How much rent should I charge my partner?

Zero_Sum

gettingtheresometime wrote: »

It doesn't cost anymore to light up a room if there's one person or two in it. Same for heating.


Food obviously is a different kettle of fish.

For heating, if man moving in with woman, then her heating bills will be roughly the same
If woman moves in with man, his heating bills will go up (by quite a bit)

Gavin83

Tom99 wrote: »

But you don't have to accept that a beneficial interest will build up, you just agree in writing that it won't, then you can charge your partner half the mortgage, all of the mortgage or whatever you like. The same as they would pay for sharing an equivalent rental property but discounted a bit would be fair in my view. There is absolutely no reason why someone who owns their own property should provide rent free accommodation to a partner.

OK I’ll make myself clearer. I’ve already said I feel the OPs partner should build up beneficial interest in the property if he pays towards the mortgage. It would be hypocritical of me to then have a different setup with my own partner.

Luckily this won’t affect me however as I’m already married and we both brought the same into the relationship.

74jax

Zero_Sum wrote: »

For heating, if man moving in with woman, then her heating bills will be roughly the same
If woman moves in with man, his heating bills will go up (by quite a bit)

Would depend on the individuals. I can't stand the heating on, hubby would only put it on when really cold, but even them id rather not.

Comms69

Tom99 wrote: »

He will be paying for somewhere to live not 'for nothing', the same as he would if he rents elsewhere but probably less.

Where he would have full tenants rights....

Comms69

Tom99 wrote: »

But you don't have to accept that a beneficial interest will build up, you just agree in writing that it won't, then you can charge your partner half the mortgage, all of the mortgage or whatever you like. The same as they would pay for sharing an equivalent rental property but discounted a bit would be fair in my view. There is absolutely no reason why someone who owns their own property should provide rent free accommodation to a partner.

Meanwhile back in the real world judges can ignore such statements and look at the reality of the situation

Tom99

Comms69 wrote: »

Meanwhile back in the real world judges can ignore such statements and look at the reality of the situation

Can you provide an example of where a couple have agreed in writing that no beneficial interest should occur but where a Court has decided otherwise?

EmmyLou30

Every couple approaches it differently, you have to do what works for you. Personally I had my bf move in and he paid half the mortgage, half the bills and half the food etc. This was still a sum that was less than he had been used to paying when renting a flat by himself, and even after increased commuting costs (as I lived further from his work) he was still financially better off and therefore able to save money each month so found the deal fair.


The agreement was he had no financial interest in my house as he was still better off with me that he would otherwise have been. Had the relationship failed and he had wanted 'his share' of the house back I'd already calculated that my mortgage only reduced by £1500 a year (high interest rate at the time) so I'd give him £750 for each year he'd lived there as well as any portion of the increase in the value of the house as in reality that was all that had been 'gained'. As it happened the house value didn't change so he would never have got much out of it!


We're now married, the extra money we'd both been able to save by sharing living costs all went into the deposit for the next house equally but I did have a plan in place for every eventuality.

beckysbobbles1

I'm in a similar situation with my other half however we're waiting for him to finish renovating his house so he can rent it out.


Currently we roughly evenly split the food shopping but I pay for everything else. Once his house is rented out, he won't be paying the mortgage, council tax and utilities so in theory will be much better off.


We've spoken and agreed 50/50 bills seems far. I do earn more than him and he does have child maintenance to pay for but I still feel 50/50 is fair.


I won't have him contribute towards the mortgage or put him on any of the council tax or utility bills but having him with me does increase my bills.

Fire_Fox

beckysbobbles1 wrote: »

I won't have him contribute towards the mortgage or put him on any of the council tax or utility bills but having him with me does increase my bills.

You might reconsider (say) the council tax or water bill. It can be helpful for your partner to have their name on a household or utility bill as identity/ proof of address. In addition to or as an alternative to a bank statement (esp. for online/ paperless).

tantriclady

Please note: A word of warning ...

The partner does NOT have to prove beneficial interest. If you split up and you decide at ANY time afterwards to sell the house, he can block any sale with Land Registry if he has a solicitor acting on his behalf "investigating beneficial interest". Land Registry will block any sale if there is a legal dispute ongoing over the property (even if solely owned by you).

Then the now ex-partner states they will not unblock the sale unless you pay them.

My ex started at £50k and I eventually got shot off him for £10k just before I became bankrupt (because I couldn't afford the mortgage on my part-time wages which is why I was desperate to sell).

I was absolutely shocked that the law allows this and that I was blackmailed in effect by him legally.

I charged him £30 a week in cash for his heatung/lighting/broadband for 12 years and we split food costs because I knew the law and deliberately avoided giving him a beneficial interest. He didn't even have to prove anything at all on papwr, just make a statement to his lawyer.

So there's my tale of woe. Never again!