Charging rent for 21 year old

Psykicpup

I started by charging both my son & daughter 30% of thier take home which is equivalent to just a typical rent they might pay in our area, so they were getting food bills etc free - They were both happy with this & could see the logic - However not long after my daughter (& boyfriend by then) moved out, I was struggling with all the bills - I asked my hubby to review the housekeeping (to be honest his housekeeping money was a bit hit & miss then) & my SON:eek: suggested that all the regular household bills be split 3 ways as we are all working adults!
Worked great - he can see where the money running a home goes & he and hubby compete to ensure they both pay on time & or give a little extra towards non essentials!
Note tho. he is only splitting bills not food shopping etc so still getting a better deal than if he was in his own place

hostertlady

blimey,, i only started taking keep off my son when he was 18 and he was working when he was 16 ( college and some hours in a supermarket). i wouldn't take any off him cos i wanted him to enjoy his youth and also i felt we had kept him all these years then what's another couple of years..
anyway i always explained to him that when he does eventually move out then most of his money will be used in rent, food etc.. so he does know the score..
i only take £10 off him now as it is.. but reading these reviews i think i need to look at it again, lol.. i do his washing, we got broadband etc, feed him when he is here ( he buys all his own junk food crisps, pop, bics etc).
but i dont mind doing these things for him.. i've always liked being 'wanted and needed'.. maybe i am being soft and when he gets older things will prob change but hey ho............xx

Celtic

We were charged 25%
Which was fair by our mother .
So if you were on the dole it might be a fiver a week but when you had a really good job it may be £100 a week .
My mother would always say it you don't like it theres the door !

grandmaburn

I once got a handout by Clare Raynor on how much to charge children OR aged parents living with you!
The main breadwinner adds up cost of mortgage or rent, and very basic expenses such as electric, gas etc and cost of food per person, then works out this percentage of their weekly/monthly earnings. Then the child/ grandparent adds up fares, lunches and essential workclothes and subtracts the sum from their earnings. The contribution should then be the same percentage of the remaining sum as the main earner pays!! This is a very fair way.
This worked well for me with my son and daughter over 20 years ago! You do no favours to anyone by not taking board, or very little. They have to learn that you have to pay your way in life and debtors do not let you off for the odd month, or allow you a couple of months late payments because you have a lot of expenses that month, or it is Christmas!!!!!!! If you are very rich, you can put it in an account (unknown to them) for later in life when they have learned how to handle money. I bet all the kids in debt are the ones whose parents thought they were being 'kind' to them. This is my experience anyway.

grahamclowes

I have always thought that a quarter of the wage is reasonable. It seems that an average mortgage now can be as much as 51% of salary so 25% is really good as it usually includes things which aren't covered by mortgages such as heat, light, food, laundry etc...

If you feel that is too much why not charge it anyway and put some into an account - you can give this back to your chilsd in a lump sum when they are ready to move to a place of their own. That way they will be saving and your costs will be partially covered too.

buxtonrabbitgreen

annie-c wrote:

Now that it's opened out to a wider debate, can I add to my earlier posts (which were in favour of a realistic contribution) by saying that I do remember feeling hard done by when the time came for me to make a contribution. I do think, in retrospect, that it was for my own good, as well as for my parent's good (they weren't well off enough to keep me, even if they wanted to). I remember feeling a bit hurt though - as if I had to pay to live in my own home (as someone else said earlier) and it sort of marked the end of feeling like the baby of the family.

However, I wonder what people think about when the subject should be broached? I wonder if I would have felt a little less upset if I had known all along that that would happen - if my parents had reinforced the idea right from childhood.

What do others think?

My kids must think I am a real meany, as when I suggested my 14 yo ds get a paper round instead of keep asking me for money my 13 yo dd said but then he will have to start paying keep. I wouldn't charge mine until they have full time jobs, nor would I completely support them. i think arounf 14 to 16 they should get themselves some kind of income. All my others did 2 worked on market stalls on Sat and the other 2 had paper rounds. It is a great feeling at that age to be able to spend/waste it on what ever you like. My mum charged me about 1/7 of my weekly wage so I just got another job in the evening for extra money. they had agreed that it wouldnt go up if I did. Consequently finance was not a particular shock when I left home.

our_diary103

I have a rent based on what I lost in child benefit and child tax credit, plus 10%. that works out at about £50 per wk for my 18yr old.( she picks up about £175pw.) Nothing else changes,ie I cook, clean, wash etc. She pays no more to any bills, except any unusual costs for phonecalls( maybe a high mobile call)
I can afford to save the 10% bit towards her moving out or getting married as a previous daughter did.
I feel it is definitely right to charge adult children for living expenses, they need to learn early about budgeting.
P.

Savvy_Sue

sahmx5 wrote:

Unfortunately she has remembered how wonderful it is to have meals on the table when she comes home from work and ironed clothes in her wardrobe.... I don't see her moving out in a hurry!

You see, this is the other area I have a 'bee in my bonnet' about. It's not enough to teach our offspring about the value of money, budgetting etc. We have to teach them how to look after yourselves. I know your daughter HAS lived independently, but why did she not remain responsible for her own laundry when she came back home? I don't buy this "It's no trouble / I don't mind doing it / it's easier to do it myself" mentality. It feeds dependency.

My boys start doing their own laundry when they go into 6th form. That way they learn not only HOW to use a washing machine but WHEN to use it, ie before you've run out of clean pants! And - as DS2 is learning - long enough before you run out of clean jumpers to get one dry as well as clean ...

I don't do any washing up either. DH and I do most of the shopping, and I usually cook for everyone, but everyone knows how to cook so if I want a meal cooked by someone else I ask for that to happen. And if I want help with other housework, I ask for it and expect it to happen. And gardening. Anything really: we're a family / household, not a hotel, so we all have to muck in to get some stuff done. And once we're adults we're responsible for some of our own personal stuff.

I haven't so far started charging rent. DS1 is in his second year at Uni, we don't support him financially and he's doing OK money-wise because he worked part-time in 6th form. When he comes home he mucks in, and he knows that once he finishes studying he either pays rent or leaves. If he doesn't manage to get a job straight away, I'll have some of whatever income he DOES get in, on principle. Dossing round the house is not an option ...

TheImportanceOfBeingIdle

I only had to pay £80 a month. I complained at that. I feel OK about it now

pollyanna24

When I was 21, I had a mortgage, so the rent thing wasn't an option! We did sell up though and move back in with my parents. They charged us £200 for food, not rent. We know this was cheap for two of us, but we were savign £1,400 a month for a deposit on our next house.

My brother is still living there on a paltry £100 a month for everything at 28! :eek:

I'm 25 now and am glad that I've got my own house and own responsibilities.