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

mrstinchcombe

milanos wrote: »

I think she might have a good case for some claim on your house if you happened to split up after her contributing financially to a mortgage free home

I have a lodger, he contributes financially to my house and theres no contract or anything drawn up because I know him and hes a friend. When he leaves he has no claim on my house despite contributing towards the mortgage.

I'm not in a relationship with the lodger, but why would that make a difference?

(Obviously Im discounting a marriage)

natsplatnat

Ok - my 2 pennies worth....

There may be a point in the future where my OH will be in a postition to buy a house for us to live in (we currently rent together and have done for almost 7 years with all bills and rent split equally). I have been thinking about what I would want to do with regards to contributing money etc (I am not in a position to be able to pay a lump sum into the property nor to I really want to take out a mortgage on 'my half') and what I decided on (although my OH has no idea yet) is that I would continue to pay somewhere in the region of my current monthly contribution to cover the large majoirty of the bills / any surplus being used towards house decoration or holidays. This way I feel that I am not getting a 'free-ride' and it frees up some of my OH's monthly money to do with what he wants.

Obviously if we were to buy jointly then everything would continue to be split equally (as we earn a similar income).

moggylover

justwondering25 wrote: »

the situation :- we've been together for two years , we live around 2 hours away from each other , but see each other every weekend ( me doing the traveling 99 % of the time at my cost never asked for a bean in fuel , she has 2 cats and can't leave them at weekends) i stay at her place, she does not ask me for rent for the weekend but I have the travelling costs so alls fair there.

I would be either selling my place to buy a place down where she lives and then buy a place down there or buy a 2nd place , rent out first place etc mortgage on 2nd place, as she wants to be around her family.

I guess I'm a real horrible loveless individual !

Sounds that way to me:D

The house is yours. If you want it to remain "yours" then you do not charge rent to someone with whom you have a cohabiting relationship. If you do charge "rent" then you risk loosing a share of "your" house.

Personally, I would rent the house out for extra income and buy a house together JOINTLY, in both names if you are starting out together because it sounds to me as if you would have a great deal of difficulty in ever thinking of anything as "ours" in the first place, and more difficulty should (god, forbid) your input be greater than the other persons.

I'm all for hanging on to some common sense when falling in love, but you really do sound like a complete piece of work from your posts. I could be wrong: but that is certainly how you sound.

Personally, I reckon if your attitude to living with someone is as materialistic as yours appears to be you would be better off just staying on your own, because I don't think you sound able to "share" unless everything starts off exactly equal and the chances of that are slim to non-existent.

Ask yourself this. If your girlfriend were to be injured in a car accident, and disabled, would you still want her even though you might have to support her? If the answer is no: then move on, that isn't love:(

tabskitten

I'm going to bill my OH for tonights dinner.....just as an experiment for the sake of the forum.........

moggylover

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.

It isn't particularly unfair! If you do not ask her to contribute to the cost of "your" house, then she would find it difficult to claim against it unless you had children together.

I really don't think you have the "idea" of a "relationship" straight in your mind anywhere.

moggylover

jamespir wrote: »

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

Don't be daft! He couldn't charge the dog rent:D

Butti

If she pays you 'rent' she could have a claim on your property. Why don't you agree just to split the bills. That way if you split up the asset remains entirely yours.

B

zzzLazyDaisy

Ah

But then he wouldn't be making himself some tax free profit from the arrangement......

moggylover

BeenieCat wrote: »

Some replies are a bit harsh i think.

I don't own a house but if i did, i'd like to think i would take precautions when entering a relationship, for the simple fact that the OH might be able to stake a claim to the house i worked damned hard for! It's not about trust, it's about being realistic IMO. If she loved him, then she'd understand that, so it works both ways doesn't it?

But no, she shouldn't be paying rent if she has her own place. If she moved in then i'd second the ideas of her putting the money away. If you're picking her up when she stays with you and the petrol costs are bugging you, tell her to make her own way up?

I had the exact same situation. House of my own, worked 16 hour days (2 jobs) and 7 day weeks for nearly 12 years to pay for it (so probably a lot harder than the op has done:D). The ONLY thing I asked from my OH was that he signed an agreement NOT to claim against the house should we split up. That was especially important to me as we have children and they need a home and I provided that home.

The rest of the living costs get shared. The "roof over our head" got shared and he got the benefit of that "roof" (technically I suppose although I would never have thought of it that way) because he helped with maintenance and work.

When we split, he never even considered making a claim against the house and my children still have the security of that.

I hold out no hope for a relationship that has a "partner" so unable to "share".

keza

hmm i havent read the whole thread but just wanted to voice my opinion.

I personally think that if she pays u rent, she will have a claim on your hard earned property! which in the long run, if you split, she could argue that she has paid her way.
secondly, it makes her sound like a flat mate rather than the love of your life. i dont pay any mortgage or rent to my fiance since i moved in but as soon as i do, i will want my stake in it!

i think you should work out your percentage of your overall income and then work out who pays what towards bills as shes earning more than u. i think thats a fairer deal.

Work out your combined income, divide your income by the total income and times by 100. this will give u the percentage of your earnings compared to hers.

then apply this percentage to the bills. then your both paying your way fairly without upsetting anyone.

ie. your income may be 2,000, hers may be 3,000. = 6,000
to work our ur % - 2,000/6,000 x 100 = 33.33% so hers will be 66.67%

Then take a bill, council tax for example - £125. you pay 33.33% of this and she pays 66.7%

She has no hold on your property, she hasnt got a free ride and you have a fairer deal

Sorry for waffling. this is the solution me and OH have come to for when we are married at the end of the year! Good luck! xx