Advice on fair digs to charge daughter

elgord

My 21 yr old daughter is about to move back home after uni, hopefully to work full-time. I'd like advice on what would seem fair to charge her for digs, though obviously that will depend on what she earns. If she was taking home £800, for example, can anyone give me any ideas?My council tax would increase by around £30 for starters, as I would no longer live on my own - apart from other living expenses.

thorsoak

How many of you will there be in the household? When our children came back from uni, we worked out all the bills, then divided by the number of people in the house - and charged them accordingly. The only thing we kept out of the equation was the mortgage!

BitterAndTwisted

A third of her take-home pay at the very least. What sort of money would she need to pay in rent for a flat or house-share in your area?

elgord

Thanks Thorsoak and BitterAndTwisted. There will only be the two of us in the household. I will weigh up both ideas. Thanks again!

pinkshoes

I'd look how much a lodger would have to pay in the area (spareroom.co.uk or similar), then base it on that, and factor in food costs etc...

GobbledyGook

My Grandparents used to charge me what I cost them - so the loss of their council tax discount (as they were both pensioners), a third of the food, a little of electricity, a third of the phone & tv package etc. That was on the condition that I saved too, or if I didn't save they'd have charged me a third of my wages. That seemed fair to me as it gave me the chance to save, but meant my GP's weren't out of pocket having me there.

sueeve

When my daughter came home I gave her a week or two free, can't remember exactly, but that helped her buy suitable cothes for work. Then about a third of take home pay would seem to be reasonable, but it depends a little on how good her salary is. Asking friends was no good with me; more money than sense around here and some didn't charge anything. I was the mean one.

BitterAndTwisted

Sueeve, to my mind you were the sensible, caring one. It's dead easy if you have the means to give your children a free-ride but it's teaching them nothing useful about life, except giving them a poisonous sense of entitlement. Who in their right mind would want to raise a child like that?

ka7e

I have 2 sons at home, one earning a decent wage and one on JSA. It is only fair that they both pay the same percentage of their income, and we've settled on a third. We are flexible though and make sure the youngest has enough money for travel and clothes!

MX5huggy

Depends on how long you want her to stay!

geri1965_2

£200 per month is the figure I have in mind.