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Hosting foreign students

Short-term lets can be a gentle way to start to earn money on your spare room...

Hosting foreign students is a great way to make extra money from your house. If you're not sure about having someone permanently renting a room in your home, renting it to foreign students or lecturers visiting a local university or college can provide a gentle introduction.

You can choose between hosting students learning English as a foreign language who are usually only here for about six weeks, or university students and lecturers who can be in the country for up to six months at a time. It is a great way to meet new people and experience different cultures.

What's involved

There are thousands of English language schools, social clubs, colleges and universities around the country with students looking for places to stay while they learn. Types of students range from institution to institution. Lots of language schools run summer programmes for teenage foreign students, however during term time they have all ages of students for varying periods of time. Universities often run exchange programmes and will need accommodation for students for a term or a semester.

There are two types of hosting. The first is the easiest - you are expected to provide house and board for a student who will then go to a language school or organised activities during the day. In the evenings and their free time they can come and go as they please. This is very flexible. Different schools will expect different types of board, from just bed and continental breakfast, to full board. You can choose whether to let the students cook, use your laundry facilities or the phone and internet.

The second option is providing accommodation and food and tuition for a certain proportion of the day. To do this you will be expected to have some sort of qualification in teaching English as a foreign language, preferably a TEFL.

How do you sign up?

If you want to start hosting students the first port of call is any local language schools. They will have an accommodation officer who will be in charge of a database of host families. To get on the database you will probably have to undergo a home inspection and be within a reasonable distance of the school.

Idiom.co.uk has a list of English Language schools in the UK as does the International Association of Language Centres and English UK. Find your nearest schools and give them a call.

If you are close to university, visit their website and try and find the accommodation office. If they don't have a section about hosting foreign students, give them a call and see if they do it and if so how you can get involved.

You can also look for adverts in your local paper and ask around. Even local football clubs do exchanges and need accommodation for foreign players.

We have a great post on our messageboards with lots of links to hosting organisations - take a look and respond with your experience of them here.

How much can you make?

What you can charge depends on where you live, what your home is like and what facilities you include as part of the rent. In London for bed and breakfast you can make around £100 a week, or about £150 with dinner. You can charge extra for use of the internet or to do laundry, if you are willing to. Alternatively, including this in the price is a goodwill gesture and will give you more favourable feedback, encouraging the organisation to use you again.

If you offer a posh house with a bathroom en suite you can charge more - around £200 a week. Often mature students will prefer a double bed and en suite, so if you can offer this, then you can make more.

Outside London, the going rate can vary from about £35 to £80 per week with central locations in bigger cities getting the top prices. The organisation you host for will probably give you an idea of acceptable prices. Charging too much will dissuade them from placing students with you, so be reasonable.

Because you have a tax-free allowance on revenue made from your home, your income from renting a room is likely to be completely tax-free. You can make up to £4,250 a year before you start paying tax.

How much will it cost?

The only expenses you will incur are the extra costs of food. A good way to approach breakfast is to just have a good selection of bread, cereals and juice for students to choose from in the morning. This way they can grab whatever they want and go. If you are providing dinner, you can minimise your costs by including the student in your family evening meal. Cooking a separate meal for them is neither cost, nor time effective. Be flexible - younger children may not want to eat certain things so it's always good to cook popular dishes that you know they will like.

Although having another person in the house may increase energy costs, if you already have a family it shouldn't be much more. Ones to watch are phone bills - the best way is to make sure students always use a phonecard with a freephone access number so you don't incur any costs.

You also need to make sure that your home contents insurance is up to date and notify your insurance company that you have paying guests.

Is it worth it?

We at Moneymagpie think that hosting a foreign student is a brilliant way to make money and meet new people. You get to learn about foreign cultures, forge new relationships and even visit students in their home countries in the future. If you don't get on with one student, they are only there for a limited period of time so you don't have to put up with them forever.

You can get culture clashes sometimes, but if you don't mind coming home to funny cooking smells in your kitchen and you are clear about the rules of your house, it should be fine. Although hosting foreign students is great for extra cash, it is not necessarily a steady income. If you are looking to do it as your main income it might not be the right way to go.