How much in rent should I be taking off my sister

Jewelrose

I live in a two bed flat with my partner & two kids. My sister wants to stay at mine to get a bit of money behind her by working as a nanny. I live in Richmond, London. She will be getting £400 a week untaxed. I have thought about £40 a week for her stay & buys her own food. I was told off someone that amount is too low. She is having to pay council tax at another property owned by my mum that is keeping the house open for her as my sisters oh lives there.
Is £40 a week reasonable or should i ask more? Somebody said more for the area as if she was staying elsewhere it would be a lot more. I am struggling at the moment with money. I want to help her out as she hasn't had much luck in the way of work before
Somebody said that isn't a lot £40 a week to what she will be earning & should be helping me more for the inconvenience in space of flat & with my partner there

Mojisola

Jewelrose wrote: »

I live in a two bed flat with my partner & two kids. My sister wants to stay at mine to get a bit of money behind her by working as a nanny. I live in Richmond, London. She will be getting £400 a week untaxed. I have thought about £40 a week for her stay & buys her own food. I was told off someone that amount is too low. She is having to pay council tax at another property owned by my mum that is keeping the house open for her as my sisters oh lives there.
Is £40 a week reasonable or should i ask more? Somebody said more for the area as if she was staying elsewhere it would be a lot more. I am struggling at the moment with money. I want to help her out as she hasn't had much luck in the way of work before
Somebody said that isn't a lot £40 a week to what she will be earning & should be helping me more for the inconvenience in space of flat & with my partner there

What other people think isn't important. If you and your partner are happy with £40, why is anyone else's business to tell you that you're wrong?

If you're not sure how things are going to work out, tell her that you'll revise it after a couple of months.

enjoyyourshoes

Just consider the unexpected consequences of both charging a low or high rent compared to the market rate.

Do some investigation, there is a website if your are looking to rent rooms (they do w/o bills, with bills etc, so you can benchmark )

Consider all of the costs you are likely to incur also look at legal stuff (insurance, mortgage, tax for you , council tax etc)

Apply different %age reductions to your researched benchmark price and then consider which %age reduction is applicable for your sister.

Then have a mature professional open discussion with her.

fairy_lights

It doesn't matter whether anyone else thinks £40 a week is too low, what matters is that you think it's enough to cover any costs and compensate for any disruption. How long is she going to be staying with you for? three adults and two children in a two bedroom flat sounds like a potential nightmare.

jjlandlord

For what it's worth: Do not treat family relations as business relations.

pmlindyloo

fairy_lights wrote: »

It doesn't matter whether anyone else thinks £40 a week is too low, what matters is that you think it's enough to cover any costs and compensate for any disruption. How long is she going to be staying with you for? three adults and two children in a two bedroom flat sounds like a potential nightmare.

Where is she going to sleep?

If she has her own room/space then what she pays might be more than if she is 'dossing down' on the sofa bed.

What extra is this going to cost you? More utilities?
(gas/electricity/water?)

If she is a nanny then how much time is she going to be spending with you? Weekends/nights? Days off? All this should be taken into account.

I agree that what others say does not matter. Start with an agreed amount but be flexible. If your bills rise considerably then you must not be out of pocket. If it is just for a short period then it won't matter too much.

More important are laying down some ground rules and not turning this into having an unwanted lodger and ruining your relationship.

theartfullodger

You can charge her what you like but personally I would advise - don't rent to friends or family. Sign a standard lodger agreement, make sure it specifies notice periods you are happy with (say 1 week, both sides).

The rent paid will be income you will be obliged to declare to Mssrs HMRC unless below the "rent a room" limit of £4250/pa.

Check your insurance and/or mortgage and/or tenancy agreement to see if paid lodgers are OK.

G_M

Impossible for anyone here to advise: it's a family issue, not a property or business one. It depends entirely on your relationships as a family. If you hate her, charge double the market rate! Love her? Tell her she can stay for free as long as she likes.....

Or something in between.

silvercar

Is she occupying a room that is preventing you getting a lodger? I assume not, so you are doing a favour to a close family member. In which case any comparison to nearby lodger rates is irrelevant.

theartfullodger

Nb Lodger income may impact some benefits eg HB.

questionss

My DH is going to be a midweek lodger with his bro near London. We know that some extra pennies would help his bro out.
The rent a room rate works out just below £82/week.
Lodging rates for mon-fri rooms in that area start from £80 but most are £100-120 per week.
We offered at the low end of market rate £80 - we can afford it, he & his family are doing us a huge favour and we don't want them to feel take advantage of.