question:- I'm mortgage free. should my girlfriend pay me rent ?

kat74

To look at it from a slightly different angle, if the GF is currently paying rent on her own place, say £500 pcm, and moves in to the OP's house rent free, then she would be 'profiting' by £500 pcm. One could argue that why should she gain financially when he doesn't?
If she put the £500 (or whatever amount) into an account to pay for holidays, fun stuff, save for a deposit on a joint place etc, then they would both benefit equally from the overall savings that they are making as a couple under the new arrangement.

Britwife

I don't think she should be charged anything if she isn't living with you. However, if she is living with you then she should be paying her part and if her part is "rent", then that money could cover bills and council tax. Sorry, but if she has to pay rent where she lives now, why shouldn't she pay rent at her boyfriends house? He still has expenses to cover with an extra person living there and repairs. Just break down what the rent is for. I wouldn't expect to live free in my boyfriends house but I would in my husbands house. I'm sorry but things are different when you're married.

Some of the comments have been a bit harsh

woody01

So not only had this man had a free ride for all those years, he also got some of our inheritance, and he never put a penny in

And how much did YOU put in? Nothing i assume!
The fact is, this man and your mum lived together as man and wife (from what you say), for 10+years, so his claim, and you knew it, was probably MORE justified than yours.

I'm sorry but things are different when you're married.

What is life like in Dickensian England these days?
I have been with my lady now for 13 years and we are not married. Most people would've married and divorced in less time than that.
We are actually planning a wedding at the moment, but wanted to have our children and pay off our house first so we can then retire at 45 and enjoy life even more.

dannyjebb

after reading most of the posts on here it amazes me how many people live together and seem to have no trust in their relationship? Once you make the step of living together surely you think that you will be together forever....and the most obvious thing is to either work out your total monthly bills and split them in half (including mortgage, groceries,utilities) or an even better way split the total bills according to your take home pay...if you earn 60% of the total takehome pay you pay 60% of the bills and the other half pays 40%.

just my thoughts

boliston

dannyjebb wrote: »

....... or an even better way split the total bills according to your take home pay...if you earn 60% of the total takehome pay you pay 60% of the bills and the other half pays 40%.
just my thoughts

Someone could abuse this rule by saying that they earn less than they really do.

50/50 is so much simpler and doesn't involve prying into each other's financial affairs which are essentially a private matter for many people.

justwondering25

Sorry for not logging in for a while ,Ive read through all the comments , ideas and sugguestions and ive put thought into the ideas offered and picked out the best bits for the solution, thank you all , i'm glad to let you all know that me and my girlfriend have pretty much come to a happy and what appears to the two of us to be a amicable agreement in principle.

Basically :-

i would buy a cheaper investment property down in the west midlands (rent my place in leeds also), with a good sized deposit , she would not pay me rent , but based on the market value of the property to rent in its area for e.g 500 , she would put away in a joint account 250.00 each month , this would after say a 2-3 year period give us a deposit for another place , i would then rent out my investment property and we would use the rent/us fund deposit for a joint mortgage , if we did split in the period before we bought a place , then the money would be divided equally among us , which is kinda fair , my girlfriend would not leave with nothing and i would perhaps not feel aggrieved at how the not paying rent idea worked out.

Bills would be 50/50 and my girlfriend would (hope not if things went wrong) have a claim on my property etc. , which she clearly has stated to me she would not want to take anything of mine anyway.

The joint fund can also be used for emergency repairs etc , but with the investment property been mine , i would not expect any of are joint rent/saving funds to go into the doing up of the place.

if when we choose to buy are first joint property , the potential theoretical joint sum after 3 years would be a quiet healthy £9000 (plus interest) we could then if we choose to add equal extra amounts to the £9000 to up are deposit to suit are needs .

We feel this is win win situation for us both , my girlfriend is not stuck in a rent trap and i feel the money is going towards are future for the greater good of us.

I love my Girlfriend , But i feel it is best to sort out the business side of any relationship, business or private life , not thinking through and discussing the idea of paying some form of rent is perhaps to some a elephant in the room , i dont like the smell of elephant dung ! and i dont want it living with us , If any of you feel this is a perhaps a tad cold to have to broach such a subject then that is your choice. But We felt after talking the situation through for the 2nd time the idea will pay dividends and add strenght to are relationship in the long run and will add a firmer base for us.

In conclusion i cant help but feel ,Life is a buisness , Money is the building bricks , Love is the mortar. IMHO

pineapple

If I was that girlfriend I would be down the road faster than you could say 'rent book'. Paying a fair share of the bills is one thing. Charging rent is something else. Kinda puts her on the level of a lodger. Maybe she should set a counter charge for 'services rendered'. Life is a business after all....
PS Looking at the timing of the original post - was this an April Fools Joke eh?

Oneday77

I haven't read through all the comments but I think the question is valid but poorly put across. It was already agreed that bills would be fairly split so it is more about the assets of the property.
The OP put the work into get his property mortgage free and his OH hasn't. If they live together the OH at some stage due to common law living at some point will have a claim on his property. If the term rent is ditched and the OH pays half her previous rent\mortgage amount into savings + her half of the bills then it will eventually break even. The savings then become joint pleasures in life but don't belong to either, a bit like sharing the house. If they chose to split, not that anyone wishes it to happen then she takes the cash he keeps the house.
I have seen a very similar situation to this and if the money side isn't fairly agreed then it only causes trouble. Would she want it cast up in an argument he paid for this and she didn't. Or she can afford to do this but he doesn't have the spare cash to do it.

quickstepqueen

I would expect to pay 50/50 on bills, 50/50 chores knowing full well that the house was my BF's should we split. When I first read your post I did think what a meanie...to be honest that's still what I feel, sorry. If you're worried she might try and take half the house, should you split, I'd suggest seeing a soliticor and getting legal advice.

Lets say I bought a car outright, later got a BF, and then let him drive it. Yes I'd expect him to contribute towards the fuel (and insurance etc if used alot) but should I ask him to contribute towards the original cost of the car because I'd worked hard to pay for that????

You are asking your GF to share your life with you. You can't reasonably ask her to move in with you and then charge rent for the privilege. Welcome her into your home. Get her to pay towards all bills, house repairs etc... but pay rent, absolutely not. I'm sorry but on this occasion I can't agree.

merikiito

I am surpised you have a girlfriend in the first place. If it was my house I would not be charging rent, split the bills yes. Then whatever was left in the joint account would be used for us. If you have paid off the morgage is a good thing as it reduces a lot of pressure on couples. You should be gratefull she is willing to move in and worry more about keeping her than money. Love comes first then money. There will be a time when you need her money so I would be careful, trust me it will happen