Nearly twice as many homeowners have a lodger now compared to five years ago, a new study shows.
According to research from LV= Home Insurance the average age of lodgers has also risen to 31, and 20 per cent of lodgers are now aged between 36 and 50.
Demand for rooms is now so high that the average spare room is being let within just eight days of being advertised.
Although house prices are rising fastest in London, a study conducted among landlords suggests that rooms in the North East are easiest to fill.
Rooms there are being snapped up in just three days on average – followed by those in East Anglia and the South East.
Greater London’s landlords charge the most for rooms, at an average £345 per month.
The next most expensive regions are the South East (£278), South West (£270) and Yorkshire and Humberside (£266), compared to a national average of £250.
Although there are potentially high rewards for being a landlord, there are also risks. One in 12 landlords (8 per cent) are owed rent by their present lodger or a previous tenant, finding themselves £307 out of pocket on average.
Nearly a third (31 per cent) of those landlords say their lodger simply left without paying, while the same proportion say their current tenant never pays on time.
Less than half (44 per cent) of all landlords ask for a deposit, with the majority (79 per cent) of those who don’t ask for one, saying it is because their lodger is a friend or relation.
