Students

[Mr Men]

Has anybody had any dealings with students?

All good and bad storys welcome am seriously considering earning some extra cash by letting my spare room out and chucking in a brekfast/packed lunch and a cheap micro wave meal.

Are boys worse than girls?
What rules do you lay down?
Does nationality matter?
Does age matter?

HELP

[Greyfox]

My mates parents have recently started having students and get paid directly from the college they are studying at (these are foreign students who have come over to learn English not uni students) They get paid £100/120 per week if I recall correctly and the most they have had at 1 time is 3 students so 300£ a week nb. They haven't reported any major problems so far, just extra hassle in some cases with a recent student being vegetarian, muslim so no pork etc These foreign students sound quite nice but id be a bit more wary of university students as they may be slightly more rowdy, especially first year freshers! Then again id doubt you'd be housing first years as they automatically get university dorms.

[Mr Men]

Also having small children I consider this to be some obstacle or am i being paranoid?

[super mike]

I'd go with mature students (especially with kids), I know a lot of students late teens/early twenties and I wouldn't want to live with them and these are my mates.

[ZX7R]

I'd stick with female lodgers too. With large norks.

[Greyfox]

I'd go with mature students (especially with kids), I know a lot of students late teens/early twenties and I wouldn't want to live with them and these are my mates.

I'd agree with this. Many uni students are rowdy fuckers (including myself) so go for the mature ones who have grown up a little bit and passed their mental phase. I'd also agree with trying to get women instead of men as they seem better and you may also get a bit of eye candy

[TwoPlAnKs]

Just find a sensible one, most important thing probably is having a look at their Facebook page. If they don't have one or it's not public you'll need to interview very carefully to make sure they aren't twats. If all their Facebook photos are of them being rowdy they probably aren't very suited. Also consider the course they do, if they are doing a science degree they'll be a lot better behaved than some 7 hour a week arts course in sociology or media studies.

Students range from very bad to very good, with most being very good I would say. In general if you take one on to live in one room you'll find they'll be lovely as they won't have all their mates round getting pissed which is the only time students really cause problems.

Do be careful though, I know dozens of them who would be total twats. The majority aren't, half of school kids go on to uni now and (with a few exceptions) the top half in terms of behaviour and academics generally are the ones going to uni, so in theory it should be better than choosing from the general population.

People have an image of students as drunks in bars, but remember they are studying and passing exams or they wouldn't be students. They are also the ones running the shops and bars in most university towns, many of them taking supervisory roles in their part time jobs and most doing some charity work as well. Their group contains some real bad eggs which create horror stories for all, but as long as you select a lodger and don't just take one at random you'll be fine.

As for young kids, seriously? I know parents have irrational worries over kids but people aren't monsters just because they are in education, if anything they are probably less likely to be dodgers wrt kids. I'd say if you get a sensible lodger who you grow to trust you could even use them as child care eventually.

It's illegal to choose based on age, so if you do that do it slyly (don't advertise it) and consider the moral implications of what you are doing. Stereotypes and prejudices are no way to choose somebody for anything, it should be done by assessing them as a person and how you think they'll behave.

If i had a lodger I'd rather have a girl on the grounds that if it goes wrong it's easier to deal with, she'd be unlikely to attack me when totally pissed (and if she did it would be adorable little girl attack) and girls are less likely to suffer from problems like messyness or bad personal hygiene, and in your case are probably more likely to show an interest in your kids rather than just being the creepy person who moved into their house. Again, that sort of prejudice doesn't stand in the modern world and a boy who showed those qualities would be just as good.

[Mr Men]

Just find a sensible one, most important thing probably is having a look at their Facebook page. If they don't have one or it's not public you'll need to interview very carefully to make sure they aren't twats. If all their Facebook photos are of them being rowdy they probably aren't very suited. Also consider the course they do, if they are doing a science degree they'll be a lot better behaved than some 7 hour a week arts course in sociology or media studies.

Students range from very bad to very good, with most being very good I would say. In general if you take one on to live in one room you'll find they'll be lovely as they won't have all their mates round getting pissed which is the only time students really cause problems.

Do be careful though, I know dozens of them who would be total twats. The majority aren't, half of school kids go on to uni now and (with a few exceptions) the top half in terms of behaviour and academics generally are the ones going to uni, so in theory it should be better than choosing from the general population.

People have an image of students as drunks in bars, but remember they are studying and passing exams or they wouldn't be students. They are also the ones running the shops and bars in most university towns, many of them taking supervisory roles in their part time jobs and most doing some charity work as well. Their group contains some real bad eggs which create horror stories for all, but as long as you select a lodger and don't just take one at random you'll be fine.

As for young kids, seriously? I know parents have irrational worries over kids but people aren't monsters just because they are in education, if anything they are probably less likely to be dodgers wrt kids. I'd say if you get a sensible lodger who you grow to trust you could even use them as child care eventually.

It's illegal to choose based on age, so if you do that do it slyly (don't advertise it) and consider the moral implications of what you are doing. Stereotypes and prejudices are no way to choose somebody for anything, it should be done by assessing them as a person and how you think they'll behave.

If i had a lodger I'd rather have a girl on the grounds that if it goes wrong it's easier to deal with, she'd be unlikely to attack me when totally pissed (and if she did it would be adorable little girl attack) and girls are less likely to suffer from problems like messyness or bad personal hygiene, and in your case are probably more likely to show an interest in your kids rather than just being the creepy person who moved into their house. Again, that sort of prejudice doesn't stand in the modern world and a boy who showed those qualities would be just as good.

Thank you really good advice ,rep added

[Delboy_1976]

My mate and his wife rent out their spare room to foreign language students. They go through a company that arrange it all and so far all of his students have been Chinese. He has had no probs other than a few hygiene issues with one of them (male and not a very good aim when having a piss and even worse at wiping it up after!!) but that was ironed out with a few carefully chosen words that seem to mean the same in Chinese as they do in English!!

They get paid £480 PCM during term time only and they have to supply a room with a bed and a wardrobe in it. They also have to provide breakfast but don't have to provide any other meals.

[{{909}}]

My GF was a student coming from china and she worked through an agency, she had to write a letter to her future landlord and it all sounds like there is plenty of comms between both parties before anything is agreed upon, so you should be able to be very picky. Considering some of the foriegn women you see at college/Uni now, I'd do it for nowt and gladly do their washing....

[Nikki]

If it was me i would look my local area, then seek if i know anybody through friend of a friend that goes to the college / uni then try and get someone that way, or i would go for a girl as like two planks quite rightly says, it will be easier to handle.

you could ring your local college / uni and they can advertise for you or may even know of a contact to ring to get the ball rolling. With september going to be upon us in no time i would get the ball rolling now as people will be knowing shortly if they have got their uni / college place etc.......

mature students can have its up and downs, same as people just gone to uni. might be better off having someone new just gone to uni as they might not know any better. some mature student might already be set in their ways and may pish u off etc... if u get my drift