Help! Girlfriend bought a house...

bitsandpieces

JP1978 wrote: »

This is pretty much what I was going to say - pay the rent but if shes assuming that you will be moving in and paying rent then dont pay any of the maintenance of the house that you wont ever get back.

Though if it's an OK house in an OK part of central London, that rent seems a total bargain. You'll want to think about what to do longer term (saving money each month is a good start, and if it looks like you'll be together for the very long term then discuss what to do about equity) but it might not be in your interest to quibble about fairly small amounts early on. If you're talking about tens of thousands for new windows then absolutely ask about equity then...but if you're getting half a central London house for that price I wouldn't argue about chipping in a couple of hundred a year for redecorating!

About-time

I would say if she chucks you in ten years' time, you'll have had ten years of paying £400+ a month less rent, which hopefully you'll have banked to save up for your own deposit. In that scenario, you're already better off than you were had you continued to rent yourself.


Putting a brighter spin on it, if you stay together, odds are within a few years you'll use her property and your savings to buy something else together and you'll both be happy ever after.


I wouldn't worry about protecting your interests and trying to grab a slice of the property at this stage - just relax, enjoy the relationship and see where it goes. After only a year together, it could go either way - it's still early days

Pixie5740

The OP hasn't been back since he started the thread. However, my tuppance worth is that he just shouldn't move in. They've been together a year and I wonder if living together is only on the cards because she's just bought somewhere.