So you want to squeeze even more money out of your property? Why not convert some living space into a bedroom! It’s so easy. With the average room renting for just short of £500 in the UK, you could be walking around with an extra half a grand in your pocket every month.
Here’s how to do it.
The boring legal bit
Steady now, profiteer! Before you turn that lovely communal area into your own personal piggy bank, you should know that making your property fit to house more people could change the occupancy license you need.
If you have a house in multiple occupancy already, then it could be the case that converting a room into a bedroom and taking on another tenant could push you into the threshold of needing a Large House in Multiple Occupation license.
This could be the case if the new room tips you over 5 people, living over three floors and sharing communal utilities.
Choose wisely
There are some obvious conditions on which rooms will convert well into bedrooms. It won’t work with an open plan living/kitchen space, obviously. Nor will it work if the living room is a passage to somewhere else like the front door or bathroom.
It will only work best if the living room is like an old fashioned parlour: a room with only one door just off from a corridor or other communal living space. Even better is if like a parlous, it doesn’t share a wall with any other living space or bedrooms. Lofts make good conversions for this reason.
Divide and conquer
If you don’t have the luxury of a parlour-like living space to convert, you still have options. Try and divide off an area of room so that the bedroom part retains some privacy, while the room can still be traversed.
Big book cases, curtains or even old-school shuttered room dividers can do a great job for you here. Beware though – the lower rent that such a split-use room will command may mean that the conversion is not worth pursuing.
Set up rules
If the new bedroom isn’t able to be sealed off from public use, then you need some strict rules of access to make it fair for the occupant. Setting up certain times that it can be gone into (or through) will help protect the tenant from constant traffic and invasion of their room.
And remember, not matter what you do with your spare room, Roomgo will help you rent it out.
