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

JimmyTheWig

It depends on what basis you are moving in together.
When my (now) wife moved in with me we pooled all our money. The mortgage came out of that pooled money. If there was no mortgage to be paid then we still would have pooled all our money and had more left over to spend together.
As it happens, she left her job to be able to move in with me and so 100% of the pooled money came from my salary. But I don't see that as making any difference.

If people are living together as long-term partners (whether married or not) I don't see why they would do anything different.
But if you are living together more as flat mates then yes, she should pay rent. Shouldn't be more than it would cost to rent a room in a shared house locally. Maybe half that cost, as presumably you are sharing a room rather than her getting her own room?

justwondering25

shellsuit wrote: »

If she doesn't live with you, why on earth should she pay you rent?

If you are talking about her moving in with you, then what about if she asked you for rent when you stayed at hers for all those weekends?

Can't believe you even mention that you have not asked her for fuel costs for going to see her! It's your choice to go, so you pay and if you love her, then why would you even think about this?!

Come off it, you're just a tight arrss git aren't you haha!

Hey ! let's be right about this , if we took it in turns to visit , then it's not worth mentioning , but fuel ain't cheap I'd say it costs me around 160 in fuel a month plus wear and tear on my car , that ain't tight , my costs out weigh any rent costs for the weekend , her rent is all Inc at 500 a month.

debtdesperado

Get a co-habitation agreement or tenancy agreement in place ASAP would be my advice.... regardless of whether you charge her a commercial rent or what is known as a peppercorn rent (literally, a peppercorn!).

At the moment, if she just lives there, if you split up - and this obviously depends on the specific circumstances; I am only going on the info in your original post - she could either argue she was entitled to share of the house as an owner or that she is a tenant.

Evidence for her being an owner could be she's lived there years and years or she does or assists with DIY renovations as if she was an owner, or if she pays all the bills (with the implicit assumption that you pay the mortgage, even if there isn't one)... along those sort of lines.

Even if she didn't argue she was due a share of the property, she can argue that she is a tenant, and therefore claim all the rights due to tenants. If she pays no rent then the rent of that tenancy is zero.

The effect of this is that say she does something terrible and you decide that she has to go immediately - her stuff is in black bin bags on the drive and you change the locks. She could theoretically go to court, if the court finds there is a tenancy then you could either be obliged to let her back in, or more likely, have to pay her some financial compensation instead of giving her the proper notice period to leave...

So I would say that the rent question is almost immaterial, you need to get something in writing about the basis upon which you are allowing her to live in your house!

Another question I would consider with the rent point is whether you intend to stay together forever/marry? If she's the one then maybe the way to discuss it is to call it a "housing comfort fund" rather than rent (which does make it all sound a bit cold and clinical and temporary)... work out the ongoing costs (bills, maintenance plus add a bit for a slush fund) and view it as both of your money... perhaps the suggestion that once things are a bit more settled you can buy a new sofa or bed etc with it...that way, instead of her thinking, he's making money out of me, or if you don't charge her rent you are thinking she's getting a free ride off me, you can both benefit (and if she leaves, as you will have a written agreement that she has no claims on the house, you will still have a beautful home). If she's moving in, it's about you being a TEAM from now on in a way that will benefit you both - not house-sharing as if you were students!

Sorry for long post - hope this is useful!

jamespir

theres some right scrooges on here you cant charge your girlfreind rent

you supposed to share the bills as couples do

JimmyTheWig

justwondering25 wrote: »

I take on board the point about a claim on the house, but legally it sounds so unfair , if you can't make a claim against a landlord when they sell any property you have lived in, then the law of the land is unfair .

but legally accept the point as unfair as it is.

But this is the whole point. You are not going to be her landlord. You are going to be her partner.
Why shouldn't she be entitled to a share of the home that she has contributed to (whether in monetary terms or maintenance around the house, etc)?

tabskitten

I just think its so sad.

my partner and I share everything- whats mine is his and vice versa.
He loves me and I love him and I would never try and ''diddle'' someone I love. Whatever happened to good old fashioned trust.
Personally I do nt think that you should be living with someone that you do not trust and love- but then I am very old fashioned!

mrstinchcombe

I've changed my mind, I think you should definately charge her rent. Then when you have kids she can charge you an hourly rate to be a Mother 24 hours a day, 7 days a week looking after your kids. At the commercial rate of course.

She will work very hard as a mother, so why should you benefit?

shellsuit

justwondering25 wrote: »

Hey ! let's be right about this , if we took it in turns to visit , then it's not worth mentioning , but fuel ain't cheap I'd say it costs me around 160 in fuel a month plus wear and tear on my car , that ain't tight , my costs out weigh any rent costs for the weekend , her rent is all Inc at 500 a month.

And?

Who cares how much it costs you to go and see her! That's your choice to go see her, because she is your GF and you (or should!) love her.

If you love her, this won't matter one little bit, but it does for you, so you obviously care more about money than you do about your GF.

Have you both been talking about her moving in with you and that's why you have asked the question here? If so, I think she knows you are a scrooge and can't believe you would want rent off her, and really can't believe if you were married with kids you would still want rent off her.

Would you charge the kids rent from their child benefit? Serious question by the way!

jamespir

look if you want somone you can boss around and own get a dog

zzzLazyDaisy

OP

The landlord/tenant situation is not a fair comparison. She doesn't have exclusive use of the property and she doesn't have the security and legal rights of an AST.

If she comes to live in your house, with you, the only fair comparison is that of a lodger. What is the going rate for a lodger in your area?

Alternatively, you could sell up and buy a house in joint names. You could pay half as cash from the proceeds of sale, and she can pay the other half as a mortgage, and that would be fairer to both of you.

Just a thought