Share property

If you have a spare room, you can take advantage of the Government's 'Rent a Room' scheme which lets you earn tax-free income up to a certain threshold from letting out furnished accommodation in your home. You can find out the threshold you can earn that will be tax-free on the Government's website. Taking on a lodger can prove a tax-efficient method of supplementing your income but it's important to get the details right. A written Lodger agreement (or Lodger agreement for Scotland) sets out matters such as rent, deposit and the rights and responsibilities of both lodger and landlord. It also enables you to ask your lodger to leave if you need to get your room back. For more information, read Taking in a lodger.

Ensuring that you set out all the house rules right at the start can prevent disagreements further down the line. A well worded House rules for lodgers document can deal with issues such as whether your lodger is allowed to bring pets to the property, if their partner or friends are allowed to stay over and, if so, how often. It can also tackle privacy matters such as areas of the house where you don't want your lodger to go and whether you're allowed to enter their room. Even things like bathrooms or cleaning rotas can be covered.

An Inventory is an effective way of recording and agreeing the condition of items in a rented property. It will provide useful evidence in the case of any disputes at the end of a tenancy but it's important to also include any particular obligations of both lodger and landlord in the Lodger agreement (or Lodger agreement for Scotland).

If you own a parking space or a garage that you don't use, you might choose to rent it out so that it provides you with some benefit. Although it may be quite easy to find someone who wishes to rent it, particularly in city-centre locations, it's a good idea to set out any agreements in writing at the beginning. In England and Wales, a Car parking licence or Garage licence will ensure that everyone is clear on where they stand and formalises the arrangement. It covers everything from the fee to responsibilities, indemnities and claims arising from the use of the space, and it enables you to get the parking space or garage back if you want.

If you have spare office space, a rising trend over recent years has been to share offices, thereby helping out with the cost of rent. It can also lead to benefits in terms of making new contacts. If you decide to rent out some of your additional office space to other small businesses or individual workers, you can use an Office sharing agreement to set out all the important details such as what is being rented out and the rental amount. It can also deal with a whole range of matters including electricity, heating, internet, phone lines and photocopying, making clear if these are covered by the primary rental or if additional payments are necessary. For more information, read Sharing space.

If you work from home and run a limited company, subject to HMRC requirements, it may be possible to formalise the arrangement by creating a home office space contract for yourself, so you can claim back the overheads in running the business for tax purposes. You can rent out a room in your own house to your business with a Home office rental agreement. If you are a tenant but would like to sublet space within your home, this may also sometimes be possible, but you will need to check your lease and ensure that you get consent from your landlord. For further information, read Sharing space.

This only applies in England and Wales. A Declaration of trust - beneficial interest is a legal document that declares the beneficial interests which non-legal owners may hold in a property. This is useful if another party (normally a parent) is contributing some capital for the purchase of a property. In this case, a declaration of trust will ensure that all the relevant formal details are in place. It is designed to protect the interests of the third party as an owner of the property. It should generally only be used where the agreement is straightforward and is limited to the contribution to the purchase price. For further information, read Declarations of trust and Co-ownership of property.

Read Co-ownership of property in Scotland for information on Scotland.

If you are considering a house extension or planning to do any building work on or close to the boundary of a neighbouring property, under the law you're obliged to give notice of the proposals to the owners of the adjoining property (as well as gaining any necessary planning permission and building regulation approval). A properly worded Party wall agreement provides a record of the particulars of what has been agreed and by whom in relation to building work. It can help to protect you from future disputes by making sure that everything is known and agreed to in advance. This agreement also applies to flats but, instead of being called 'party walls' the separation between flats on different levels of a building the floors are known as 'party structures'. For further information, read Party wall matters and Party wall matters in Scotland.

Couples who aren't married may consider living together under a cohabitation arrangement. However, couples who cohabit don't have the same legal rights as married couples who live together. Therefore it's important for couples who cohabit to formalise their arrangement in a Cohabitation agreement. This agreement will set out the financial arrangements between partners and help protect any assets between them. For more information, read Cohabitation.