MONEY MORAL DILEMMA. Should Terry and June charge their son rent?

jacqhale

No, you must treat your children equally. His brothers would have had to pay rent to live elsewhere when they were students if the parents had not let them live in the flat. Therefore it is only fair that Preston gets the same benefit. As the brothers were students there would presumably have been no council tax payable so of course Preston should cover this and any bills such as utilities.
Unless they have fallen on hard times and are in a significantly different position (which I assume they are not as it is not mentioned) then all children must be treated equally.

keepyadosh

I think that having made the poor son go through school being called preston was a cruel thing to do so they should just give him the flat and be happy that he even still speaks to them !!! i thank you

Primrose

Yes, the circumstances are different and he should at least cover the running costs of the flat. He is working & earning; his brothers were not.
He cannot go for ever adopting the mindset of a child and expecting a free ride. Time to grow up now and accept the responsibilities of being an adult.

Brit_In_America

After University, both my brother and myself moved home. My brother was unemployed for a year and lived at home rent free. When I moved home, I had a job but was allowed to live at home rent free for a year. I didn't last 1 year, but the point was my mum treated us as equals. There cannot be one rule for one, and another rule for another.

Whilst I think Preston should pay rent (and agree with everyone about learning the value of money etc.), his parents should have thought about that when they let his brothers live there rent free. As a student I had to pay rent - I had to work whilst at university to pay my rent. That's when I learned the value of money, and my mum cut me a break when I graduated so I could create some savings.

If his parents wanted him to pay rent then they should have made his brothers pay rent when they were students. Did Preston go to University? Did he pay rent whilst there?
They clearly don't need the rent as extra income that badly, if they could afford for both his brothers to live there rent free.

Maybe give Preston a year rent-free, on the condition that the money he saves goes into a savings account. Preston should most definitely have to pay the bills though.

bluep

Hmmm, it actually depends on whether they own the flat outright or have a mortgage.

If they charge him rent above interest costs on a mortgage, they will have to pay the tax man a nice chunk of it and hence lose 20-40% of Preston's cash! Same applies if they take the money, stick it in a savings account without him knowing even if they plan to give it back to him at a later stage -its rental income in their name no matter what their "intention" in the future.

HMRC are currently doing an countrywide investigations project into landlords receiving rent who haven't declared the income and have opened up enquiries on a lot of taxpayers in similar situations to this (i.e. middle class owners of 2 properties) by searching land registry/DSS records etc...

Why not agree that Preston covers any actual costs of the flat - bills, mortgage interest etc... and any excess up to a level equivilent to "commercial rent but a good deal" goes into an account legally in his name to only be touched for a deposit on a property in the future. That way the parents haven't made any income on the property but Preston still learns his life lesson and gets a good deal in the future when he has a lump sum for a deposit.

If he thinks it unfair, then he can go and find a flat himself, the parents can rent theirs out to someone else.

jamespir

i think that he should pay but his parents should be seeking some financial rebate from both of his brothers as this would be unfair

Dark_Designer

I recently finished being a student and struck out on my own when I went into the world of work.

So this may be a biased view due to the fact that my parents could not afford to help me during my course...

I do not think it's fair for the son to expect to live there rent free just because his brothers did. To be honest, I don't think his brothers should have lived there rent free in the first place. Any other housing would have charged them as students, so their parents should be no different. They are already living cushty enough with their student loans, they need a sense of how much everything costs (I remember what a shock it was when we got our first utility bill through when I lived in a house with four other students).

I agree that if the parents can afford to keep the money aside in order to help him out later, that's probably a good idea. But if they are in the same position as my parents, I would not have even considered asking to live there rent free. Isn't it good enough to live under your parents roof, who would be more forgiving for a late rent payment?

It was such a culture shock going into the world of work having left my parents house, and I got that while studying as I had to take on a part-time job to cover what my student loan didn't - and I'm talking necessities. I went out two or three times a month, if that, and I know even that was lucky. I'm so glad it happened that way too, as it would have been far worse to go from being able to buy everything I want and not budget, to suddenly being restricted to supermarket own brand noodles for 8p every meal.

To sum up: Stop whining you little sod and sign up to Martin's Money already!

jamichi1

ses6jwg wrote: »

IMO he should have to pay to cover the utility bills, council tax etc.

I think charging your own son rent to turn a profit is bordering on the obscene.

At last someone who has some sense.
Tell him to pay the bills is fine, but asking him to pay a rent, is far too much. What's next? Charge him in arrears for bringing him up or looking after him when he was ill?

starbump

No! Of course he should not be charged to live "at home" any more than his siblings should have been charged.

As no one else will be living there, he will have to be responsible for groceries or if he runs up massive phone bills, etc. But it is clearly wrong to bill your kids or earn money from them. If he chooses to give his parents some money each month, then that is different - it is a voluntary gift out of love and affection.

howstrix

My parents charged my brother in a similar situation (I was at uni while he was working.)
However when he finally moved out to set up his own flat, they presented him with a cheque for all the rent he'd paid, to help him start on his own.
It was a very good experience for him. Mind, my folks didn't actually need his money.