Free rent instead of Child Support

Savvy_Sue

Obviously I don't know how amicable you and the STBX are, and it's to your credit that you're considering this, but I said it had a number of ways it could go pear-shaped, and I do wonder if you've thought about any of them.

If I was separating, I'm not sure I'd want to live so close to my ex, and I definitely wouldn't want to be indebted to him for my accommodation. I can see that from your son's pov, it's a good arrangement, and you need to be in touch with each other, BUT it does mean that you're each going to know about the other's life and movements whether you want to or not.

You're going to be in and out doing maintenance and repairs. Lovely, until she doesn't WANT you in and out doing maintenance and repairs. Lovely, until she gets a new man who doesn't WANT you in and out. Lovely, until you find a new lady who doesn't WANT you in and out of your ex's house.

And you still have to act as a landlord, which means you do not have the right to come and go as you please: your tenant has the right to quiet enjoyment, and you have to make an appointment if you want to inspect the property or carry out repairs.

And so on ...

Guest101

glentoran99 wrote: »

as someone asked earlier though would he be prepared to evict her if she didn't pay?

Rent is a debt. The Op would not have to evict, just let the debt mount up and sue her for the amount.

System

Guest101 wrote: »

Rent is a debt. The Op would not have to evict, just let the debt mount up and sue her for the amount.

If the OP wouldn't evict then I can't see him suing for the money.

Ex is onto a good thing if the OP goes down that route. A roof over her head and a very good chance that she has to pay nothing for it

sbill1856

Hi all .... it looks like a consensus is a big fat no !!

However there have been many comments about rent arrears and eviction .... but my plan was to rent the house out to my STBX at no cost but in lieu of Child Maintenence .... so no issues with arrears or eviction. The only unknown is whether this can be done with a Legal Contract

p.s. all is (so far) amicable

Guest101

sbill1856 wrote: »

Hi all .... it looks like a consensus is a big fat no !!

However there have been many comments about rent arrears and eviction .... but my plan was to rent the house out to my STBX at no cost but in lieu of Child Maintenence .... so no issues with arrears or eviction. The only unknown is whether this can be done with a Legal Contract

p.s. all is (so far) amicable

You've not listened then....


Yes it can be done legally. The words legal contract are capitalised, so I suspect you mean something different?


You and your ex can agree any (or indeed none at all) child maintenance.


However if the ex goes to the CMS they will make you pay a set amount, your previous arrangement will be forgotten.


Separately she is protected by law as a tenant. So you cannot just kick her out and so forth.


The concensus has definitely not been a 'no'.

duchy

Would you be happy to be paying the rent when you ex meets a new partner and they move in with your ex and the child ?

Continuing to manage yur ex's life despite the fact you are no longer together - let alone expecting free access to HER home whenever you felt maintenance was needed sounds like a bit of you trying to keep control and in the long term sounds unworkable

What does your ex think of the idea ?
Does she want to live that close , does she want you dropping in whenever you feel like it ? Does she want you as her landlord ?

The seperated parent dynamic can be tricky
The landlord tenant dynamic can be equally tricky especially when there is also a personal relationship.

I think you could be heading for a heap of problems unless you are both committed to this idea and can draw respectful lines.

Savvy_Sue

I am just wondering if you have looked into the implications of allowing your STBX and your son to stay in their current home while you rent / buy elsewhere?

paddedjohn

Sounds like a stupid idea, your ex would be able to claim housing benefit to pay her rent and then claim child maintenance from you, but if you let her live rent free in lieu of cm she would be financially worse off

BigAunty

You are about to swan off to a solicitor to see if you can establish a legal contract that gives her rent free accommodation in lieu of child maintenance.

You do not seem to have given a moment's thought to the implications of having a commercial relationship with her, the risks and issues that come from having a contractual agreement as landlord/tenant, all the problems that come from tenancy related matters that can affect the personal relationship.

What if you lose your job and can't keep up mortgage payments? She doesn't qualify for HB so how does the mortgage and repairs get paid? She gets annoyed because a boiler repair takes so long - you could get it in the neck. Her neighbours report her to the council for being noisy - what are you going or able to do?

As a lone parent, assuming she has a low income, she may quality for full or nearly full HB on a 2 bedroom property in the rental sector with an independent landlord. See the Local Council website for LHA rates. Your child maintenance of £90 does not affect her income related benefits like HB, council tax reduction, child tax credits, child benefit (nor Working Tax Credits if she qualifies for this).

So she may actually be better off by up to £90 a week if she gets HB on another property and CM from you. If she does have to pay a top up from her own employment/benefit income (which many HB tenants do) she may feel its worthwhile to be more independent from you.

Another alternative is that you move out of the family home and let her live there until the youngest turns 18. That's quite a common thing established during a formal separation/divorce where there is an occupation order drawn up that gives the parent with care sole occupier status of the former family home.

Are you one of these dad's who are worried that the CM will go on gin and fags? My brother believed his CM would get squandered by his ex spending on herself. He wanted to control her by buying shoes and clothing, school trips to the value owed each month rather than paying cash.

Her debts are her problem, maintenance issues with a future private landlord are her problem, her lack of assets are her problem. You can find a better way to make a return on an investment than a buy to let that you don't charge any rent for.

shoe*diva79

paddedjohn wrote: »

Sounds like a stupid idea, your ex would be able to claim housing benefit to pay her rent and then claim child maintenance from you, but if you let her live rent free in lieu of cm she would be financially worse off

She can not claim housing benefit when renting from the father of her child/ex partner