Rates! Please advise

Skinto123

Hi all...

this item is related to rates payments although I am unsure as to where to post it.

Anyway, just after a little advice. I have recently moved in with my fiance, who is a home owner. We are living in his house, and the mortgage is his, the house is his. We are expecting our first baby later this month.

I am not paying him any rent, seeing as he is only paying minimum mortgage payments, and he had never asked for rent. I do, however, share costs of food, electricity, oil etc for the house. However, he has also asked me to pay half of his rates, due next month. My family are adament that I should not be paying this... he is the home owner and its not my house (they maintain that if anything was to happen to our relationship that I would be out on my ear and have no rights to the house, which I am aware of). I have asked him to be added to the mortgage, but he refused incase I leave him, this was a kind of rushed relationship due to me getting pregnant. He also maintains that he does not want to take on another mortgage... despite the fact that I have no mortgage etc. and would like to have ownership of something, rather than referring to it as 'his house'. I don't see any way around the mortgage part for now.... but could some of you advise do you think I should be paying towards the rates????? feel a bit clueless.
Thanking you in advance!!

rogerblack

Rates do not exist, what do you refer to? Council tax?
Finances are something couples need to sort out.
What may be appropriate for one couple due to their circumstances is entirely inappropriate for others.
Paying some portion of the household bills is not unreasonable, and council tax (which I assume you refer to) is merely another of these.

Skinto123

Yes, i mean council tax. I don't think its unreasonable paying bills, but my family advise me that rates are for homeowners, and i am not a home owner

rogerblack

They're idiots.
While it's true that the liability to pay council tax rests with the homeowner - it's at the end of the day money, like any other.
Paying council tax - or paying some contribution towards it means nothing more or less than paying the electricity - in both cases bad stuff happens if you don't pay.
You need to look at it as a whole.
What are both your incomes and outgoings.
Are there any unreasonable expenditures that can be cut, ...
Or if you choose to be more disconnected financially - just consider it as a utility bill that you pay half of.

Paying part of the council tax gives you no rights whatsoever.
Also - if he's paying a minimal mortgage - he may strongly want to consider paying more than the minimum, unless he has some very secure form of investment that will pay it off in the future.

Cardew

You would be better posting your query in the 'Marriage and Relationships and families' forum.(just below this forum). - this forum is about gas and electricity.

As said above, contributing to Council Tax is no different to any other bill. Don't forget when living on his own he can claim a 25% reduction on Council tax, he loses that when you move in.

In any case Council Tax is not for owners, you would usually pay it as tenants.

macman

CT is paid by the occupier, be it owned, tenanted or squatted!

dogshome

If your fiance was living in the house alone prior to you moving in, he would have benifited from a "Single Occupancy" discount off the Council tax, which is worth around 25%.
He should have decared your residency when you moved in, and from that date the local authority would charge 100% of the Council Tax - So in hard figures your residency has cost him a 25% increase in Tax, not 50%.

With all that said, to stand any chance of a lasting relationship both of you must be totally open with each other about incomes and household costs, and operate a a joint budget to live within your incomes - If you feel there is not sufficient trust in the relationship to do this, then you should save as much money as you can as a cushion against the relationship breaking down

Skinto123

Thank you all.... all very helpful advise. I suppose I have been listening to my family too much; I do not and never have shirked away with paying bills... we are both open about our incomes... he earns a bit more than I do, but we do still share bills etc equally. The council tax thing just threw me a bit, but I will help him pay it. Just a bit of shock that I have to pay 350 at the end of the month... esp when we have a baby coming. ANyway, thanks again for the advice.

grahamc2003

Seems quite a trivial topic bearing in mind you're eight months pregnant.

I'd clarify whether he expects you to pay two thirds of the council tax when your baby arrives.

I'm not sure he appreciates his responsibilities, including financial, he'll soon be taking on when his kid is born. A bit of council tax is pretty insignificant compared to that.

zzzLazyDaisy

What is going to happen when you go on maternity leave and your income drops? This sounds more like a flat-mate arrangement than relationship.

TBH as a single home owner I can understand him not wanting to put the house in joint names right now, especially as you say this a fairly new and rushed relationship with a baby on the way. But the fact remains that soon he will be the father of a child, and the breadwinner of the household, at least until such time as you go back to work. So you need to discuss how your finances will be shared then (and who will pay what for the baby as they can be very expensive for such tiny people!)

alanq

dogshome wrote: »

So in hard figures your residency has cost him a 25% increase in Tax, not 50%.

Not 50% nor 25%. It's over 33%.

For example
Council Tax £1000. With discount would pay £750. Having lost discount now paying full £1000. An increase of £250 on £750 is over 33% more than was previously being paid.

So the second occupier is costing 25% of the current full bill but over 33% of the previous reduced bill.