Have you 'lodged' with your parents? How much did you pay?

apple_muncher

Hello,

Am seeking some advice but the info I can give is rather vague, so apologies in advance!

Have any of you moved back into your parental house and paid them rent? If so, how much? Did it inclide bills? Did you do your own cooking? I assume you did your own washing (!) and certainly did a fair share of things like washing up, hoovering...

Why am I asking?

Dss + his gf are going to be living with us indefinitely from next month and have asked us how much rent we want them to pay. Their situation is in flux, so any info re studies + jobs and where jobs are located could change from week to week. They are 'back' from 2 years in Oz (gf is Ozzie) and dss is off to uni. Gf will look for a job, but has nothing lined up yet. They have been saving - tho we don't know how much they have.

If we set the rent too low, then they will never leave - and I admit to being selfish here, as I need a lot of space and time alone to be able to function properly. But I don't want to be unreasonable either.

So, any personal experience anecdotes and figures would be greatly appreciated.

lonestar1

I'd go for the most your allowed under the governments rent a room scheme currently £4250 a year any more and you'd have to declare it and pay tax

https://www.gov.uk/rent-room-in-your-home/the-rent-a-room-scheme

I lived with parents a few years back and payed £400 a month (Im not sure if my parents declared the income or not) which included utilities and council tax but bought my own food etc I also payed for decent broadband.

It was cheaper than renting my own place and helped me save up some cash but certainly not so cheap I stayed longer than I had to

xylophone

Will your son be living with you while he is at university (not living in halls)?

With regard to washing, might it be more economical for the wash loads to be combined and for you and the "lodgers" to take it in turns to do the washing/ironing?

If there were two of you at home before the advent of the "lodgers", you have a fair idea of your monthly spend on CT/ food/utilities - the "lodgers" could pay half of that?

They could share the cleaning/gardening/shopping chores or even take them over as part payment of rent?

ognum

apple_muncher wrote: »

Hello,

Am seeking some advice but the info I can give is rather vague, so apologies in advance!

Have any of you moved back into your parental house and paid them rent? If so, how much? Did it inclide bills? Did you do your own cooking? I assume you did your own washing (!) and certainly did a fair share of things like washing up, hoovering...

Why am I asking?

Dss + his gf are going to be living with us indefinitely from next month and have asked us how much rent we want them to pay. Their situation is in flux, so any info re studies + jobs and where jobs are located could change from week to week. They are 'back' from 2 years in Oz (gf is Ozzie) and dss is off to uni. Gf will look for a job, but has nothing lined up yet. They have been saving - tho we don't know how much they have.

If we set the rent too low, then they will never leave - and I admit to being selfish here, as I need a lot of space and time alone to be able to function properly. But I don't want to be unreasonable either.

So, any personal experience anecdotes and figures would be greatly appreciated.

I'm not sure my experience is much good for you but it may give you food for thought.

The first thing is that I doubt that your son and girlfriend will choose to stay unless they need to, maybe your son will but with his girlfriend they will be looking for their own space as soon as they can find it.

This happened to me as well my son went travelling for a few years, returned with a girlfriend and the first time I met her was when she arrived with her suitcase and moved in! She is now my DIL, mother of my grandchildren, I love and respect her, she is a wonderful mother and person.

I didnt charge them any rent, they needed to save, they would buy their won food. Sometimes they ate alone, sometimes we ate together, sometimes they cooked sometimes we did. Somehow we rubbed along together well.

They needed their space and we needed ours so when they had saved they moved out, now own thier own home and both have good jobs. I think that living together bought a good dimension to our relationship and though at times I found it stressful overall I'm glad it happened.

Well done for agreeing to the change, I'm sure it will deepen your relationship with your son and his girlfriend.

missbiggles1

When I last lived with my parents, I paid them the same as I would've paid to rent a room in a shared house but, as that included food and utilities, it was a pretty good deal.

gazter

Charge them a market rate, but put a portion of it into a separate account (controlled by you) towards a house deposit for them.

Thrugelmir

My parents were divorced. So I gave my mother 25% of my monthly wage. Though to be fair to my mother. She did put a little aside and gave it back to me when I bought my first property.

jonathon

my son gives me 20% of his monthly take home capped at £200

phatwa

I have to say I think you're being slightly presumptuous in saying that if you undercharge them they will never leave. A lot of young people and even more so young couples would love their own place, regardless of how much they pay their parents in rent. It's more of a case of if they can afford to move out... And the more you charge them, the longer that'll take

ManuelG

phatwa wrote: »

I have to say I think you're being slightly presumptuous in saying that if you undercharge them they will never leave. A lot of young people and even more so young couples would love their own place, regardless of how much they pay their parents in rent. It's more of a case of if they can afford to move out... And the more you charge them, the longer that'll take

Yup, my parents didn't charge me much but I couldn't wait to leave Not that I don't love them but it ain't the best chat-up line to say hi, I live with my Mum.

And yes, subsidised rent allowed me to clear off far sooner!

silvercar

The vast majority of parents give financial help to their offspring while they are students. The government also has an expectation that parents will help out when deciding the level of student loan and grants.

I wouldn't charge rent to a student living at home to save money.