You will find that additional bedrooms beyond a 3 bed go up in price by a less amount.  You usually find that housing estates which have a selection of 2, 3, 4 and 5 bedroom houses are priced as such:

No of bedsPriceCost per room
2£120,000£60,000
3£150,000£50,000
4£175,000£43,750
5£195,000£39,000

So the more rooms the property has the cost per room goes down.  This helps your yield massively.  But remember the more rooms means more management on your part.

AJAY’S REAL LIFE STORY
Meeting my second mumWhen I was training to be a chartered accountant in Cambridge I rented a room off a couple.  They had up to four tenants at a time and we virtually lived as one big happy family.  I lived there for 5 years and this couple are still my friends today.  I consider the landlady my second mum as she really looked after me.

It was kind of handy that he was a chef and she loved the concept of having a son she never gave birth to!

There are definitely by products to this business.  You can make some real friends for life as you get to know each other so well.

Examples of properties found:

TownPriceNumber of rentable BedroomsRentYield
Northampton£90,0006£155820.7%
Cumbernauld, Scotland£70,0005£129918.5%
Harlow, Essex£170,0005£173212.2%

So we can see that from Scotland down to Essex there a potential rent a room properties as they all exceed a 12% yield.  This search was conducted January 2010.

  1. Finance the property

Unless you have bundles of cash you are going to have to get a mortgage to buy your chosen property.  The whole concept of getting the right mortgage is to get the one that suits you.  Now I can tell you what suits me:

The cheapest!

The cheapest should be what suits you.  If we look at this venture as a business and not you buying a house and renting out some rooms then we can apply so hard and fast rules.

Now I am going to give you a brief lesson on mortgages.

Residential v buy to let

The mortgage you need to get is called a residential mortgage.  Do not confuse it with a buy to let mortgage.  You want to buy a property that you want to live in.  Whenever you buy a property to live in you have to get a residential mortgage.

Deposit Levels

Residential mortgages require the least amount of deposits out of all mortgages.  You used to be able to borrow more than the value of the property itself in the old days before the credit crunch.  Now the most you can get is 95% of the purchase price.  So deposit levels start at only 5% of the purchase price.

Affordability

The amount you can borrow will be based on:

  • Your salary and your partner’s if you are buying together
  • Your outgoings
  • Your current liabilities i.e. loans, credit cards, HP agreements etc.

The lenders look to multiply your gross salary less you annual payments to your current liabilities by around 4 to come to the amount they will lend to you.  There is some flexibility as they can take in to account your overtime and bonuses and they look at the security of your job etc.  It is best you see a broker to help you out to get an exact figure of how much they will lend.

There are a new breed of “rent-a-room” mortgages appearing which will add the rent you will get from renting out the rooms to your income so you can borrow more.  Do not forget to ask your broker about these as they may just let you borrow that little bit more which make properties you thought impossible to buy possible.

Interest only v repayment

The monthly mortgage payment you make can either:

Pay the interest charge only

Pay the interest and the capital

Paying off the interest only results in a lower monthly payment.  Very handy if you are running a business.  A low monthly payment means a lower cost base and thus an overall higher monthly cashflow.  I would highly recommend you adopt this type of payment if you get the option.

It just means that the capital never gets paid off.  Now this is not a problem no matter what anyone tells you.  It is unlikely you will own this property for 25 years for you to come up with the amount you borrowed at the end of the 25 year period.

What usually happens is that you sell the property and buy somewhere else once the market has risen.  Therefore there was no need to pay off any debt in the first place.  This saving by not paying the capital every month can be used to cashflow other eventualities like repairs, non payment of rent or even further business ideas!

Fixed, Tracker or Variable

This relates to the interest rates.  These are the main types of rates you can get:

Fixed – As it sounds the rate is fixed for a period of time.  So if you want your monthly cost to be a certain figure then consider going for fixed periods.  You do not need to worry about interest rate rises as these will not affect you during the priod it is fixed.  Outside the period is another story!  So if you are really risk averse go for a long period.  The maximum period you can get is 25 years.

Tracker – tracker rates track an official rate.  An official rate can be the the bank of England’s rate, LIBOR or the lenders Standard Variable Rate (SVR).  This is not an exclusive list as lenders can be very sneaky so make sure you find out what the tracker rate tracks.  The rate moves in line with this official rate.  I always try to get a tracker rate to avoid these private banks deciding one day to push my rate up when they feel like it.

Variable – this is a rate set by the lender.  The lender has full freedom to increase or decrease this as and when they like.  Most lenders do not do this but they have the power to do so.  In this environment we are in I would avoid these if you can.

The Mortgage To Get

I hope from my little education in mortgages you can see that you should be going for a:

95% residential mortgage

Interest only

Tracker or Fixed (whichever is lower)

This will ensure you have to put the least amount of money in to the venture and you will get the lowest monthly payment possible.

 

  1. Getting the property ready

So you have just picked up the keys to your brand new multi-roomed property what is next?  The mortgage payment is due next month so you have to get your act together and prepare the house for occupation!

Amenities

I am going to assume you will have the normal utilities connected to the house.  So I will assume:

  • Each room has heating
  • The house has running hot water
  • There are basic cooking facilities
  • There is refridgerators at the property

Extra amenities you could consider are:

Sky/Cable TV – if you want your tenants to stay they will really appreciate having more than just the 5 channels.  If you do not want to pay out for a contract then freeview would be a great start.  You can upgrade your aerial to a digital aeriel (if the area permits) and then install £15 freeview boxes in each room.  Or you could go the whole slog and get multi-roomed sky full package with LCD TV!  Sit down and do your sums.  If it costs £10 per week extra per room and you can get £15 extra rent then it is worth it.

Wireless Broadband – if you want to appeal to students or workers then having broadband will be a great selling point.  You could your own WiFi sign up and be just like StarBucks!  I know that I would not move in to a property without broadband.  I think I would die.

Additional Cooking Facilities – you could add another microwave or cooker depending on how many people you have in your house.  I reckon one cooker and microwave per 3 people would do.  Also a big chunky American style fridge freezer can fend off a lot of future arguments.

Washing Facilities – having a washing machine and tumble dryer for use.  It beats going down the local laundrette and the lodgers will certainly appreciate it.  For this reason you can charge more rent for this privilege.  Washing Machines and Tumble dryers cost around 10p an hour to run plus there will be additional maintenance costs due to heavy usage.  Make sure you factor this in to your costings.

Showering Facilities – having a shower has double benefits.  Lodgers love showers.  It is quick.  Perfect for their busy lives.  And as a landlord it cuts your bills massively as showers are cheaper than baths.

Decorating

If the property is not already decorated then please follow this really easy step:

Keep it Neutral

That is:

Walls to be magnolia or white

Flooring to be beige or brown or wooden flooring

Bathrooms to be white

Kitchens to be modern

No one can argue with neutral.  It is completely inoffensive.  I kind of know you know this as it is stated on every property programme out there.

Furnishing

I will assume you will furnish the common rooms such as the kitchen, living room, dining room and bathroom as you want.  Just make sure they are hard wearing.  However there is the choice of what to do for each room.  I suggest as a minimum:

one bed – put a single bed in a single room and a double bed in a double room.

One bedside table – you will only need one regardless of whether it is a single or a double.

Curtains and curtain pole – they need to be able to get some sleep!

That’s it.  The less the better.  There is less for the lodger to break and it leaves the lodger to make their own stamp on the room so they can make it their home.

Do not buy:

Duvets or duvet covers

Towels

Desks

as they will take them with them when they leave.  These are easily bought cheaply by the tenant. They won’t ask you to buy them for you as it will seem too cheeky.

Optional purchases:

Wardrobe and/or chest of drawers – they might ask for wardrobes so supply one if they ask

This should keep your upfront costs right down which is important when you start.  If you do not control costs at the start it is easy for them to get out of control.

Signage

This is very important.  You want to put a friendly sign which can be seen when you open the front door and enter the house so no one misses it.  Title it “HOUSE RULES” and then state each rule by number.

Things to consider are:

  1. Visitors – when they are allowed in and till what time. Also the procedure of requesting an overnight visitor.
  2. Noise – what time music can be played until and at what volume.
  3. Rubbish – when to empty bins in the room and kitchen
  4. Food – rules about communal food and not
  5. Payment – when to pay rent and by which method
  6. Chores – if there are any communal chores to do please state them and how allocation of tasks is done.

Cleaning Services

You might want to consider taking on a cleaner.  You want to keep the house clean and tidy if you are going to charge rent for it.  You do not want the tenant’s leaving due to poor hygiene.  It just takes one messy or dirty tenant to spoil it for the rest.  So if you have an effective cleaning strategy (like Doris the cleaner!) it might prevent the mass exodus because of stinky Joe.

After you have done all of the above you are now in a position to fling open your doors to whoever will pay you rent……. Well sort of!

  1. Finding & Choosing the right tenants

Demand for rooms to rent could not be higher.  There is a shortage of properties to let hence they are expensive.    There are plenty of people who simply cannot afford or refuse to pay rent for a self contained flat or house.

A long time ago there used to be a stigma associated with sharing a house.  Now it is the norm.  I have heard of headmasters and senior doctors sharing a house so it is a far cry from the old days.

So where do all these quality tenants look for a place to live?  Read on! I have isolated the best 7 ways of finding nice, friendly and credit worthy lodgers for your multi-roomed house:

  1. Internet

There are plenty of paid for and free advertising websites where you can advertise you room to let:

  1. in the window – you can use your ground floor window as an excellent way to get passers by. Completely free and very effective.
  2. Local press – costs anywhere from £5 to £50 to advertise.
  3. Large Employers – contact the large employers in the area and ask for HR department.  They may be willing to add your property to their intranet advertising for free.
  4. Shop windows – they cost max £1 per week.  Tescos, Off licences, corner shops etc.
  5. Universities, Colleges & Schools – if there is a school or Uni nearby then a little poster can work wonders.  Also you could speak to the accommodation officer and list your room with them
  6. Word of Mouth – ask your current lodgers if they know anyone and offer them a trip down the pub as a reward if they manage to find anyone.  It will work wonders for lodger relations!
  7. internet – there are plenty of sites set up to cater for this.  Just type in “rent a room” or “find lodger” in Google and they will all come up.

 

Choosing the right lodger

I think it is very important to have a picture of how you want the house share to be.  If you picture a chilled bohemian crowd then it is easy to spot the right lodger when they walk through the door.

The various general themes are:

Monday to Friday workers – the exact of opposite of unemployed tenants.  These tenants are rarely in the house, expect hot water between 7am and 9am and 5pm and 10pm for their showers and live their own lives.  They pack to go home on a Thursday night and you do not see them till Sunday night sometimes even Monday night.

Students – it may be that you want to run a student house.  Everyone will be of young age and have times when they want to study.  It may be a less formally run house with less rules.

Events – If you are located to certain establishments (like Wimbledon, Wembley Stadium etc.) then you will have certain type of people you will be expecting to be wanting to rent your room (like tennis fans or construction workers).

Luxury – This is where you just go for lodgers of a certain income bracket.  Your lodgers may be of the same class, profession or earning potential.  Only the best will do for these people!

Men/Women Only – If you want to be gender specific then that’s ok!  Its your house and if you are a woman and want women only tenants (because men smell!) then so be it.

Age – you are seeing a lot of over 50 type of accommodation.  This could be a good way to tap in to that sort of market especially if you are of that age.  You will probably have the same bedtimes etc. Or you could do a young house which could be a lot more fun and relaxed.

So once you have decided on your theme (and it is very important you do) then you can start short listing your prospects.

Selection Process

You will start to get enquiries quite quickly after you have placed your ad. I am quite sure of that.  Now always be open minded.  Let ANYONE view, even if you do not like the sound of them.  You can never tell from just a phone conversation.  Unless they drop real clangers like “I am moving because my previous landlord is chucking me out as I haven’t paid the rent and I wrecked his house because of a party I had last Saturday”.  Then of course end the conversation politely.

The idea is you have to get someone interested in living at your gaff first.  Once you have got interested parties do you start filtering them out.

Once you have someone interested I suggest you do the following in this order:

  1. Check they have any cash!

The amount of people that ring up to rent a property from me who do not even have £5 in their pocket is amazing.  They call up wishing to rent a 3 bed house and my team ask if they have a deposit of the first week or month’s rent and they say no.  they always state they can get it next week but always want to move instraight away.  Funny that!

So explain to them the deposit is 4 weeks rent and the rent is payable once a week.  So they need 5 weeks worth of rent to pay UPFRONT before they can move in.

If they do not flinch then you are getting warm.  If they state they can pay this then on to stage 2.

  1. Credit check them

If you want to be safe I suggest you get a credit check.  They are really cheap and you can get the lodger to pay it.  It costs £10 or so and will give you a snapshot of how they conduct their finances.  To get a credit check visit:

  1. Get a reference

If they work ring up their employer.  Just have a quick chat.  Check the number they give you corresponds to their place of work.  A quick verbal should be ok.  If you want it in writing then write to their employer.

  1. Use your instincts

If you get a funny vibe and you can hold out for someone else then do so.  I do say have an open mind but your instinct is a powerful thing.  Remember this is your home and you want to feel comfortable.  You also want your other lodgers to feel comfortable also.

So if you go through those 4 steps I reckon you will be ok.  The worst case scenario is you ask them to leave.  Remember a lodger has no rights to occupy your property.  You can give literally hours notice for them to leave.  So it is very difficult to get this business that wrong.  There are loads of people who just do this to supplement their income and have nice holidays from the income this produces.  There are others who have 12 bed terraced properties in bedsit cities and earn a very nice income indeed.

Now remember.  Do not get the idea of moving out and renting the other room and think your rights stay the same.  As soon as you move out the property becomes a House In Mutiple Occupation (HMO) which has a whole set of different rules regarding eviction and licensing.

Profit Forecaster

Insert the figures to work out how much you can expect to make from renting out your rooms:

Income
Enter Rent per week below:Multiply by:AnnualIncome
Room 1X52
Room 2X52
Room 3X52
Room 4X52
Room 5X52
Total(A)
ExpensesEnter Amount below:Multiply by:Annual Cost
Monthly MortgageX12
Monthly Council tax bill (10 installments)X10
Monthly Gas BillX12
Monthly Electric BillX12
Monthly Water BillX12
Monthly Sky/cable billX12
Monthly TelephoneX12
Monthly broadband billX12
Sundry/other
Total(B)
ANTICIPATED ANNUAL PROFIT >>>>(A-B)

You can get an electronic version of this by joining my newsletter at www.ahuja.co.uk

 

Lodger Agreement

HOUSE/FLAT SHARE AGREEMENT

for a room in a furnished house or flat – resident owner

Dated ________________________________________________________

(Insert date of agreement)

The Property ________________________________________________________

(Hereinafter“the Property”)

________________________________________________________

The Room Being the room at the Property that has been nominated by the Owner

(Hereinafter

and agreed to by the Sharer:- “the Room”)

________________________________________________________

(Identify the Room, e.g. by number/location)

The Owner ________________________________________________________

(Hereinafter

“the Owner”)

________________________________________________________

(whose address is the Property above)

The Sharer ________________________________________________________

(Hereinafter

“the Sharer”)

________________________________________________________

(*Delete as appropriate)

The Period _________ weeks / months* beginning on _____________________ (Hereinafter

“the Period”)

 Early Termination

Either party may at any time end this Agreement earlier that the end of

the Period by giving to the other written notice of ___ weeks / months*

The Payment £___________(___________________________________________)

(State amount in

figures and words)

per week / calendar month* payable in advance on the ____________ of each week / month*

Important:

(1) The Payment is INCLUSIVE of / DOES NOT INCLUDE* utility bills [e.g. electricity/gas].

(2) The Payment is INCLUSIVE of / DOES NOT INCLUDE* water bills.

(3) The Payment is INCLUSIVE of / DOES NOT INCLUDE* Council Tax.

(4) The use of telephone is NOT included in the Payment.

The Deposit £___________(___________________________________________)

(State amount in

figures and words)

The Inventory Being the list of the Owner’s possessions at the Property, which has

been signed by the Owner and the Sharer

Signed by the Owner:-

________________________________ ________________________________

 

Signed by the Sharer:-

_______________________________ ________________________________

THIS HOUSE/FLAT SHARE AGREEMENT comprises the particulars detailed above and the terms and conditions printed

overleaf whereby the Property is licensed by the Owner and taken by the Sharer for occupation during the Period upon making

the Payment.

IMPORTANT NOTICE:

(1) This form of Agreement is for use in those cases where the Room is part of a House or Flat which the Owner occupies as

his/her only or principal home so that an Assured Tenancy is not created.

(2) This form of Agreement does not require either party to give any form of notice to the other at the end of the fixed Period,

but if either party wishes to end this Agreement early, then written notice should be served for the period as stated in the

Early Termination clause.

Terms and Conditions

  1. The Sharer will:

1.1 in conjunction with the occupation of the Room only be

allowed to share with the other occupiers of the Property

the use and facilities of the common parts of the Property

(including such bathroom, toilet, kitchen and sitting

room facilities as may be at the Property)

1.2 pay the Payment at the times and in the manner aforesaid

without any deduction abatement or set-off whatsoever

1.3 make a proportionate contribution to the cost of all

charges in respect of any electric, gas, water and

telephonic or televisual services used at or supplied to the

Property and Council Tax or any similar tax that might

be charged in addition to or replacement of it during the

Period.

NB STRIKE THIS CLAUSE if the Payment is inclusive

of all household bills as referred to in definition of the

Payment overleaf

1.4 keep the Room and share with the other occupiers of the

Property the obligation to keep the interior of the

Property in a good, clean and tenantable state and

condition and not damage or injure the Property or any

part of it and if at the end of the Period any item on the

Inventory requires repair, replacing, cleaning or

laundering the Sharer will pay for the same (reasonable

wear and tear and damage by an insured risk excepted)

1.5 yield up the Room at the end of the Period in the same

clean state and condition it was in at the beginning of the

Period

1.6 share with the other occupiers of the Property the

obligation to maintain at the Property and keep in a good

and clean condition all the items listed in the Inventory

1.7 not make any alteration or addition to the Property nor

without the Owner’s prior written consent do any

redecoration or painting of the Property

1.8 not do or omit to do anything on or at the Property which

may be or become a nuisance or annoyance to the Owner

or any other occupiers of the Property or owners or

occupiers of adjoining or nearby premises or which may

in any way prejudice the insurance of the Property or

cause an increase in the premium payable therefor

1.9 not without the Owner’s prior consent allow or keep any

pet or any kind of animal at the Property

1.10 not use or occupy the Property in any way whatsoever

other than as a private residence

1.11 not assign, sublet, charge or part with or share possession

or occupation of the Room or the Property or any part

thereof

1.12 pay interest at the rate of 4% above the Bank of England

base rate from time to time prevailing on any payment or

other money due from the Sharer under this Agreement

which remains unpaid for more than 14 days, interest to

be paid from the date the payment fell due until payment

  1. In the event of the Payment being unpaid for more than 21

days after it is due (whether formally demanded or not) or there

being a breach of any other of the Sharer’s obligations under this

Agreement, or in the event of the Sharer ceasing to reside at the

Property, or in the event of the Sharer’s death, this Agreement shall

thereupon determine absolutely but without prejudice to any of the

Owner’s other rights and remedies in respect of any outstanding

obligations on the part of the Sharer

  1. The Deposit has been paid by the Sharer and is held by the

Owner to secure compliance with the Sharer’s obligations under

this Agreement (without prejudice to the Owner’s other rights and

remedies) and if, at any time during the Period, the Owner is

obliged to draw upon it to satisfy any outstanding breaches of such

obligations then the Sharer shall forthwith make such additional

payment as is necessary to restore the full amount of the Deposit

held by the Owner. As soon as reasonably practicable following

termination of this Agreement the Owner shall return to the Sharer

the Deposit or the balance thereof after any deductions properly

made. No interest will be payable to the Sharer in respect of the

Deposit

  1. The Owner will insure the Property and the items listed on the

Inventory

  1. The Owner hereby notifies the Sharer that any notices

(including notices in proceedings) should be served upon the

Owner at the address stated with the name of the Owner overleaf

  1. In the event of damage to or destruction of the Property by

any of the risks insured against by the Owner the Sharer shall be

relieved from making the Payment to the extent that the Sharer’s

use and enjoyment of the Property is thereby prevented and from

performance of its obligations as to the state and condition of the

Property to the extent of and whilst there prevails any such damage

or destruction (except to the extent that the insurance is prejudiced

by any act or default of the Sharer) the amount in case of dispute to

be settled by arbitration

  1. As long as the reference to a notice of early termination in the

definition of the “Period” overleaf (the “Early Termination

Notice”) has not been deleted then either party may at any time

during the Period terminate this Agreement by giving to the other

prior written notice to that effect, the length of such notice to be

that stated in the Early Termination Notice, and upon the expiry of

said notice this Agreement shall end with no further liability for

either party save for liability for any antecedent breach

  1. The Owner may at any time nominate for the Sharer another

Room in the Property in replacement of the Room occupied by the

Sharer until that point (“the replacement Room”) and all reference

in this Agreement to the “Room” shall thenceforth be deemed to

refer to the replacement Room and this process may be repeated by

the Owner any number of times during the Period PROVIDED

THAT the Sharer may after such a nomination give to the Owner

an Early Termination Notice as referred to in clause 7 above and be

allowed to remain in the Room occupied prior to the said

nomination until the expiry of the said Early Termination Notice

  1. The Sharer shall not have exclusive possession of the Room

and the identity of the other occupiers of the Property shall be in

the absolute discretion of the Owner

  1. Where the context so admits:

10.1 the “Property” includes all of the Owner’s fixtures and

fittings at or upon the Property and all of the items

listed in the Inventory and (for the avoidance of doubt)

the Room

10.2 the “Period” shall mean the period stated in the

particulars overleaf or any shorter or longer period in

the event of an earlier termination or an extension or

holding over respectively

  1. All reference to the singular shall include the plural and vice

versa and any obligations or liabilities of more than one person

shall be joint and several and an obligation on the part of a party

shall include an obligation not to allow or permit the breach of that

obligation

source: www.limecastle.co.uk

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