Girlfirend moving in with me - what should I ask for?

The_K_Man

Ok, I am 25 years old and have spent almost 3 years saving like crazy for a 20% deposit on a property, much helped by living at home with my parents pretty much rent free. I have now secured a long term fixed rate mortgage and have had an offer accepted on a property. I have a girlfriend who I have been with for over a year and she has said she would like to come and live with me (she currently rents on her own). We haven't really discussed it yet but what kind of financial contribution/rent should I ask for?

I am thinking 50/50 on all the utility bills and council tax and perhaps £100 on top. Is this fair? Anyone else in a similar situation?

daisiegg

Only you can make this decision, and you will get replies on here that vary wildly.

In my opinion, you and your girlfriend should have a discussion and consider what she can afford, and go from there to decide what is a reasonable contribution. If she has been renting on her own and managing that fine, maybe she contributes to your joint household something similar to what she was paying out when renting on her own?

daisiegg

Oh and I meant to add - congratulatuons on managing to save your deposit!

tibbyuk

I'm almost in this boat myself, and it depends on how you approach it with your missus i.e. Is she going to turn around in 3 years time if you break up, and say that she owns x% of your property?

I would get some form of contract written up to cover yourself.

My missus and I are looking to buy, and I have a deposit while she can only bring her salary to the table. In this case we are working out a fair percentage of ownership incorporating the deposit i.e. we own 50/50 of the property AFTER the deposit is accounted for (not really 50/50 but you get what I mean).

Although this all seems peachy, I am still getting a contract written up as things can go horribly wrong in relationships and you don't want to leave yourself open to being screwed.

Suarez

The_K_Man wrote: »

Ok, I am 25 years old and have spent almost 3 years saving like crazy for a 20% deposit on a property, much helped by living at home with my parents pretty much rent free. I have now secured a long term fixed rate mortgage and have had an offer accepted on a property. I have a girlfriend who I have been with for over a year and she has said she would like to come and live with me (she currently rents on her own). We haven't really discussed it yet but what kind of financial contribution/rent should I ask for?

I am thinking 50/50 on all the utility bills and council tax and perhaps £100 on top. Is this fair? Anyone else in a similar situation?

Say the house is £100k..Why dont you pay the 20k deposit (So you own 20%) then split the other 80% 50/50 and half all the bills?

These figures are just for example..

daisiegg

I got the impression the OP is talking about his girlfriend moving into HIS house and paying him some sort of informal rent - not having her name on the mortgage or having any ownership of the house?

hazyjo

I'd take half the bills/food, etc. Definitely not half the mortgage, and definitely don't let her contribute to new appliances or works to the property (eg extension, loft conversion, new kitchen, etc). I'd split all other costs down the middle - like holidays, etc. Or both overpay into a joint account to cover all costs and future things like holidays.

Also have a think about what you want long term. You say she said she'd like to come and live with you. What's your opinion? Is this to make life easier now, or do you personally see it as a long term relationship? I definitely wouldn't commit to living with someone if I didn't want to end up with them.

Does she have savings? Does she have the same attitude as you with her finances? Don't get a joint a/c if she's always overdrawn or racking up debt!

Jx

The_K_Man

daisiegg - absolutely

hazyjo - Half the bills seems fair. Yes, I am more than happy for her to come and live with me, I certainly see it as a long term relationship (although don't want to marry right now, that's just crazy talk I tells ya!). However, living together does make life a little easier financially too. She doesn't have any savings, she doesn't earn a great deal of money and has been living one month to the next really without anything left. When she moves in with me, she will have the ability to save quite a bit of money.

I think I will ask how she feels about giving me a little on top of half the bills as an informal rent. I'm sure she will be happy to do this. Always helpful to get other perspectives though...cheers! :T

hazyjo

Some people see having more money as more money to spend. Don't presume anything when it comes to other people's finances

Just bear in mind, if she's loads better off, she'll definitely not want to move out if things go wrong. Try and encourage her to save some - if anything, for her own peace of mind so she'd at least have a deposit to go rent somewhere if things don't work out. If in a few years you do decide things are going great, maybe the money she's saved can go towards a deposit or something if you decided to buy together. Or a wedding

I hope things work out.

Jx

Caroline73_2

The house is yours so I would suggest that she just pays half the bills. You can then suggest to her that the money she is currently paying out in rent can be saved so that when you decide that you want to buy a house a together she can contribute to the deposit.

I moved in with a boyfriend many years ago and that's how we we worked it out.

quintwins

i'm married now so we do a whats mine is your kinda thing but before that i lived with someone else and we found that bills sort of evened out with rent so he paid rent and i paid the elec, heating, food ect, but i guess it depends on how much your mortgage is, it could turn out easier to do a straight split down the middle, it really does need discussed properly before anything is decided