What sort of rent do people charge 18-25 year old children

Debbie1980

When I started working (about 8 years ago), my parents charged me £20 per week and I did not pay anything else towards food or bills. My mum (doesn't work) also did all my washing and ironing for me. She would not take more mony than that.

The mortgage was paid off already.

My mum is very much of the belief that when my parents die, everything will be split between me and my sister, she would rahter do what she can to help us out now when we are starting out in the world of work/housebuying/starting families than in what will hopefully be a lot of years time we will receive inheritance.

I do have to add though that I am very responsible with money - i was early 20s at that time and would put of my wage a lot in my ISA. It served me well as now that we are in the process of buying a house, we have found ourselves in the fortunate position of having a large deposit.

I think that when we are in the position of charging rent to children, we will take a reasonable amount but will definitely look to put in in a savings account and then when they are looking to purchase their own property, or do something that requires dipping into savings, they will get a nice bonus from the secret stash we will have been hoarding for them.

bmunky7

OP: At £250 a month fancy giving your son the boot and taking me in!?!? I'll pay that and do some chores!

edgex

Jowo wrote: »

But its more the case that the majority prefer to flee the nest of their own volition or make plans for future independence in conjunction with the support of parents rather than an arbitrary turfing out of teenagers.

When I thought back to where I was at the age of the OPs son, I remembered that I was serving in the regular armed forces during the gulf conflict, much of which was spent sharing my room with between 4 and 15 others.

So its all very heartening to hear of the support given to ease adolescents into adulthood and out of the nest, taking into account the economic circumstances of parent and child, but this could account for my bafflement on why this level of indulgence is expected.

its not indulgence though


if a child has gone to university within the past 10 years, even more so since 2006, they will have debt
the only way they wont is if the parents have fully funded all the living & tuition costs

graduating from uni now is nothing like it was 20+ years ago
graduate employment is down, wages are lower, jobs are not as secure


so youve got someone with an income that has to be considered to be 'uncertain'
then add in the payments they are making on the debt they have, tuition fee loan & student loan

having the child back home, to give them some time to start paying off debt, get settled into work etc is not indulging them
its being realistic


then theres people that are still having to study, even after graduating.
people who are doing professional qualifications, more & more employers are reducing the support available, especially for those just starting out, or those looking to actually move up from lower positions.
those courses have to be paid for.



the world of today, & tomorrow, is radically different to how it was 20+ years ago

look at the continent, they dont start leaving home at 18, lots of places people will be at home until the mid 20's or later.

KrazyKel

Im 23 and i still live at home, while i was at Uni (Stayed at home while went to uni) I was working part time around 16 hrs a week and paid about £100 a month ish

I Pay for my own internet and buy some food for the house too

I graduated a year ago - still only working 15ish hours a week but paying £300 a month now, but i get disability benefits/tax credits as its too painful to work more hours than im doing now

My mum increased the rent as i was bringing in more and im happy to do that, her rent is quite cheap (£76 p/w) and she gets 25% off the council tax (2nd adult rebate - due to my income) but still has all bills etc to pay, I think her outgoings are around £650, so pay just under half the outgoings

I would love to be able to move out soon and get my own place, but have a lot to save up before i can think about it

lellow_lorry

I used to pay my parents £20 a week from a take home of £55 (1988 and 18 years old), this was to help towards costs of food bills etc, and was also based on what they thought was fair at the time. it taught me a lot on budgeting and value. However my youngest sister who is still at home(works) pays nothing. This is because they can afford to. previously money was tight. I guess it all comes down to each and everyones circumstances, but I thinking making a profit is a bit much.
If you don't need the extra £50. Why not put it away for him. Probably be the only thing he saves!

Jowo_2

edgex wrote: »

its not indulgence though

if a child has gone to university within the past 10 years, even more so since 2006, they will have debt
the only way they wont is if the parents have fully funded all the living & tuition costs

graduating from uni now is nothing like it was 20+ years ago
graduate employment is down, wages are lower, jobs are not as secure.

It would be interesting to know if the 21 year old being discussed in this thread who refuses to pay an extra a tenner a week from their £220 weekly earnings does have any university debts, is saving up towards a deposit on a private rental or is simply squandering their money because of the 'Bank of Mum & Dad'.

Hopefully the OP will give us an update on why their son cannot contribute more than 20% of their income to the household expenses and when their son has indicated he intends to leave home.

ILW

May have been said previously, but referring to 18-20 year old children sounds a bit strange to me.

zoomy

My parents felt I should be paying something partly to get me into the habit of doing so but they understood that with University debts etc. it was hard. In the end I paid them a "rent" which they then have kindly given me back to pay lump sums off my student debts, buy a car and to help with the purchase of my first house.

If you can afford this then it really is a great way to help your kids out whilst still teaching them the value of money and cost of having a roof over their head.

cuthbert_the_octopus

My little brother (aged 29!) still lives at home with my parents.

He pays £400 per month.

This is a third of what it costs to run the house for a month.
He also pays for his sky HD service.

This amount has increased as he has got older and earns more.

dizzie

I don't think that there is any right answer. It depends on lots of things; how dependant parents are on the money AND the attitude of the child, for a start. I once worked with a girl whose parents had never let her want for anything. But unfortunately when she married, she found she couldn't manage her money (due to unrealistic living expectations e.g. house completely furnished with brand new things from Laura Ashley hammered their credit cards and she and hubbie's mobile phone bill was at least £100 a month from talking to each other at lunchtime!) If adult children only pay a nominal amount of their wages and become used to spending lots of spare cash on non-essentials, how easy will they find it to cope if and when they move out?

On balance, I think it would perhaps be fair to tot up what it costs you to keep them (food/ bills) (sum 1) and look at what it would cost for them to move out elsewhere (which clearly would involve an amount for the accomodation itself) (sum 2). Look at what their actual earnings are and pitch the figure somewhere between these two sums (probably nearer to sum 1 if they aren't earning much and the parents financial circumstances mean that they don't need more). I think it is important though for parents to charge something even if they don't actually need the money. In this case, perhaps the parents could save some of this "board and lodgings" up and give it back to the child at a time when they might need it (e.g. deposit for a house).

For those working adult kids who still don't think that is fair, let me ask you this. What would you think if your working parents moved back in with your retired grandparents and expected your grandparents to subsidise their keep? Most people are poorer in retirement, and will be poorer still if they can't save anything much for their later years due to paying the way for adult children! So think carefully before you grumble... unless you want your parents asking you to "keep them" in their old age that is!