Ive got a friends who owns a Flat in a House Conversation - does 3 hours tutoring every evening and prob 4/5 hours on sat and sun!
Doesnt have a good relationship with the flat owners above but is worried to address any problems with them incase they complain about her doing tutoring - does that amount of tutoring mean the flat is being used more than residential use ?
Thanks for any thoughts
Bru

I assume your "friend" has massive knockers?

I think that the issue only really matters if there are any rooms that are solely used for business purposes. I'm assuming that if it's a flat then they are probably using a room that they use for living in at other times? As long as they declare their income to the taxman and don't try to claim excessive amounts towards accomodation then I don't think there would be a problem. I have a friendly accountant who suggested that claiming a nominal amount towards electric would be fine. My desk is in a living room so there is no clearly defined business area. Hope that helps.

yeah as Bram says really. i've had a couple of customers do this type of thing in the past and I can't recall them bringing up problems as such, but they did claim some £ back in their accounts, altho no details on exactly what they claimed are known to me

one thing of note - pretty likely the insurance on the house won't cover any accidents for the customers, so getting liability insurance is pretty key as you just never know

also, if he's not getting on with the people as you mention they may spot an opportunity.....

Shouldn't be an issue really.
It is not totally business use and she can offset some home costs as business costs. When I did a similar thing I offset 10% of my residential costs as business costs.

But what exactly is a House Conversation?

You don't seem to have defined the problem. Some posters appear to assume that its a tax related issue. But there are several other possibilities. Given that you have brought the owners into the equation it seems more likely to me that it could be related to a clause in the lease that the premises must only be used for residential purposes. In which case there might be a problem, but that's only a guess and better informed advice than mine is then required. Thats after you've actually defined the problem properly.

i dunno, i think the gist is pretty clear

1) his question is are the amount of hours she's doing now making her home "business premises"

2) she can't ask the owners because she doesn't get on with them and doesn't want any repercussions. good point about violating rental terms tho - that's not been touched on yet, she may not be allowed to use the flat for business regardless of point 1

3) general replies have tried to answer point 1, whilst also mentioning as an aside about the tax. no confusion there, just extra points being made for what it's worth

that's the way i had it anyway. could be horribly wrong tho

Sorry let me clarify - its a house which has been coverted into 3 flats .
What im asking is if you tutor for say 30hours aweeks is that a problem generally on the lease ?(they own their flat)

Your friend must have received a copy of the lease,so can check exactly what the conditions are.
However the lease will almost certainly stipulate that the property is to be used for residential purposes only.
If she was running an internet business from her flat,chances are that no-one would be any the wiser,unless she tells them.
What such leases (I'm not a lawyer,btw) usually seek to prevent is a lot of people coming and going to the flat in the course of her running her business e.g if she was a dentist (or on the game - in fact if relationships with her neighbours are hostile,they might speculate that's why she has so many visitors all the time,assuming your friend is female)

What I think you're probably seeking to establish is whether her neighbours could prevent her from tutoring if they fell out with her.
The answer will be found in the terms of the lease and will probably be affirmative,in which case if she wants to continue what she's doing at present,it would be wise for her to try to maintain cordial relationships with her neighbours,who may be unaware of any existing lease restrictions at present,but could go investigating them if relationships sour.