That spare room could be working for you and for Oxfam. Local regulations do not apply on this scale. Guests appear about 6pm, go out to eat and are gone by 9am. So far no one has bounced cheques or asked to sit downstairs or to watch TV. A married woman earns over L2,800 before tax is due. The notional costs of guests, with a proportion of your house overheads and rates, will make tax unlikely. When a third of the proceeds is going to Oxfam, tax is all the more unlikely. If guests look uncongenial at the door, keep them talking, then remember that last night's guests had asked to return. A couple for one night in summer could bring in L28, less a third to Oxfam, leaves L18-70, less L2-50 summer costs, means L16-20 clear profit to you. And Oxfam has cleared L50,000 so far.
Rosemary Schlee, Deben Lodge, Melton Road, Woodbridge, Suffolk IP12 1NH (tel 0394 382740).