Charging teens rent....

Ian_875

FreeBear wrote: »

Depending on where you live, renting currently consumes around 40% of income in London, falling to 24% in the North East. The national average is somewhere around 30%.

Oh I'm well aware. I actually live in the North East as it happens, and have been renting my current house for 7 years now.

I know in the real world rent/bills etc take up a chunk of money, but to teenage me it felt like a gyp.

For instance, if I get say £1200 a month, and pay £600 of that for all my rent, bills etc then yes, its 50% of my income, but I'm still left with £600.

I just think it's important, especially with teenagers working their first jobs to ensure that you keep in mind that £10 is alot more money when you're 17/18 then when you're 28/29.

Personally I think the 'you don't have to pay rent as long as you put what you would have paid into the bank' is a much better idea.

lookstraightahead

Why do some people on here worry that their kids will get cross? Or leave home and flat share? What's wrong with that?

I truly hope my daughter doesn't need to come home (for long) after uni. Of course we will support her but it must be utterly depressing going back to being "the child of the household".

If someone has s full time job they can afford to rent somewhere/houseshare/pay towards their keep.

Really we are willing them to stay as children, which for society is a major concern.

lookstraightahead

Lokolo wrote: »

I am in agreement with you all the way.

When I came back from university, I took home around £2k a month. I was not charged rent. However it enabled me to save over 50% of my pay in order for me to save up for a deposit to purchase a place of my own.

So you spent £1000 a month? Didnt that feel a bit weird after having to budget so much at Uni? I get that it helped you buy a property, but surely it made your folks worse off? Or did you pay for your food and bills etc separately?

Pension_Geek

My parents never took any money off of me when I was 'back home'. In fact, when I came back from Uni, they were glad of the company. Probably what helped was that I was significantly cheaper than when I had been at school, as they didn't have school fees to pay. I offered, on more than one occasion but this was rebuffed, so instead I would generally pick up shopping here and there and pay for the odd takeaway/things for my parents to do.

silvercar

Pension_Geek wrote: »

My parents never took any money off of me when I was 'back home'. In fact, when I came back from Uni, they were glad of the company. Probably what helped was that I was significantly cheaper than when I had been at school, as they didn't have school fees to pay. I offered, on more than one occasion but this was rebuffed, so instead I would generally pick up shopping here and there and pay for the odd takeaway/things for my parents to do.

A good point in your comment is that the government expects parents (other than those om the lowest incomes) to support their offspring while at university, so having your adult children move home, will mean less expenditure for the parent.

parkrunner

For me it depends on the children. If they are saving as fast as possible for a deposit to buy a property and I could afford it I wouldn't charge a penny. If the kid is a bit of a waster then I'd charge.

SingleSue

lookstraightahead wrote: »

Why do some people on here worry that their kids will get cross? Or leave home and flat share? What's wrong with that?

I truly hope my daughter doesn't need to come home (for long) after uni. Of course we will support her but it must be utterly depressing going back to being "the child of the household".

If someone has s full time job they can afford to rent somewhere/houseshare/pay towards their keep.

Really we are willing them to stay as children, which for society is a major concern.

To be honest, I was quite relieved when eldest said he was moving straight to a flat share as in his time at uni he had accumulated enough 'stuff' to fill not just his room but my entire house!

I also felt it would be a backward step for him to come home as he would be back to sharing a room with his brother and how much that would cramp/inhibit his life style, you can just imagine it "Do you want to come back to mine for a coffee? Oh by the way we will be sharing the front room with my mum and we can't go to my bedroom as my brother will be in there!"

He's no longer in his house share, he has now set up home in a beautiful flat with his partner where he has all the space he needs as the flat has more floor space than my entire house.

Lokolo

lookstraightahead wrote: »

So you spent £1000 a month? Didnt that feel a bit weird after having to budget so much at Uni? I get that it helped you buy a property, but surely it made your folks worse off? Or did you pay for your food and bills etc separately?

Just looking back at my budget from 2011/2012. The amount I saved ranged from around £700 to £1100 a month. I spent £340 on my commute pass. Around £100 a month on petrol and the same again on parking. £200 on frivolous spending, then around £100 on food (lunches). This was from September 2011. I had purchased my property by August 2012.

Made my folks worse off? Most probably, by about £100 a month. The biggest outgoing for an additional person in a household is food.

Since my lodger left (6 months ago) my gas and electric has gone from £120 to £100. Water from £50 to £40 (we use a lot!). Council tax, TV stay the same. The house still needs to be heated. Lights will still be on.

Pension_Geek

silvercar wrote: »

A good point in your comment is that the government expects parents (other than those om the lowest incomes) to support their offspring while at university, so having your adult children move home, will mean less expenditure for the parent.

They certainly do, and again, whilst i was in the incredibly lucky position to have both my degrees and living costs fully funded, many of those there at the same time as me had to have jobs, as they couldn't get a loan sufficient to pay the expenses.

eilidhcatriona

No kids myself, but I have a colleague who has 2 sons in their mid twenties. Both still live with her, pay no rent, no bills, no food contribution, she does their laundry, they both work full time and seem to be constantly needing to be bailed out financially - one recently had a car taken off him because he couldn’t keep up the lease payments, so she’s now bought him an old car. She’s always complaining she’s skint from looking after them. Personally I think she has dug herself into a hole by covering all their housing related costs and chores, and neither of them seems to understand financial responsibility.