The national hotline has been set up to coincide with EasyRoommate’s inaugural ‘Flatmate Day’ which celebrates the benefits of flatsharing and the lifestyle it offers. Recently, the UK population of flatsharers has swelled to 2,765,000 as renters abandon living alone to save money during the economic crisis, or are unable to get onto the property ladder due to a lack of affordable mortgages. EasyRoommate’s team is now encouraging flatsharers across the country to pick up the phone for advice and tips from a dedicated team of experts.

Jonathan Moore, Director of EasyRoommate.co.uk said: “There is no doubt that flatsharing is becoming more and more popular in the current climate – it’s a great way to meet people and earn some additional income if you are a homeowner or landlord. First time buyers are also renting for longer in light of the mortgage drought and are using this as a way to save a deposit for their own property.”

“Operating a dedicated hotline for one day is a great way for us to provide some extra assistance to those with burning questions about flatsharing. If you’re thinking of letting out your spare room for the first time or renting a room in a shared house and want some extra support or advice, help is at hand from our experienced team.”

EasyRoommate has been providing a high volume of flatshares, houseshares and rooms to rent all over the world for over 10 years. The site is safe, scam free and its content is kept up to date by a 24/7 dedicated customer service team. A subscription based website, it matches people advertising a spare room with those looking for a room.

A dedicated EasyRoommate team will be available between 10am – 4pm on 24th March to answer flatsharing queries. If you have a question for the EasyRoommate team, please call 0207 292 3370.

For more information on ‘Flatmate Day’, please go to: www.facebook.com/flatmateday and enter a competition to win a party worth £300 by simply submitting your party idea.

Press contact

For further information, please contact Karen Richards, PR Manager on 07412 609695 or email karen.richards@easyroommate.com

Notes to editors

· The national hotline will operate from 10am – 4pm on 24th March 2011

· Further facts about flatsharing in the UK:

- The current UK average flatsharing rent is £399, up from £365 a year ago, a rise of 9.3%

- Currently 100,000 ads are posted on EasyRoommate.co.uk every month

- London has a flatsharing population of 636,000, which has risen by 13,500 in the last three years

- There are currently four people looking for every room being offered

About EasyRoommate

Easyroommate.com is the world’s number one flatshare and houseshare website. It has been running for over ten years and operates in 29 countries across the world, in 12 different languages. The site is safe, scam free and all the content is up to date. Its advanced search facilities and dedicated 24/7 customer service set it apart from other flatshare websites. Easyroommate will not keep outdated ads to misrepresent its content or artificially increase its database.

It’s easy for a family, or professional couple to sort and reduce their waste. But for those of us in shared accommodation, it’s a slightly different story.

You may be living with people you don’t know very well, keeping different hours. You might not have the space to store much recycling between collections. And you might not be able to face dealing with it on your own, if your flatmates are not very motivated.

Here are some tips for taking the strain out of recycling if you are living in shared accommodation – let me know how you get on with them or if you have any more you’d like to share in the comments!

Get everyone on board: although we are getting better at recycling, it’s good to have some handy statistics to persuade doubting flatmates. Did you know that recycling just one tin saves enough energy to power a TV for 3 hours? Or that recycling paper uses 70% less energy than making it from raw materials? Or that 60% of what we throw away could be recycled? Check out www.recycling-guide.org.uk for more facts and tips on recycling.

Divide and conquer: ask your flatmates to take responsibility for just one or two types of waste. This helps to spread the load and make recycling easier to do more frequently. Perhaps the flatmate that’s a bit of a wine buff could be in charge of glass. Or the flatmate that starts every day with a newspaper could take charge of paper and card. Recycling one or two materials is a lot less daunting than coping with eight or nine.

Make it easy on yourself: a recycling bin that looks good and fits in with your style is more likely to be used and be a positive endorsement for an eco way of life than lots of overflowing bags. I love Ben the Bin home recycling bins, they offer a smart solution to recycling sorting and storage. Or if you are pushed for space, a set of stacking home recycling bins gives you vertical storage for your recyclables.

The rest of the story: another way to make recycling easier is not to make so much waste in the first place. Reduce and Reuse are the first two elements of the waste disposal triangle, and even more crucial than recycling. See if your household can reduce waste by sharing food shopping; you’ll cut down on food and packaging waste, and save money. Check out www.recyclethis.co.uk for loads of great suggestions for recycling and reusing unusual items. Look at your rubbish and see if there is any particular thing you throw away a lot, and try and come up with an reusable alternative.

Good luck, and let me know how you get on.

Nigel Berman is the founder of Nigel’s Eco Store, with lots of recycling bins and energy saving products for the home.

Flatmate Do’s:

- Get talking: Ok, so this might seem like a bit of an obvious choice, but you can wiggle out some interesting conversation out of even the most reticent of flatmates through topical chit-chat. Why not ask them what sort of music they’re into, or better still, offer to watch a good artsy foreign film with them? Even if it’s only for a couple of hours, you might find that you share similar interests with at least a couple of your home buddies.

- Ready, steady, cook: A table for one is not exactly much fun, at home or in a restaurant. Why not try sharing your cooking with others, or better still, assign tasks to three or four of your flatmates to cook up a storm in the kitchen. If you’re not much of a chef, you could always order in some take-away, or take care of the drinks whilst others rustle something up with a few pots and pans.

- Drinking games: These are fail-proof ways of getting people talking around a sofa or kitchen table. Be a bit more daring than ‘I have never…’ or Truth or Dare and get the heads spinning with some alternative games, perhaps with some foreign banter. The rules are simple: you think of a word, in a foreign language, and others need to add on an extra word related to the theme, but in a foreign language.

- Let’s get physical: Cleaning doesn’t have to be a chore, if you set out some simple rules from the beginning – share the tasks, and if you’re living in a big house or flat, chances are you won’t have to do much per week! Put some music on or have a film playing on in the background, with a cup of tea shared with your roomies at the end.

Biggest Don’ts:

- Smells. Don’t stink out the place with your cigarette smoke, body odour or mouldy dishes in your room. Your mum doesn’t find it attractive, and chances are, nor do your flatmates.

- Stashing cutlery or mugs in your room. Leave at least a couple of knives and forks in the kitchen – don’t go round hording cutlery as it’s not really going to make you any friends in the long run.

- Playing your music out loudly in the early hours of the morning. Really like the new Katy Perry tune? Make sure your flatmates do too, especially if you’re stomping it out after a night out clubbing.

- Staining or damaging the house. Get some Vanish stain remover, and quick. If someone’s stained the floor, either in your bedroom or the communal areas, you won’t want your deposit taken away at the end of your lease.

- Stealing food. Ok, well maybe you can have a little bit of that chocolate sitting on the fridge shelf, but expect it to be done back to you. Even if you lick everything you own. In front of people.

With these great student tips, you’re bound to have a wicked time flatsharing!

Thanks to Natacha Cullinan at ThirdYearAbroad.com for contributing this article!

Founded in 2007 by three partners, Simeone Salik, Janice Dalton and Dominic Lawrence, their blinds are made using sturdy pleated paper and are easily cut to size which you simply attach to your window frame using an adhesive strip. They’re suitable for smaller windows and can be overlapped for larger ones, and during the day they’re easily pleated up using the clips provided. They pretty stylish as well, with the look of blinds that usually cost a lot more.

Blindsinabox are the perfect solution to your privacy and security needs when you’ve just moved in – ideal for students and those in temporary accommodation. For landlords, they can be reused or replaced with ease and cheaply, and there’s no need for drilling holes in window frames, either. Nurses, Police, Fireman, and basically anyone who works nightshifts knows how difficult it can be to sleep during the day, and Blindsinabox offer the kind blackout protection you’ll certainly appreciate. And, in our age of environmental consciousness, they’re recyclable, too.

You may have seen Blindsinabox on TV when they were asked to, and then appeared, on BBC favourite, Dragons Den, in September 2008. For anyone who’s seen the program, The Dragons are a tough crowd to please, but so impressed were Duncan Bannatyne and James Caan that they opted to invest in the company.

Since then, they’ve appeared in articles in The Observer, Daily and Sunday Telegraph, Evening Standard, The Sun, The Guardian and numerous other papers throughout the UK. Blindsinabox have also appeared in magazines such as House Beautiful, Prima Magazine, Limited Edition and other magazines and have appeared on Sky News, Working Lunch (BBC2).
Importantly, their customers are the ones who’re delighted with this cheap and easy solution to the hassle of getting your windows covered along with the usual expensive of regular blinds. For more info on this great company and product, contact Blindsinabox today.

We know you can’t always be in front of the computer looking for a room, and that the best rooms often get snapped up within 24hrs of being advertised. EasyRoommate’s new app gives you the opportunity stay ahead of the curve and search for accommodation on the go with detailed listings, maps, and options to phone or email the advertiser there and then. Other handy features of the app include integrated GPS, flatmate lists, a picture slideshow, and the option to add the flatshare you like to your favourites list.

Download the EasyRoommate Iphone app for FREE, and if you’re not an iPhone user, EasyRoommate also has a great mobile site for smart phone users.

With an estimated one million lodgers in England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland, and the Government’s Room a Room Scheme which offers those renting out a room up to £4,250 tax-free, its small wonder that EasyRoommate has seen an increase of 17% in the number of homeowners becoming landlords this year in comparison to 2009. Average room rentals of around £348 a month are another contributing factor to this uptake in renting out that unused room.

Combined with a difficult jobs market, many, in a bid to find work, have travelled further afield in their search for employment. A high number then find rooms to rent from Monday to Friday closer to their eventual place of work. This is almost an ideal situation. For the renter, there’s less of a concern of having to share their home on a full-time basis, and for tenants, they spend less to rent a room within a flatshare than they would on a whole property while also spending less on travelling expenses.

Whilst this may seem like an easy means to earn some extra cash, landlords do need to approach with a measure of caution to avoid being stuck with a housemate with annoying habits, or worse yet, one who’s bad with paying the rent on time. With EasyRoommate.co.uk, you’re able to clearly specify the kind of person you’re looking for as a tenant. It’s also best to check your prospective tenant’s rental history along with making sure there’s a legally binding contract to cover both you and the tenant. Covering all your bases, be it in your stipulation of who you’re looking for as a tenant, to making sure the proper legal procedures have been put in place, will help ensure your letting experience is a pleasant one.

• Renting out a spare room can generate £4,392 a year
• Taking room rental income into account would allow the average first-time buyer to borrow £11,000 more
• 89% of would-be buyers polled support the introduction of Flatmate Mortgages

Banks and building societies are being urged to consider the income borrowers can generate from renting a room out when they calculate how much they will lend.

With the rent from a typical spare room worth £365 a month (with bills on top), the extra income would make a significant difference to how much a first-time buyer could borrow if lenders took it into account. Campaigners say that typically, it could increase the amount people can borrow safely and prudently by 20%.

Flatshare website, easyroommate.co.uk, which is spearheading the campaign, says that without Flatmate Mortgages, nearly a quarter of would-be buyers believe buying a property is impossible, whilst almost a third believe they will have to buy with someone else in order to afford to get on the housing ladder . And 89% of would be first-time buyers polled by http://www.easyroommate.co.uk/ wanted Flatmate Mortgages to be introduced. 351,000 first-timers have been frozen out of the housing market in the last two years because they could not borrow enough . Flatmate Mortgages would have helped many of them.

Average house prices are now 4.9 times the average income. A year ago, it was only 4.3 times . 28% of those polled say they must continue to save every penny to build a deposit.

Tenancy agreements for both people with lodgers in their home and for live out landlords are available FREE to all EasyRoommate members. If you are a member and don’t have a copy please email frank@easyroommate.com

Q. Which agreement should I use?

A. If you are renting out a room in your own home, you should use the lodger agreement. If you are renting out a room in a shared house which you do not live in (where everyone in the house has their own agreement for their own room and shared use of the rest of the property), you should use the AST agreement.

NB If you are renting a whole house or flat to a number of sharers who will all sign the same tenancy agreement, then neither of these agreements should be used, and you should use an ordinary AST agreement. You will find many of these in the shops, or online, for example at www.landlordlaw.co.uk.

Q. What is the difference between the two agreements

A. The AST is where someone has an assured shorthold tenancy of their own room. This means that you as the landlord are bound by all the landlords obligations such as the statutory repairing covenants, the need to register any deposit with one of the government authorised tenancy deposit schemes, and you cannot evict the tenant unless you serve the proper notice and then obtain a court order for possession.

On the other hand the lodger agreement is not an AST. It is what lawyers call a ‘license agreement’. The reason for this is that you, the landlord, are letting out a room in your own home, and the lodger does not have ‘exclusive occupation’. Much of the legislation which applies to ASTs will therefore not apply to this agreement. For example you do not have to protect the deposit (if you take one) in a scheme, and, provided you share some living accommodation with the lodger, you will not have to get a court order for possession.

Q. Can I use the lodger agreement if I do not share any living accommodation with the occupier?

A. The significance of sharing living accommodation with the occupier is that he does not acquire a tenancy, and all the legal rights and obligations which go with tenancies. Living accommodation means things like kitchens, bathrooms, and living rooms. Corridors and halls do not count.

If you live in the same building but do not share any living accommodation, it is really important that you provide at least one service (preferably cleaning and/or providing clean sheets where you will go into the room regularly), as this will prevent the occupier from acquiring a tenancy. However even if the agreement is not a tenancy (for example because you provide breakfast and regular cleaning), if you do not share any living accommodation you will need to get a court order, if the occupier refuses to leave.

You can use the lodger agreement for both these situations.

Note however that if the occupier has a completely self contained room, and does not share any living accommodation with you, and you do not provide any services, this will automatically be a tenancy. Getting the occupier to sign the lodger agreement will not change this. The tenancy will be a ‘common law’ tenancy with a resident landlord. We do not have any suitable agreements on this site, but you can obtain one from www.landlordlaw.co.uk.

Q. Should the occupiers room have a lock on the door?

A. If you do not live in the property and are using the AST agreement, yes there should be a lock on the door.

However if you are using the lodger agreement to rent out a room in your own home, it should not have a lock (or if it does, you must have a key). This is because you need to retain control over the room, and be able to enter it if need be to do any maintenance, cleaning or anything else that is needed (e.g. changing light bulbs, cleaning windows etc). This is important (1) because it is your home and you need to be able to carry out any maintenance work in the room when needed, and (2) because it will prevent the occupation from turning into a tenancy.

Q. Can I incorporate some ‘house rules’ into the agreement?

A. These agreements are drafted to as to be suitable for many different landlords and properties. If you have some particular arrangements at your property, it is often a good idea to include these in separate ‘house rules’. For example, arrangements for the use of the bathroom, shared cleaning responsibilities (if cleaning is not provided), use of the land line telephone, etc.

You should discuss these with your lodger or tenant first, and then write them on a separate sheet, headed ‘House Rules’ giving the address of the property. Then on the agreements, write at the bottom of the first page ‘See also the attached house rules’. Both you and the lodger/tenant should initial and date this wording.

Have two copies (one for you and one for the lodger/tenant). You should both sign and date them at the same time as the lodger or tenancy agreement is signed. The House Rules should then be attached to the agreement and kept with it.

Filling in the forms

Generally do any reference checking before you let the occupier into occupation, and also ensure that all cheques have cleared. In general when filling in the forms you should be careful and not allow yourself to be rushed, as it is a legal document . Write clearly and make sure that all spellings are correct.

You will need two copies, one for you and one for the tenant or lodger. If you are attaching anything (such as an inventory), make sure you have two copies of this also, one for each agreement.

When signing the agreements, they do not have to be witnessed (although it is always a good idea) unless you are using the AST and it is being signed up before the tenant moves in. A witness should be someone independent. For example you cannot witness the tenants signature yourself.

When the forms have been signed, you need to have one signed by the occupier and the occupier needs to have one signed by you. But there is no reason why you should not both sign both of them.

The License/Lodger form.

This is for when you let out a room in your own home.

Date: Date the agreement after it has been signed, ideally on the day the lodger moves in.

Property: This is the postal address.

Room: So far as the room is concerned, if you think you may want the lodger to move to another room some time, it is best to leave the wording as it is, so the agreement will still apply if the lodger changes rooms. However if you know that the lodger will only ever have one particular room, you can write this in here (e.g. back bedroom on the first floor).

Owner: This is you, the landlord. Put your full name (e.g. Mrs Angela Smith)

Lodger or licensee: Again put the whole name (e.g. Mr John Brown)

Period: Put the dates the lodger is to live in the property, and cross out as appropriate in the paragraph below. Note that the agreement provides for either party to end the agreement early on giving one months written notice, and to roll on after the end of the period, unless either of you give notice that you want it to end.

Services: Cross out the ones you are not going to apply. It is a good idea to provide at least one, for example clean sheets.

Payment: Complete this as appropriate. If payment is not going to be made by standing order, it is a good idea to keep a record of the agreed payment method. You can write this here if you wish.

Deposit: You do not have to take a deposit, but it is often a good idea. As this is not an AST, it does not have to be protected with a tenancy deposit scheme.

Inventory: If you decide to do an inventory, this should be signed by the lodger as agreed and then a copy

The Assured Shorthold tenancy agreement

Date: Date the agreement after it has been signed, ideally on the day the lodger moves in.

Property: This is the postal address of the property.

The Room: It is best to give the rooms numbers or names, otherwise say where the room is (e.g. front first floor bedroom)

Landlord: This is you. Put your full name (e.g. Mrs Angela Smith).

You also need to put your address here. Note that you need to give an address in England or Wales, so if you are based in Scotland or overseas, you will need to put a contact address here as well as your own. If a contact address in England and Wales is not provided, technically rent is not payable by the tenant until one is given (this is under section 48 of the Landlord and Tenant Act 1987).

Tenant: Again put the whole name (e.g. Mr John Brown)

The terms: Be careful about giving a long term to a new tenant, as you will find it difficult to evict unsatisfactory tenants during the fixed term. It is best not to make it longer than six months unless it is someone you know really well and trust.

The rent: Note that if the monthly rent is more than £2,083.33 (unlikely for the rent of a room!) you will not be able to use this form of agreement as the tenancy will not be an AST. It you agree with the tenant some payment method other than standing order, make sure you keep a record of this. Note that if the tenant pays rent weekly, you will need to give them a rent book.

The Deposit: This is normally equivalent to one months rent. It must not be more than two months rent. You must protect the deposit with one of the government approved tenancy deposit protection schemes.

The Inventory: This is a good idea. Make sure you check it over with the tenant and that it is signed by both of you as agreed. A copy should be attached to both copies of the tenancy agreement. Note that if you do not have a proper inventory you will find it very difficult to claim any money from the deposit, if your deductions are challenged by the tenant and go to arbitration.

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That’s it! However it is recommended that you do some reading about your responsibilities as landlord. You will find some preliminary guidance here: Landlord Responsibilities – www.landlordlaw.co.uk