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

xxSaffronxx

I have just registered so I can respond to this thread as I think it’s a very important question.

Before I can reply properly I need to tell you my background so that you know I have a little experience…………………..
My long-term partner passed away recently and we had a joint property which we both paid for equally so it now becomes mine.
Anyway my point is that if I meet someone in the future I too will be worried about what to do – even if the house isn’t paid off, there is still equity there.

You have had a lot of attacks on the forum and I think that people have been very harsh. I completely understand why you are considering what you are doing, although perhaps charging her rent is not the right way.

Please remember that if you have been living together for 2 years or more, then the law might say you were “Common Law” (living as man and wife) and therefore she is entitled to half the property. Even if she has or hasn’t paid rent. Although more likely if she has paid rent. (trust me I know all about this after what I have been through recently!)
I agree you should be careful as you have paid a lot of money into the house.
I urge you to speak to a solicitor about it and get some legal advice.
I don’t doubt for a second that you don’t love your girlfriend and I think you are very wise to consider your options legally, but please tread carefully. You don’t want this to ruin your relationship.

tabskitten

bulletproof_1979 wrote: »

To be honest I don't think you're in a real relationship until you stop seeing "my money" and "her money" - and start seeing "our money". I'm not sure that the OP is ever going to reach this point.

Very much agree, this question would not even occour to my OH or I. The fact the OP is even asking proves that he doesn't trust that he and his partner are in for the long haul.

peterH1967

Dude...why should she be able to live RENT FREE...just because you have paid YOUR mortgage...for a start that is your private businness.

Me and my wife together have a reasonable income, we also have a mortgage of less than £190 per month which we are trying to pay off asap, obviously all the bills on top.

Now our eldest daughter split up from her boyfriend and came home. Regardless of MY mortgage debt or possibly paid off soon....she is paying me a RENT to live in my house of £150 per month all in... my dilemma was similar..it was HOW MUCH..cos' she was certainly gonna pay something. Am I profitting? probably..I could afford to allow her to live for free in my house, but why should I? She is a working adult, pays tax and NI, pays her student loan, has to pay to travel on the bus etc etc...How any adult can expect to live in a comfortable home and not pay is beyond me...it doesn't matter a jot that YOU have paid off YOUR mortgage.

Check this scenario...
Private ad: housemate required to live in big comfortable house, own room and full use of house etc etc. Must pay half of all bills etc. Rent per month NIL cos' the mortgage is paid.
....aint noone ever gonna find that advert in the accommodation section of any local rag !!


Your girlfriend should pay her way.

crazy_horse_uk

The fact that you are even thinking about this says far more about your relationship than all your protestations of love. Your Mum charged you rent to teach you a lesson about financial responsibility, which you obviously learnt. Sounds to me like you want to teach your other half a lesson, too, perhaps because she is resourceful enough to earn twice as much as you and have you tied around her little finger because she prioritises her cats over you.

chuk

flossfour

Just joined purely to respond to this. Read all posts - initial reaction was to his girlfriend - dump him quickly!! However, must say have changed my mind. At least this man had it in him to discuss the situation with gf before moving in and showed that he was capable of a reasonable discussion rather than just making his demands and that's got to be a good thing.

Thought his last post showed that they have worked this out to both their satisfaction and wish them both best of luck. Think they may have better chance of staying together than most people.

Would like to personally thank him for his original post though - some responses have had me laughing all morning!

justwondering25

Hi , I'm the original poster , just to make clear a few things for those that have not yet read the whole post.

I live in leeds , i'm self sufficiant , i have ./ soon to of had my own business for 15 profitable years , basically going to adapt my business to be soley internet based , so i'm going to start up a new business and leave the old retail business with my current business partner , the business has no dedt.

I got a ten year mortgage in my early twentys and paid it all off v.quickly , my girlfriend whom i love dealry lives in the west midlands , she does not want to move to leeds (dont blame her lol) because she wants to be close to her family , i visit her every weekend , each way the trip is around 25.00 in diesel etc , no complaints , worth mentioning to show i'm not tight fisted , i owe nobody nothing , no loans , dedts of any kind and i have good savings , one of the many reason i visit her every weekend and not her to me , is that she has 2 lovely cats , that dont take too kindly to travelling 2 hours 15 mins each way , dont blame them.

My girlfriend is currently renting.

i posted this on page 9 of the thread

justwondering25 wrote: »

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

epm-84

LadyV1983 wrote: »

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.

She is gaining by not paying rent. She can't ask a landlord for free rent if she doesn't move in.

He may not gain £10,000 if they spilt. The value of the house could fall by £20,000 in the same time and she could then have a lot more than £40,000 in savings if she doesn't pay rent. The OP said he was asking for a contribution and not a commerical rate.

spangle.kitten

That reply was fantastic And you're right...if my partner asked me to live with him and pay rent my reaction would be "what?! You want me to pay for the privilige of living with you?!" I'd rather have my own space thank you.

steve9872

I've just come across this thread and the first thing that comes to mind is the date and time of the first post. There were a lot of replies in the appropriate time period and it strikes me as a long running AF joke that has taken on a life of its own.

epm-84

xxSaffronxx wrote: »

Please remember that if you have been living together for 2 years or more, then the law might say you were “Common Law” (living as man and wife) and therefore she is entitled to half the property. Even if she has or hasn’t paid rent.

Careful on that policy. A letter in a recent issue of Moneywise was from a woman with children who had given up her job to look after the children and was living in a house owned outright by her husband. They'd spilt up and her husband wanted her out. The legal expert repiled that as she hasn't paid anything towards the house and it isn't in her name then she can't claim a percentage of the house. However, she could claim sufficient costs for looking after the child.