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House and home

Overstaying lodger!

(480 Posts)
Anniechip Fri 09-Feb-18 22:10:26

Hi everyone,
I don't post very much but always read the very interesting topics, such great advice on many things, which leads me to this topic.
8 or 9 years ago my husband met a young lady through work. She is the same age as our DD- 36. They (DH and female) are both big rugby and football fans so had a lot in common. She started coming round to watch matches, stopping for tea etc chatting about this and that. A nice enough person who I chatted to about cooking,holidays etc general life 'stuff'! Her family live away but she has a very large social circle.
Last March she told us that she was going to have to move out of her rented house that she shared with another female as the owner had sold up. She had a month to find somewhere alternative. We live in a 3 bed terrace, both our children have families and houses of their own.
DH asked me if she could move in with us 'for a few weeks' until she found somewhere.
Reluctantly I agreed but really wanted to say no, I felt under pressure as she was having no luck finding anything.
12 months previous to this our DD, her husband and 15 month old who had been living with us for 18 months, saving for their own place, had moved out and I was just about getting my house back to what I wanted it to be.
So....... The lodger moved in lock stock and barrel.
I had to empty a large wardrobe in my second bedroom, clear 2 kitchen cupboards and fridge and freezer space.
We agreed on a rent of £300 a calendar month.
Now she is becoming far too comfortable and complacent.
Leaves washing in the machine for a couple of days or on my dryer in the back room, coats over dining chairs, shoes in the hallway, dishes in the sink for a couple of hours, etc etc.
Now I feel it's time she was moving on. My dGC like to have sleepovers but have to sleep on an air bed in our room instead of a nice comfy bed in their own little room.
The back room is my 'office' so no room for a bed.
I want my own space back but unfortunately my husband sees no wrong. If anything his life has been enriched as night after night they sit and watch sport and chat endlessly. I end up in the dining room or upstairs in bed!
AIBU to say it's time now? I want my house back!!
DH doesn't think there is a problem and says we need the money- he was made redundant in June after 18 years in the same job, but has since found another so we are both still earning.
I would willingly give up the £300 a month to have my life and house back! Any ideas on how to get rid?!

jenpax Fri 16-Mar-18 07:28:44

Feelingmyage has given sound advice. Put the notice in writing giving a specified date and give her a copy. Tell her that she will have no right to stay after that date and you will remove her goods from the room, change the locks to the house etc as long as you put her belongings in a safe place to store so she can retrieve them at an agreed time you will have done nothing wrong.

MawBroon Fri 16-Mar-18 07:31:35

I take your point Eloethan but sometimes when too many people are on your back saying “You must do this or you must do that” it can become a tyranny of its own especially as such drastic measures generally go against most people’s nature.
The post you quote is an example of that to me.
My point is that 31March does seem have been the deadline set so in a way OP feels obliged to honour that, but dialogue in advance should make a successful outcome more likely.

Goodbyetoallthat Fri 16-Mar-18 08:55:34

I agree with Mawbroon! You can know what is the right thing to do & the general consensus of opinion can back you up but it is still hard to put it into practice without someone on hand to back you up.
It is the behaviour of the DH & his seeming total disregard for OPs feelings that leaves me feeling shocked & angry on her behalf.

eazybee Fri 16-Mar-18 09:31:45

I was surprised when the OP revived this post saying the lodger hadn't gone, and all she wanted was for her husband to tell her to clear out her cupboards, fridge etc and leave. I wondered why she hadn't done so herself, having agreed previously with her that she would be gone by Easter.
Nobody seems to have said anything to anyone since, and a women who comes to stay for a few weeks and is still there a year later is not going to be dislodged (!) easily.
There is so little time left now for a new place to be established I can't see a happy outcome, and I am sure the poster is too nice, or too diffident, to bundle up possessions and put them on the doorstep.
She has sought and received, much sensible advice, but nothing is going to happen unless she takes the initiative, as her husband won't.

Oopsadaisy12 Fri 16-Mar-18 09:34:58

Problem is that the husband wants her to stay, or he did when the OP first posted. Not sure if that has really changed.

Oopsadaisy12 Fri 16-Mar-18 09:37:57

TBH anyone who has put up with this for a year, and still hasn’t sorted it out, will probably still be in the same situation after the deadline has gone.
Maybe the Op will surprise us all.

Goodbyetoallthat Fri 16-Mar-18 09:48:57

The "perfect place" comment would probably have tipped me over the edge!

Mapleleaf Fri 16-Mar-18 10:07:52

Your last post is spot on, eazybee. Nothing will change unless the OP does something herself.

Devorgilla Fri 16-Mar-18 11:28:20

Mawbroon, I take your point about 'too many cooks' and at the end of the day the OP has to do what she feels comfortable with. I admit my comment about estate agents was said a bit 'tongue in cheek' but leaving around particulars about a new house/single flat for herself could make hubby realise she means business. Given that she has indicated a deadline and made clear she wants to redecorate and have the room for the child's visit, I do not think it is unreasonable to ask the lodger to shift out onto the airbed while this happens and for the visit. Alternatively, the lodger could occupy the bed while the decorating is going on. If the OP can afford it I would get a decorator in to do the room. She could move her office into the lodger's room and put the lodger in the smaller room if still there after Easter. Otherwise, the only alternative seems to be to put up with it infinitum but she could at least make money out of it by raising the rent to the market rate for their area - easily found out from letting agents. I just wish her well with it as I think it is causing her a lot of stress.

Devorgilla Fri 16-Mar-18 11:30:48

correction: ad infinitum. Posted while I thought I was correcting the preview.

gmelon Fri 16-Mar-18 13:16:00

Eloethan
I've made friendly and practical suggestions quite early on.
Look back in the thread.
I got fed up with this lady. So many many Gransnetters are concerned and using their precious time to post advice.
She is the doing anything to help herself.

gmelon Fri 16-Mar-18 13:16:58

She is not

MissAdventure Fri 16-Mar-18 14:30:51

The trouble with being a reasonable person is that you expect others to follow suit.
A discussion was had, a date was set, and it seemed that everything was going to work out, because all were in agreement.

willa45 Fri 16-Mar-18 15:03:46

Anniechip, the solution to your problem, be it good, bad, draconian, or outrageous, surely must be lurking somewhere within these pages and I hope you find the courage to act on it.

I'm hoping you can get her out of your house in time for the deadline. Please let everyone know because from the amount of posts your plea has generated, a lot of people care.

NfkDumpling Sat 17-Mar-18 06:56:58

I'm quite glad that we're all far flung and unaware of where Anniechip lives. This has riled us all up so much that The Lodger would have been bodily picked up and removed before now and probably dumped on a train to Timbucktoo with her belongings in a black bin bag!

Apart from dropping strong hints and becoming uncooperative and colder towards her, there's little that can be done until the deadline is passed.

Good Luck Annie. Remember the power of the grans is behind you!

Oopsadaisy12 Sat 17-Mar-18 08:11:56

You’re right NFK, it’s frustrating isn’t it?
Maybe we should form a roving help group.

Something weird happening in your house? who you gonna call? Gransnetters!

Blinko Sat 17-Mar-18 08:44:13

I like the idea of a posse of roving grans. There have been a one or two posts recently where being able to call in the cavalry would have been the solution.

Oldwoman70 Sat 17-Mar-18 08:51:50

Can I book the roving grans to come and give me a kick up the backside and help me with the decluttering I have to do before I move?

Oopsadaisy12 Sat 17-Mar-18 09:26:38

Absolutely Oldwoman.
We’re here for ya.
Always ready to administer a kick.

Jane10 Sat 17-Mar-18 09:29:12

I'm officer in charge of the elite Gransnet expletives corps. We turn up and say all the things that an unfortunate Gran wishes she had said at a particular time to a specified person. We specialise in volume, choice of words and if necessary, use of a graded range of expletives. I expect we could blast this cuckoo from her comfortable nest. Failing that we could let that rabble from the Argy Bargy loose?

Elegran Sat 17-Mar-18 09:44:52

If she were to come home on Good Friday to find her belongings packed and in the hall and a granddaughter in "her" bed, she might get the message.

FarNorth Sat 17-Mar-18 09:48:40

Good Luck Annie. Remember the power of the grans is behind you!

I'm hoping the lack of posts from Annie means that progress is being made, in one way or another.

starbird Sat 17-Mar-18 11:26:11

There is no problem here, the date has been given, if the lodger has not found antwhere she will have to go into a hotel or move in with another friend or relative. She surely cannot be short of money. The way for the OP to play it is to assume she is going and act as though it is going to happen. This is probably quite scary for the lodger but she needs to know it is going to happen. The day before the deadline, make sure she has packed and removed all traces from every room, if not offer to help her. Make a big show of making cakes etc for the upcoming visit. Talk about what you will be doing when they come. Remember this is YOUR HOME. If by any chance she goes into a hotel and asks if she can leave stuff behind to collect later say no. Make it very clear that she cannot move out for Easter then come back by talking about your plans for the room. Talk about a an old friend you have been wanting to have come and visit but haven’t been able to ( if you don’t have any such friends enrol a gransnetter!). Just be firm and gentle. It will be good for the lodger to stand on her own two feet. When she is settled she could be invited round on the odd occasion for a meal, maybe even make it a weekly thing, but no more than that. After all, she is not the enemy.

sparkly1000 Sat 17-Mar-18 11:44:26

I wonder if Annie's DH has reassured the lodger that his very tolerant kindly wife would never see the eviction through? That would explain the lodgers lack of effort or urgency in seeking new accommodation, because she believes the eviction will never happen, and unless Annie pulls her finger out it never will.

eazybee Sat 17-Mar-18 13:03:32

Sure of it, Sparkly.
All that is needed is one direct question:
"Which day will you be moving out?" followed by a card with the address of the nearest storage unit: "in case you haven't found anywhere perfect yet."