I've got a mortgage. When my partner moves in, should she pay?

Former_MSE_Joanne

NB: This question was sent in by a MoneySaver and featured in this week's email.

This week's MoneySaver who wants advice asks... I own my place - though I've got a mortgage - and my partner is moving in. We are not married and I've no idea what the fair thing to do is regarding contributing towards living expenses. Should I charge her rent or ask her to pay towards the mortgage? Should I just ask for a contribution towards bills?


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iclayt

I have recently moved in with my partner. She owns the flat and pays the mortgage. We split all bills and utilities. Our understanding is that I save as much as I can of my wages so that when we buy a house I've saved up as much as I could and that's my contribution.

There was never any expectation on her part that I would contribute to the mortgage, just shared living costs, and save what I would have been paying on rent.

stator

The general bills (Water/gas/electric/food) should be split 50/50. The mortgage should continue to be paid completely by the owner. Keep things nice and simple and if the relationship breaks down there will be no messy split up trying to work out who owns how much of the house. If you get married/CP you can reconsider as things are more committed.

getmore4less

Should she pay?

If you want to loose some of your house.

plimsoll

When my brother moved in with his then gf (now wife) she charged him rent. It's a one bedroom flat lol. I think if you're moving in together you really need to talk about how you're going to manage money. Will you plan to combine finances (joint accounts etc) in the future or keep your earnings separate and each contribute towards expenses? How you plan together to manage money will be a big factor in whether she pays you rent or not.

oldtrout

stator wrote: »

The general bills (Water/gas/electric/food) should be split 50/50. The mortgage should continue to be paid completely by the owner. Keep things nice and simple and if the relationship breaks down there will be no messy split up trying to work out who owns how much of the house. If you get married/CP you can reconsider as things are more committed.

Totally agree, and like so many of these MMD, this should be discussed and agreed with her before she moves in.

I would add that if you now get the Council Tax reduction as a single person, your partner should pay the difference you will have to pay if she moves in.

Let head rule heart to get financial things sorted ... from then on,
makes heart ruling head so much fun!

molliemoo060304

All bills should be 50/50, when it comes to the mortgage I would have a look at the average rent in the area for similar properties and ask them for half of that, it, it is better than half of the mortgage as you could be paying a higher amount to pay it off earlier or you could be paying lower due to a lump sum you paid, it should definitely be paid, they would have to pay it anywhere else and you should not have to pay it on your own when they are also benefitting

Money_Man_Steve

You could split all the bills proportionately. Say for example your total income each month is £3000, but one of you brings in £2000 and the other £1000. The person bringing in £2000 earns 2/3 of the total household income, so they pay 2/3 of the total household bills, and the other person pays 1/3. So if your total bills are £1000/month, using this example you'd split them £666.66 and £333.33.

Whether the bills include the mortgage is up to you, but the partner moving in may have a legal claim on the property just by living there and contributing, so it depends on your view of this and trust between you. Take legal advice to be certain of the implications.

ViolaLass

oldtrout wrote: »

I would add that if you now get the Council Tax reduction as a single person, your partner should pay the difference you will have to pay if she moves in.

Which would leave her paying only 25%. Why shouldn't she pay half?

pennypinchUK

Take care if you ask your partner for a contribution towards the mortgage - should you split up they'll have an argument to be able to claim part ownership of your property. Best to ask them for a contribution towards utility bills and food costs (it's the same money you'll receive, but with very different connotations).

Mrs_Mug

My partner recently moved into my house. I sought legal advice as I got divorced 3 years ago and wanted to protect myself, and was told that he won't have a claim on my house if we split up.
We had several conversations about it. We split the bills and then worked out what it would cost him to share a house of a similar size. Then we came up with a figure we were both happy with (actually he wanted to pay £100 more a month, so we split the difference). He didn't want to feel dependent, or a "free loader" and I didn't want him to have a significant financial incentive to remain in the relationship if things started going wrong. I have deliberately worked hard to pay for my house, and gone without in the past, and have been helped out by my family. My partner doesn't want to be a beneficiary of those things as he doesn't think that would be fair. We feel there is a cost to accommodation and both people need to pay towards it or it could cause resentment.