Boyfriend moving into my flat!

Megan123456

Hi all,
Hoping you can help with some advice!

Around 5 months ago I bought my first flat. Now, me and my boyfriend feel ready to move in with each other, but it's still early days so we don't want to get caught up in joining up a mortgage just yet. He's currently living with parents after just being bought out of his old mortgage.

I don't want to charge him rent and waste his money when if it wasn't for me he'd be buying his own house or maybe staying with parents for a bit, so I want to know what to charge him to live with me to keep it fair whilst the mortgage is still very much in my name and protects my flat if we did split up. 

If it helps, our plan would be to live in my flat for a couple of years and then go in joint on a house with both having a similar deposit to invest.

In my flat, bills are around £380 (service charge fees, council tax, gas, electricity, water, broadband etc.).

My mortgage is around £500 per month, made up of £270 fees/interest, and £230 repayments.

What would be a fair amount for him to pay? I was thinking half bills and half of the mortgage interest which would be around £325 a month for him, and I pay the other half of the bills and all the mortgage repayments so around £555. Ideally he will put away the £230 he is saving on mortgage repayments into a savings account to help us to have a bigger deposit down the line.

I'd really appreciate some advice on if that sounds like the right sort of approach for both of us! Thanks :-) 

dimbo61

It looks like you have already done the maths.
£325 a month is cheap rent for a young man living in a nice flat.
You will have to pay 100% council tax so No 25% discount and you need to inform them so he is registered with the elections people ( Electoral Register )
 " If you want to get to know me Come and live with me "
He has already owned a property so can't use a HTB ISA or LISA

MovingForwards

What is it you want as you say it's your flat for the first few years, but then make reference to your OH contributing to the mortgage interest, therefore gaining a beneficial interest in the property.

tacpot12

I think you should be able to avoid any complication of your boyfriend gaining a beneficial interest in your property if you both sign an agreement that he will give you £200 pcm towards your bills, and £125 pcm for having him as a guest, and that there is no intention that he should gain a beneficial interest in your property. These amounts are carefully set so they are not half the bills and not half the mortgage interest. It is very unlikely he would make a claim that he had a beneficial interest unless you decide to remain where you are for more than a couple of years, so it would be worth reviewing the situation if you do decide not to move. 

The other thing you could do now, or later, is to let him have a beneficial interest your flat in exchange for contributing half the mortgage capital + interest, and for you to use the money that this is saving you to put to one side so you can buy him out if anything does happen to the relationship.

If you decide to marry, a pre-nuptual agreement could be useful, but be aware that UK courts will not uphold such an agreement if it prejudices the interests of any children, and both parties need to have taken independent legal advice prior to signing. 

firsttimesellerldn

I’m in this situation and my partner pays me half the bills including the mortgage payment, but don’t contribute towards service charges or ground rent. This was right for us - he still pays substantially less than he would do renting separately and him paying much less didn’t seem right. But we’re looking to buy together now anyway. I don’t think this would have worked longer term as he has no financial security in terms of the flat. Like all these things communication is key. 

Billy_B_North

Best of luck, it’s a big step, and exciting.

Once he’s been there a month or so I’d recommend having a proper discussion about whether you both still feel that the deal is fair. You don’t want one of you feeling resentful but not saying anything.

It’s also a good idea to have a discussion about what “rights” and responsibilities each of you has. You want him to feel that it’s his home, but it’s also your house, so do you both choose the decoration, is he allowed to fill up a shelf of the fridge with beer, who does the laundry, and so on. They are little things, but worth talking about properly to make sure that you are both as happy as you can be.

getmore4less

Why should he be servicing the debt you are using to pay for your property
That is  just rent really (what if it was interest only or no mortgage?)

Even the service charges won't all be "living" costs  probably most are for maintenance p keep of the thing you own.

1/2 the living in the place costs and none of the owning related costs is fair without starting to include nominal rent or purchase costs.
Have him  save all the money he would be putting into rent/property and start the next one on a more equal footing.
Otherwise you are risking the conversation of how much of your equity is really his  as he has been servicing some of hte debt that bought a bit of it should get any increases for that bit.

Megan123456

getmore4less said:

Why should he be servicing the debt you are using to pay for your property
That is  just rent really (what if it was interest only or no mortgage?)

Even the service charges won't all be "living" costs  probably most are for maintenance p keep of the thing you own.

1/2 the living in the place costs and none of the owning related costs is fair without starting to include nominal rent or purchase costs.
Have him  save all the money he would be putting into rent/property and start the next one on a more equal footing.
Otherwise you are risking the conversation of how much of your equity is really his  as he has been servicing some of hte debt that bought a bit of it should get any increases for that bit.

Thank you, this is a really interesting viewpoint and it's good to get these opinions!

If I took out the service charge for the flats and mortgage interest, I'd only be asking him for £135 a month, and id be paying £700 odd. Whilst I totally get its my flat and I'm invested in it and therefore should be paying the majority, I think my two worries with that approach would be that firstly, it's such a good deal that I'd be worried it may become a reason to stay (very pessimistic thing to say, but hopefully you get what I mean! Very cheap living in a very nice place), and secondly, his plan was to start paying a mortgage too himself and would be naturally paying lots of these costs. Whilst he doesn't have the benefit of equity in the property, he also doesn't have the benefit of any outgoings (other than bills which he would need to pay anywhere) so it feels a little low.

But I do totally take your point as well. Its really hard to work out what feels fair - that seems too small of a contribution for me to share my space which I've worked so hard to get but also it equally has to be right for him as my partner!

Megan123456

Billy_B_North said:

Best of luck, it’s a big step, and exciting.

Once he’s been there a month or so I’d recommend having a proper discussion about whether you both still feel that the deal is fair. You don’t want one of you feeling resentful but not saying anything.

It’s also a good idea to have a discussion about what “rights” and responsibilities each of you has. You want him to feel that it’s his home, but it’s also your house, so do you both choose the decoration, is he allowed to fill up a shelf of the fridge with beer, who does the laundry, and so on. They are little things, but worth talking about properly to make sure that you are both as happy as you can be.

These are great points, thank you! I want to make sure it feels like his home just as much as mine (even if he gets rid of my favourite painting he absolutely hates!) but I'm not sure he knows that so I'll make sure to have the conversation and we can maybe find new things we both love to fill the space!

ACG

Half the bills/food? 

getmore4less

£230 of your £700 is just you saving(reducing debt).
Down to £135 against £470.
Your extra cost to own the place becomes £335.

How he treats you as a boyfriend will soon determine if it is comfort zone or love zone.

The rate of savings would also be an indicator of how hard he is trying to be on a more equal footing moving forward.

How much equity will he be trying to catch up.