Number Of Lodgers Triples To Almost One Million In The Past 12 Months

    NARBOROUGH, ENGLAND, September 18, 2009 /24-7PressRelease/ --

• In July 2008 there were 388,000 lodgers
• UK sitting on GBP6.29 billion potential lodger income and 16 million empty bedrooms
• Best buy tracker at 2.95 per cent still available from A&L

The number of homeowners renting out a spare room has tripled over the past twelve months according to Abbey Mortgages - over 981,000 people in total and up by 152 per cent from 388,000 in July last year.

Today, three per cent (981,000) of homeowners are boosting their income by renting out spare rooms and a further three per cent have said that they are currently considering taking in a lodger.

Those people who have taken in a lodger are now earning an average of GBP393 a month or GBP4,716 a year in rental income - just over the Government's Rent a Room scheme's tax free threshold of GBP4,250. Abbey offer High Interest Accounts, so you can save for that special occasion.

Abbey Mortgages found that 16 million UK homeowners have at least one spare room and if all of these rooms were to be let, homeowners would collectively reap as much as GBP6.29 billion in lodger loot.

Homeowners in London were the most likely to take in a lodger (6 per cent) compared to just 1 per cent in Scotland and Northern Ireland.

Nici Audhlam-Gardiner, Director of Alliance & Leicester Mortgages, commented: "If you have a spare room that's gathering dust, its worth considering a lodger and earning GBP4,716 a year. Not only will you have some extra money each month but most of it could be tax-free too. Those homeowners who still have spare rooms to rent are collectively missing out on over GBP6billion a year.

"For homeowners who are not so keen to take in a lodger, A&L offers some market leading rates including a best buy tracker at 2.95 per cent, to reduce the monthly mortgage bill."

For more information about Alliance & Leicester mortgages, customers can log onto www.alliance-leicester.co.uk, telephone 0800 056 3254 or visit their local branch.

Abbey also offer Bank Accounts, ISA Savings Accounts and Student Bank Accounts

Notes to Editors
1) Opinium research amongst 1600 homeowners, 6-7th July 2009
2) Average UK rent according to rentright.co.uk

About Us
Santander (SAN.MC, STD.N) is a retail and commercial bank, based in Spain, with operations in more than 40 countries. At the end of 2008, Santander was the largest bank in the euro zone by market capitalization and third in the world by profit. Founded in 1857, Santander had EUR 1,168 billion in managed funds at the end of 2008. Following the acquisition of Sovereign Bancorp of the U.S. in January 2009, Santander has 90 million customers, more than 14,000 branches - more than any other international bank - and over 180,000 employees. It is the largest financial group in Spain and Latin America, with leading positions in the United Kingdom and Portugal and a broad presence in Europe through its Santander Consumer Finance arm. In 2008, Santander registered EUR8,876 million in net attributable profit, an increase of 9% from the previous year excluding capital gains.

In the UK, Santander operates three retail businesses - Abbey, Alliance & Leicester and the savings business of Bradford & Bingley. Together they have over 1300 branches, around 4,500 cash machines and they provide a full range of retail and corporate banking services to 24 million customers.

Abbey, Alliance & Leicester and the savings business of Bradford & Bingley will all become known as Santander by the end of 2010. Abbey and the savings business of Bradford & Bingley will be rebranded from the first quarter of 2010 and Alliance & Leicester will follow later in the year. The move will deliver a significant advantage for customers as they will be able to use any of 1,000 Santander branches from early 2010, rising to over 1,300 by the end of 2010.

The Bradford & Bingley logo is a trade mark of Bradford & Bingley plc and is used under licence.

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