Charging rent for 21 year old 19 October 2006 at 10:40AM edited 30 November -1 at 1:00AM in Marriage, Relationships & Families 234 replies 124.5K views

straws

K9COOP wrote:

im shocked at how much people are suggesting

How much do you think it would cost you if you actually looked after yourself?!

emilyt

Think all these teenagers and twenty somethings are going to have a real shock when they have to find a place of their own. Even if you pay £100 for food,rent washing and ironing,phone,broaband, lectric,gas. e.ct. It is a bargain. My DD1 is now working full time and she is 19. She gives me £200 monthly. This covers everything. I do all cooking cleaning washing ironing e.c.t. She pays for her own car. I originally asked her for£25 a week. The £200 was her idea. My DD2 who is 17 and still at school. Works and gives me £10 weekly. Again her idea not mine as i don't expect anything from her. I do pput some into savings for them both but they don't know.

ali82

janb5 wrote:

Hi,

I`ve tried to do a search but havent found what I want. About 6 weeks ago someone suggested a reasonable amount to charge for board and keep for my 21 year old son. He works as a chef and clears approx just over £900 pcm
He currently pays me £130 which I would like to review. I should add I am on my own with him and his younger brother(16) and do not receive maintenance. Which is a fair rent- 15% or higher ? I am also aware he is constantly overdrawn which I have talked to him about but he denies...........

I think £130 is quite reasonable considering he earns £900, I recently moved out and paid my mum £200 and earn't approx £1,000.

Your son is only 21, it would be good if he had some money for himself after paying his debts, you and trying to save a bit.

liney

I was not suggesting that her son paid her child support. I was saying that the amount she charges should have no bearing on whether she gets child support for another child, as i am sure that the £130 per month he pays covers the benefits the OP is not able to claim now he is working.

Whilst there are other bills to be paid, £50 for room and probably £20 on food is the extent of it if he goes down that route, so £280 per month.

I would suggest £150 - £175 per month, or a room in a shared house and the freedom that goes with it, could become attractive.

arnie&caseysma!

I would think that on a wage of over 900pcm he is currently paying a ridiculously low amount to you unless he is also paying all his own phone calls and food, and half of CT, gas, elec, tv etc etc.

6 years ago when I was 19 I earned just under £900 and out of that I could afford a £300pcm mortgage, CT, gas, elec, tv licence, Sky, mobile, landline, run a car, and STILL have enough left over for food and nights out 3 or 4 times a month.

If he is constantly overdrawn then maybe it is time to bring his attention to this site and bring him down to earth with a bump. Show him bills and just exactly how much it is costing you to keep him on the paltry sum he is paying you, it may seem like a heartless thing to say but he should either up the payments to you to a reasonable amount that you both agree on, or he should find himself somewhere PDQ to live to show him just how much he should be paying - if he has to make sacrifices then so be it, I'm sure you are having to at the moment without any help so don't be frightened to show him the cost of living.

Good luck.

C_Ronaldo

get your son to pay some of the bills

laurajayne

emilyt wrote:

Think all these teenagers and twenty somethings are going to have a real shock when they have to find a place of their own.

I do think that's a massive over generalisation - I think most of us know exactly how much it costs...who can get away from the constant bombardment of property/gas/CT stories. I actually moved out, and had to come back home due to a relationship break up...most of my debt was down to those dark days....I had to pay over £300 a month for rent for a flat I wasn't living in, and I still gave my mum £165 housekeeping, and I did it gladly - I appricate all they both do immensely....and I wish I could give them more, however that figure was worked out on my incomings and outgoings.

Admittedly, I can't move out on that kind of money, I know that....I don't earn the kind of money needed to move out on my own.

I think the OP should sit down with her son, and talk about his incomings and outgoings honestly. If nothing else, he obviously needs some guidance with how cash/credit works...is there any point putting his housekeeping up to £300 if he's going to end up borrowing the money back, or getting into serious difficulities?

janb5

Thank you for all your replies. My son Ed does have his own room and his girlfriend stays over frequently.. She is diabetic and vegetarian so I have a supply of`suitable` food for her. I think if the rent is too high he will get into more difficulties and he has to realise he cannot carry on living beyond his means. His girlfriend has been out of work for 6 months and he think he has been subsidising her.

I am currently thinking of raising it to £150 which is £30 more and saying I want him to cut down on his outgoings. I already hold his ISA book with his consent and he saves £50 currently pcm - yes, I would like it to be more. I have a block on the phone so they cant ring mobiles and out of area numbers(following a collosal phone bill)

Ideally as may have suggested I would like to secretly save for him for when he leaves home. Rent would be about £700 before bills in this area! I do think it is very hard for young people to get started themselves but I agree that undercharging them is not the way to go..............

illmonkey

janb5 wrote:

Thank you for all your replies. My son Ed does have his own room and his girlfriend stays over frequently.. She is diabetic and vegetarian so I have a supply of`suitable` food for her. I think if the rent is too high he will get into more difficulties and he has to realise he cannot carry on living beyond his means. His girlfriend has been out of work for 6 months and he think he has been subsidising her.

I am currently thinking of raising it to £150 which is £30 more and saying I want him to cut down on his outgoings. I already hold his ISA book with his consent and he saves £50 currently pcm - yes, I would like it to be more. I have a block on the phone so they cant ring mobiles and out of area numbers(following a collosal phone bill)

Ideally as may have suggested I would like to secretly save for him for when he leaves home. Rent would be about £700 before bills in this area! I do think it is very hard for young people to get started themselves but I agree that undercharging them is not the way to go..............

Compromise with him. Maybe dont up his rent but Up the ammount he pays into savings.

He might complain now, but will be very thankful when he buys his own place.

I earnt £950 a month and paid £200. This was when i was 16/17. After that i didnt live at home. I moved to my girlfriends parents house, and then paid £250 a month.

When at home it covered everything. Apart from extra's i wanted. The £250 at my girlfriends parents covered living, i had to do my own washing etc.

Stevenj214

I wont give much advice because every situation is different, but I thought I'd offer what I pay for comparison too (21 year old student, living at home).

On a student loan of £4000pa, I pay my gran £30pw (£130pcm - 39% of my guaranteed "income") for rent, washing, food, plus an additional £10pcm for my broadband.

Any other money I want I have to get a part time job for.

If I was working full time (which it seems your son is), as another poster mentioned, I would expect to pay the going rate for a room in this area - £60pw (£260pcm), my broadband, plus a share of the food bill. This would probably add up to a total of £300 or so pcm.


I think you also have to consider what job he is doing. Is it an apprenticeship where his money will go up yearly and he's struggling to get by? Or is it a dead end job that he took because £900 per month seemed like a fortune to him and now he's wasting the money away on... what?