Boyfriend Moving In - How much should he contribute?

DVardysShadow

ema_o wrote: »

Also if it is just you, you will lose your single occupancy discount on your council tax, maybe he could pay the difference on top of half the bills, to make it fairer.

Ah, Council Tax! The single person discount is 25%. So you would have him pay 25%? I would have him pay 50%

HappyMJ

A room in a house in my town can be rented for £60 per week all bills inclusive (median rate from lha website) and that would be what I would offer to contribute to a friends homeowners bills whilst not having any claim on the house. It's a lot less than your £1200 per month but your contribution includes a capital investment in the property which you would get back when you sell.

Or another way a 1 bedroom flat could be rented for £395 per month split that 2 ways and I'll offer £197.50 rent and an extra £65-£150 per month for half of bills such as gas/elec/ct and water. I would also offer an amount equal to half of the groceries. You cannot link it to your mortgage payments at any time it can only be linked to local market rents. Try looking at the LHA website for the median rents for rooms and 1 bed flats in your area and work from there.

But, it looks like you and me wouldn't be compatible as I only earn about £250 per week and wouldn't be able to afford to live with you in your house.

burnoutbabe

i'd look at this as 2 seperate things.

1) the short term. charge him half the bills and food (plus petrol etc). nothing towards the mortgage. he SAVES what he'd normally pay in rent towards a deposit.

2) a year down the line you re-assess. Maybe buy a new place together, he comes onto your mortgage and has a lump sum to put in.

If he doesn't move in, you have all your bills to pay anyway. so any controbution to that, you are better off?

for a while just have him as a lodger and see how it goes. can change things later on. you don't want any risk of him claiming he's paid the mortgage if you split in a years time.

ema_o

DVardysShadow wrote: »

Ah, Council Tax! The single person discount is 25%. So you would have him pay 25%? I would have him pay 50%

Sorry, didn't explain myself very well, I was including the council tax when I said pay half of the bills.

I would definitely expect him to pay at least half of the council tax. I meant that he pays half of the current rate (with the 25% discount) then tops it up with the other 25% (not sure exactly what % that works out at). This is literally a cost that the OP is incurring by having him living there, so even if he pays nothing else he should cover that.

I think it is all a bit tricky as it is not fair for one person to effectively live rent free only paying bills and I imagine the 25% council tax will not make up the difference. That was why I suggested that the OP's partner puts aside an amount each month that could be used for joint purchases / holidays / future savings etc, this could be an amount that is roughly equal to the rent he would pay to live on his own.

Actually (re reading posts) I agree with burnoutbabe over the longer term, he could save it to 'buy in' to your property or to put towards a new property between you!

alys_fowler

i personally would share all bills apart from morgage

C_Mababejive

He shouldnt move in..

longforgotten

Sounds to me as money is going to be an issue.

Best he does not move in seconded.

property.advert

It is quite simple and there is no need to over complicate it.

One presumes that he has no property he owns and is leaving to move in with the OP. However, even if he does, it matters not too much. What the OP has to do is charge market rent for a share of a similar property. Thus, if it is a 2 bedroom flat which would command an open market rent of £1000 a month, he should pay £500 in rent. The bills can be split equally as if the OP was paying half the rent.

The critical thing is to totally separate this from the mortgage. Even if the mortgage is only £500 a month, he should be paying £500 a month in rent. Personally, I would offer him a lease, suggesting that he takes independent legal advice (which in 99.99% of cases he will not do), and which is for 6 months, after which it will (I presume) turn into a periodic tenancy (but this might not be the same as the landlord is also living there). Alternatively grant him a month by month agreement.

What I would do without hesitation is to seek legal advice to protect my asset.

LilacPixie

If money is going to be such an issue then maybe he shouldn't move in. I find it bizzare that your thinking in terms of free rides or making money from him and other such comments.

My now husband moved into my home in the dim and distant past. In those days I paid the mortgage and bills were split 50/50. The way we worked it was MY mortgage would cost X amount no matter who lived there, food would need to be doubled pretty much, but the rise in utilities and council tax were not quite double so my 50% was actually less than I had been paying alone.

It suited us, my monthly outgoings were less than they were and OH's were more because he had moved from rent free parents home.

Now TBH things are not all that different other than we are married, we still live in 'my' house but have little mini me's now too.

gravitytolls

cheepskate wrote: »

you may as well just say give me your wage packet as that is basically what you want .

Yes he will be paying less than you, but in 25 years he wont have a house he can sell for £105,000. If you split up he is left with nothing. Do you think that is fair.

If you dont expect to make money out of it, then DONT, but the way you come across is you want more as you will be paying more than him.

If he was renting he'd have nothing at the end of 25 yrs. If he wants to be a home owner, perhaps he should become on, he can always rent his place whilst living with te OP.