Rent A Room Allowance Review Hidden In Budget Small Print

The government will review the way rent a room relief operates – in what appears to be a bid to tackle the rise of short term lettings. People renting out rooms in their homes to lodgers can currently earn £7,500 tax free under the scheme. However people offering short terms lets through sites such as Airbnb can also take advantage of the relief. RLA research shows there are more than 23,000 rooms listed on Airbnb in London alone. As rent a room was introduced to increase the supply of affordable long term lodgings it would appear the government review is taking place in direct response to the popularity of short term letting sites. Read more on the RLA website.

Rent-a-Room Scheme – Parliamentary Oral Answer

Tim Loughton (East Worthing and Shoreham) (Con): What discussions he has

had with the Chancellor of the Exchequer on increasing the amount of housing

accommodation by extending the scope and level of the rent-a-room scheme.

Kris Hopkins: I meet ministerial colleagues regularly to discuss the

Government’s policy on housing. The rent-a-room scheme allows hard-working

householders to earn an additional £4,250 a year tax free. The average yearly rent for a lodger is below this threshold at £4,168.