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

Cleany

Bills - fine, but paying rent to your boy/girlfriend where he doesn't have to pay it? What?

Ha ha ha.

I wish I was a fly on the well somewhre in the world where it is actually happening that:

a: Someone actually charges their "boy/girlfriend" (or lodger as someone put it much better) rent, where they don't have to pay it themselves.

b: Some actually pays their "boy/girlfriend" (or landlord) rent, even though it costs nothing to them.

Oh please let this be happening somewhere.

The eyes are open but there's nothing going on inside is there.

Ha ha ha ha ha

Pee

Whilst you are unmarried I see no harm in you collecting this rent as it sounds like she can afford it and put it into an account that is earmarked if things work out well for repairs to the house, a wedding and a new kitchen.

Your concern for the future makes me think it is unlikely that you will marry her, you would want to think carefully before you did, as you would hand control to the courts over who the house then belonged to.

If we were living in my house, I'd expect my boyfriend to pay gas and electric bills and I would pay the small mortgage and split the water and council tax.

We live in a place he rents cheaply from a friend, so if he charged me half the market rent for the property, I'm afraid I would think his attitude to money was not compatable to mine and move out.

Perhaps the right thing for you to do is consider your relationship, is this really "the one" you want forever and do you foresee children down the line? If so, maybe a six months trial run in your house and then you buy somewhere together with an agreement protecting both of you and let your house out. (This could be done with putting a mortgage in place, even a private mortgage on your house.)

If you have children, one of you is probably going to suffer a considerable reduction in earnings to be able to care for that child and the other is effectively going to be supporting the family. Something you might want to consider and discuss now.

Cleany

Cleany wrote: »

Bills - fine, but paying rent to your boy/girlfriend where he doesn't have to pay it? What?

Ha ha ha.

I wish I was a fly on the well somewhre in the world where it is actually happening that:

a: Someone actually charges their "boy/girlfriend" (or lodger as someone put it much better) rent, where they don't have to pay it themselves.

b: Some actually pays their "boy/girlfriend" (or landlord) rent, even though it costs nothing to them.

Oh please let this be happening somewhere.

The eyes are open but there's nothing going on inside is there.

Ha ha ha ha ha

oh my god i just realised this isnt a hypothetical situation.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NNC0kIzM1Fo

katieso

I think if there was a mortgage amount to be paid then asking your GF for rent wouldn't be an issue - but there isn't so her view that you are profitting from her is sort of valid isn't it?

Personally, I don't even think that it is her getting a "free ride". If I owned a home outright and asked my OH to move in then there is no way I would charged him rent because I would definitely feel like I was making a profit out of him. However, if the mortgage wasn't paid off I would set up a rental agreement that would protect me until maybe we were in a position to have both our names on the mortgage.

I think that as long as she's paying half of all the bills (and any other household expenses that may occur) that would (and should) be enough. The fact that she's willing to pay these living expenses that exist prove that she isn't just with you for free accomodation.

If you want to share a life together then share the things that are there - as soon as you start taking money from a loved one when its not for any necessary monetary agreement it will get complicated and I'm sure resentment will build up.

So how about 1. she pays her half of the bills and 2. i actually think that rather than paying you rent you should both pay money into a joint savings account, which would mean you could save up for couply things.

*Jellie*

I think the decisions you discussed in your last post seem like a sensible solution.
Myself and my OH both had our own houses but the amount of equity was quite different. We initially moved into a rental and are now buying a house together so that we are starting afresh together. We have an agreement in place regarding the amount of equity we have brought into the property and from now on everything is 50/50. If we did split we will each take out the amount of equity we took in and would split 50/50 the rest.
As you have said keeping your place and renting it out and then having more equal living arrangements together seems like a sensible plan.
It is vital that these things are discussed- if you don't then resentments over financial issues can easily build up in your relationship.
I really think you need to find somewhere new to buy/rent together.

epm-84

Everyone's saying it's unfair on the lady, but what if she has £30,000 in savings while the man has no savings after spending all his money on the house.

LadyV1983

SofaChi wrote: »

If i were you, i would agree to go halves on the bills and food and maintenance of the house etc from now on but i don't think it's reasonable to ask her to pay rent.

If you get married then you can draw up a pre-nup to stop her from getting the house should you get divorced and if you died you could leave the house to her in your will if you wanted to.

But i have to say that i agree with one of the other posters on here, is this love?!

I think this is probably the post I agree with most.

I agree that she should definately pay towards all bills, split equally, and perhaps suggest she pays for all the grocery shopping or something, BUT WHY ask her to pay rent you no longer have a morgage to pay, you should be happy that you can share a debt free life with your girlfriend rather than profitting from her!!!

If it really is all about savings I would suggest you set up a shared savings account that YOU BOTH pay into each month since it sounds like you will both have a bit of spare cash.

Sorry but I agree that this doesn't sound like love to me. If I had a fully paid for house I would be proud and excited to share it with my partner.

LadyV1983

epm-84 wrote: »

Everyone's saying it's unfair on the lady, but what if she has £30,000 in savings while the man has no savings after spending all his money on the house.

She could well have £30,000 in savings but that is hers just as the house is his. If they were to split-up she might only have £20,000 in savings left after paying him rent, whereas he would be £10,000 in profit!

I think if she doesn't pay rent, neither party is gaining or losing anything and that's how a relationship should be IMO.

LittleMissAspie

I can't believe this thread is still going, and nobody seems to have noticed that some pages back the OP said
HIS GIRLFRIEND DOES NOT LIVE WITH HIM AND SHE HARDLY EVER VISITS HIS HOUSE
So the whole idea of rent is preposterous and I think it's a troll.

sophiesofa

I'm quite sueprised by the reactions on here. If I were your girlfriend I would insist on paying half the bills and also contributing to the maintenenace of the house - say £150 a month depending on the state of the building etc. and I wouldn't mind paying extra because you've worked hard to pay off the mortgage! Landlords rent pays for mending things and general upkeep of the building too. She'll be saving so much money every month at half rent compared to what she's presumably spending now that she'll be able to save up a lump some for when/if you buy a family home together even if she is paying half rent. I don't think charging full market value is fair - it shouldn't be about profit it should just be fair.