Brother's Girlfriend Moving In

pollyanna24

My brother's girlfriend is moving into our house (we own a house together) until 2016 when the plan is to sell up and go our separate ways.

We are going to sit down in a few days and discuss how much she is going to contribute, so just thought I'd come on here and gauge what other people think.

I've broken all the household bills in three:-

Mortgage - 166.67
Council tax - 48.67
Gas/Electricity - 36.00
House Insurance 3.22
Water - 10.91
Broadband - 5.33
TV Licence - 4.04
Telephone - 3.61
Joint Groceries - 16.67
295.12

So I was thinking about £300. Is this reasonable? I appreciate that she shouldn't be responsible for our mortgage, but she should pay a bit of rent, shouldn't she?

She's renting out her flat for a lot more than what I'm suggesting.

The £300 we get, I would add straight onto the mortgage as an extra overpayment over what we put on there already, therefore will benefit all of us when we come to sell.

Mojisola

pollyanna24 wrote: »

My brother's girlfriend is moving into our house (we own a house together) until 2016 when the plan is to sell up and go our separate ways.

We are going to sit down in a few days and discuss how much she is going to contribute, so just thought I'd come on here and gauge what other people think.

I've broken all the household bills in three:-

Mortgage - 166.67
Council tax - 48.67
Gas/Electricity - 36.00
House Insurance 3.22
Water - 10.91
Broadband - 5.33
TV Licence - 4.04
Telephone - 3.61
Joint Groceries - 16.67
295.12

So I was thinking about £300. Is this reasonable? I appreciate that she shouldn't be responsible for our mortgage, but she should pay a bit of rent, shouldn't she?

She's renting out her flat for a lot more than what I'm suggesting.

The £300 we get, I would add straight onto the mortgage as an extra overpayment over what we put on there already, therefore will benefit all of us when we come to sell.

I think a paper trail showing her £300 being paid to you and going straight into the mortgage account will set her up for being able to claim a beneficial right to the property should the relationship break down.

pollyanna24

Thanks for that. What do you suggest then? How does it work in other situations like this?

Mojisola

https://www.advicenow.org.uk/living-together/ has a lot of good advice about sharing your home.

There's no problem with her sharing all the costs of daily living. It's the "rent" bit that can become an issue. It's expensive for someone to go to court to claim beneficial rights to a property but they can make things difficult enough that it's easier to pay them off than fight a claim.

If you want to go ahead, I would keep the amount that gets overpaid into the mortgage account different from the amount she pays you.

Think through all the "what ifs" and put as much done in writing as you can. What if - one of you loses your job, she gets pregnant, one of you dies, you start feeling pushed out of the common living space by them, etc.

Have you and your brother got wills? Is the house owned as joint tenants or tenants in common?

millysg1

A suggestion.
Create a bank account which has all the bills coming out of it. Direct debit the amount each pay into the account (her paying £300 if that's what you decide). Anything left over in this account is explained as money for house emergencies or general wear and tear and breakages.

Then any personal extra money you save from paying less, put this into your own savings. It doesn't help you to reduce your interest compared to paying overpayments on your mortgage though.

fivetide

The contribution to the mortgage won't matter if you set up a proper agreement about the rent etc.

You could paly bad cop here but having an agreement drawn up should protect you both as it will mean legally, there were no illusions about the arrangement.

Maybe ask on the housing board.

pollyanna24

Mojisola wrote: »

https://www.advicenow.org.uk/living-together/ has a lot of good advice about sharing your home.

There's no problem with her sharing all the costs of daily living. It's the "rent" bit that can become an issue. It's expensive for someone to go to court to claim beneficial rights to a property but they can make things difficult enough that it's easier to pay them off than fight a claim.

If you want to go ahead, I would keep the amount that gets overpaid into the mortgage account different to what she pays you.

Think through all the "what ifs" and put as much done in writing as you can. What if - one of you loses your job, she gets pregnant, one of you dies, you start feeling pushed out of the common living space by them, etc.

Have you and your brother got wills? Is the house owned as joint tenants or tenants in common?

We already overpay by quite a bit, so would just be adding the £300 on to this.

I did think about getting a trust deed set up, but didn't think I needed this until my brother and his gf got married.

To be honest, I think it would be better if we sold up now, but I simply can't afford to buy a place on my own, so brother has agreed that he will give me a couple of years (plus I suppose he wants to see what his gf is like living with before they properly commit and stuff).

If she gets pregnant, she gets pregnant I guess. Can always re-evaluate and sell up before the two years. I'd just have to rent. There is quite of equity in the house so I could live off that if I need to, although don't want to as it will be eating away at my money.

We are joint tenants in the house.

FBaby

How will overplaying the mortgage benefit her when sold? In the end is up to her (and your brother) as to what they consider fair as there is no right or wrong answer. If I was her though I wouldn't agree to pay 1/3 off everything as not gaining the same benefits and sharing a room with your brother or so I assume!

Mojisola

pollyanna24 wrote: »

She's renting out her flat for a lot more than what I'm suggesting.

pollyanna24 wrote: »

If she gets pregnant, she gets pregnant I guess. Can always re-evaluate and sell up before the two years. I'd just have to rent.

Remember you're an equal owner. Don't be pushed out of your home because there are two of them - you could stay in your house and have a lodger to cover the costs.

It can be difficult to be a single living with a couple.

Confusedandneedhelp

FBaby wrote: »

How will overplaying the mortgage benefit her when sold? In the end is up to her (and your brother) as to what they consider fair as there is no right or wrong answer. If I was her though I wouldn't agree to pay 1/3 off everything as not gaining the same benefits and sharing a room with your brother or so I assume!

Agreed.

She isnt getting a third of the use of the house and shouldnt pay a third.

Forget joint groceries too, that's ridiculous.

Dont charge her rent either.
1: reasons above re: beneficial interest
2: tension in your family, with your brother
3: resentment that they (the joint they) pay 2/3s, but you get 1/2 the use of the house

pollyanna24

millysg1 wrote: »

A suggestion.
Create a bank account which has all the bills coming out of it. Direct debit the amount each pay into the account (her paying £300 if that's what you decide). Anything left over in this account is explained as money for house emergencies or general wear and tear and breakages.

Then any personal extra money you save from paying less, put this into your own savings. It doesn't help you to reduce your interest compared to paying overpayments on your mortgage though.

This is kinda how me and brother do it at the moment. We have a joint account which we had to set up for the mortgage to come out of.

We each just put an extra £500 (or thereabouts) into the account and I overpay by just over £1,000 each month. We figured this would stand us in good stead when the time does actually come to sell up.