Charging rent for 21 year old

Savvy_Sue

Kim, do try and talk to your daughter before just cutting everything out, and in your position I would TELL her how hurt and upset I was by what she has said. If she doesn't have any friends who've had to contribute at a realistic level, she just may not realise how much all these things cost. Why not give her the choice: £200 and keep the sky box and perhaps a FEW of the 'luxuries' you mention, or £100 for a roof only.

MissE30

I lived with my parents up until I was 18 years old, and then moved in with my boyfriend when his parents moved to france. We both hadnt gone to Uni, and went straight into jobs at 16 and payed our own way.
When his parents came back from france we had to find our own place and were not wanting to 'waste' money renting a house together. My parents lived in a rather large house with a dis-used granny anexe that hadnt been decorated for over 30 years, so we decided to move in there. The deal was we payed for the renovation and lived there cheap so we could save up some money to buy our own place.
Well, we payed aroudn £3k towards renovations including all new carpets and lights etc, and they payed for the bathroom.
Once it had all been done, they wanted £400 from us per month. Which was only £100 - £150 below renting a place of our own at the time. As the move was only seen as a short term thing, the fact it cost us around £3k would have made it one of the most expensive places to rent!
Long story short, we found a place that month and bought it. Really glad we did but every so often I do miss living in a lively big house with lots of people and animals around all the time. I dont think my parents were doing the wrong thing by charging us as much as they did, as it was still only £200 per person, and when they have looked after us both and expected nothing in return for years, it would be extremly selfish for us to.
We are both now 21 and have had a mortgage for 19 months now. Its very scary at times, especially when I see all my friends still at university having such fun. But I would never do it differently. My older sister and her boyfriend have recently finished at University so are in the same position we were 2 years ago living with my parents. Unfortunatly they both have the debt that goes with 4 years of university and it is going to make it quite a bit harder for them to move out just yet.
Anyway, I am rambling.. the moral of my story is that If my parents did not think to get me to realise the cost of living and charge me a realistic ammount I could still be living at home

polomint_2

Just wanted to revive this thread as I am just about to go through the *what will I charge my daughter stage* Shes 21.

Would like peoples updated opinions on this subject.

Do people charge an all in fee?

Or % of say rent bills food etc?

I think its a great learning curve for them to not have all their money and blow the lot and not contributing i feel will make it harder for them when they do eventually leave.

Any input will be greatly appretiated. :T

kr15snw

Polo: It depends. What does she do? Is she a student or is she earning? Full time / part time? Is she currently saving for a house so she can move out?

Examples for me:

Im a full time student and only earn about £100 - £200 a month. I pay for the weekly shop for me and my boyfriend which works out about £150 a month (student loan comes in handy here). He doesnt expect half of bills as Im not earning.

My brother is working full time and not saving for anything. Mum charges him about £350 a month keep. This includes having all his washing / ironing / cooking / everything done for him. The only thing he has to buy himself is beer and extras.

My mate has just moved in with his parents after moving back from up north. Hes only paying for his food (about £100 a month) as he is saving for a house. His parents have said they are willing to put him up free of charge as he is saving really hard and every spare penny is going into his savings account. Plus he is actively looking for houses which proves to them he wants to move.

arthur_dent_2

When my mother rang the council to see what the reccommended level of 'rent' for a child living at home was, they told her about a third of his/her pay. 10 years ago this was for me about £45 - £50 quid a week. To be honest any less than this is a little insulting. Saying that I know many (mostly young men) people who are quite willing not to pay their paremts a penny.

Mojisola

I don’t think many of us as youngsters had a realistic idea of how much it costs to keep a house going.

Work out all the household expenses - and don’t forget extras like putting money aside for repairs and replacing equipment.

Sit down with her and go through it step-by-step. I’ll bet she’ll be shocked.

ailuro2

1/4 of their take home pay,covers bills,foods and basic toiletries. If that leaves them with loads of money, then up it a bit and save the excess for them- they'll be needing that deposit for when prices of flats become more affordable (hopefully) and want to buy set up their first place.

I agree with showing them the household accounts to give them an idea of just how much council tax, heating bills, repairs etc. add up to in a month.

count_rostov

If you can afford it, start charging him £200 and explain that you're saving the extra for a deposit when he wants to buy his own place. When I earned that much in my first graduate job I was paying £375 rent (v v cheap as it was for a one-bedroom flat in London) and covering my own bills, food etc. Aren't you always meant to be broke when you start working?

dearbarbie

recovering_spendaholic wrote: »

I am assuming that for the £130 you do all his laundry, and provide all meals and heat/light/landline phone?

If this is the case then that is very reasonable and I think you would be justified in raising his rent to about £300 to cover all the things you provide. If he moved out and lived in a flat he would be paying at least £300 in rent alone, then he would also have to fork out for bills and food. He's getting a bargain for £300!

Wow, he's lucky. I don't know if this helps explain how lucky he is but I get about £1200pcm take-home and pay £570/month rent, before food, before phone, etc, and I am always broke. I may be a bit older (26), and when I lived with my folks (they have no mortgage), I paid £150 a month and cooked for them a few times a week, did my own laundry, bought anything I wanted that they didn't buy normally etc.

If nothing else, it would get him more used to 'real money' and how to manage his finances, if he's always overdrawn atm, how will he cope when not at home anymore?

3plus1

I thought the whole point of staying at home with your parents was to pay only a token rent and save up money for a deposit?

If my parents had charged me market value rent as soon as I started earning, I would have left home a lot sooner!

A lot of people (presumably parents) have commented that working children would have to pay £X if they had their own place, so they should pay £X in rent to their parents. I'm sorry, but no one I've ever met lives with their parents out of choice. They live with their parents because they can't afford to live anywhere else. If you want to charge them a market rent, you may as well kick them out. They'd be spending the same amount of money, but at least they'd have their independence.

Don't get me wrong; I love my parents dearly. But I would be horrified to have to pay them the same amount of rent I pay currently for my own flat and then live with them. They may have a nicer house, but I had to live 'by their rules' in it. I'm an adult and I think I'm bloody old enough to be able to decide what the rules where I live should be. That's why I'm paying all of this extra money for my own place - it's for the freedom.

Those of you proposing your kids should pay market rent - how many of you don't shout at your children when they don't make the bed, leave their clothes on the floor, don't do their washing straight away, etc.? I'm not saying I live in a pig sty, but to be honest, I like having the freedom to live that way should I one day feel like it.