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

wellowsetters

If they do charge their son then he will always feel cheated by them for being treated differently to the other two children. He will become stonger for it and will probably grow up quicker seeing the harsher realities of the world. So the long and short of it is this. He will benefit albeit you have to be cruel to be kind, and the others having everything on a plate will struggle when mummy and daddy aren't there to bail them out!:rolleyes:

FelixK

The parents evidently could afford for their other two children to stay there for free, they should be able to do it again. Assuming the other children didn't have to get a student loan (probably couldn't get too much anyway as mummy and daddy seem to be fairly well off), then the parents were essentially gifting them money, so they should gift the third child the same amount as well. Let him know that he can only stay there free as long as the other two did.

freddy27

Of course you charge him/her rent. If he/she is earning a salary, it is necessary that they learn exactly what the outgoings are once they live their own lives. I learnt this very early in my life, and was quite upset that my parents did charge rent once I was earning. But Boy Oh! Boy was I happy later when they presented me with a Bank account with several thousand pounds towards my own first home.

dave2

That's actually quite a tough one.

On the one hand I would normally say as he is working he should pay a rent. It is NOT profiting from him, they are losing rental income by having him in the flat.

There is a difference between being a student and being an earner. A student is still a "dependent" (this is often recognised even in insurance premiums, the family home contents cover often extends to student digs).

However he hasn't been a student so I can see the argument that his siblings have "been given something" that he hasn't.

I think it depends somewhat on the nature of his job. If he as something akin to an apprenticeship then I think it's reasonable to subsidise that and charge him only a break-even rent. He would have to accept that he is effectively living under his parent's roof and that they control the flat.

If he's straight into a wage then he should be charged a rent, if discounted for a set period while he gets onto his own feet.

tallgirld

Nahhh it wouldn't be fair to charge him rent. They didn't charge rent to the others. If they were my parents I wouldn't give them a penny.

I would say "Mum. Dad. You're taking the mick"!!

hayleythedaisy

If he's under 18 there wouldn't be any council tax to pay anyway, and for one person on his own the utilities shouldnt be much so the parents should keep it fair! Lots of youngest children get put out because they didn't get the same as their siblings, and this could cause resentment to all of the family.

However, it is just a fictional question so I'm not going to loose sleep over it ;-)

morticia_addams

They should ask him to cook them a nice dinner once every month or so - that way they get to see him and how well he's looking after the flat!

M

Ebenezer_Screwj

If Terry and June are well off enough to own a property in London which is not their main residence, they should charge a nominal rent for the youngest son, who will presumably be earning a London salary.

citori

We are breeding a nation of whining wimps who expect hand outs from their parents to bale them out every 5 minutes. Of course he should pay rent. The other solution is they rent the flat to another paying tenant and let him sort himself out like most other peoples kids whose parents don't have flats.

Beacon_Bright

Of course he should pay, albeit a reduced amount.

Why teach him its OK to sponge off someone else.

You're not doing him any favours letting him get used to having an unrealistic large portion of his salary available to spend freely. Wisely managing money is one of the most useful lessons of adulthood in this day and age.

By all means save the profit portion for him for a later date - Mum & Dad will undoubtedly have to help out financially at some time or other in any case.

So what that his siblings used to stay rent-free; no doubt he did as well. Paying rent means the flat is his - siblings can now only stay at his invitation