Partner moving into my home

wilshire93

Hi all 

just looking for some advice - my partner will be moving into my property (mortgaged solely in my name) next month and I’m looking for the best way to split bills etc.  As we are only a year into our relationship and newly moving in together I want to protect my home incase things don’t work out (obviously I hope they do but trying to be sensible) 

I know that in law the house is mine but if my partner makes a contribution to the mortgage it significantly improves the house this could mean he is intitled to a proportion of the house. 

With this in mind I am unsure whether I would be able to charge a ‘rent’ amount rather than 50/50 split? And whether this would then mean he could not make a claim of my property 

My other option would be to continue paying the mortgage amount myself and then split the bills 50/50 

I feel selfish so please no hate but I do feel I need to protect my assets 

X

RAS

Split the bills and do not let the partner contribute anything towards the mortgage, repairs or any improvements until you are both sure that you want to split the property.

If you decide that then get a proper deed of trust. So, perhaps, in event of a split, you retain the percentage of equity you have already, and you split the remainder in proportion to your contribution to the mortgage and improvement costs?

Mojisola

wilshire93 said:

With this in mind I am unsure whether I would be able to charge a ‘rent’ amount rather than 50/50 split? And whether this would then mean he could not make a claim of my property 

My other option would be to continue paying the mortgage amount myself and then split the bills 50/50 

I feel selfish so please no hate but I do feel I need to protect my assets

It's not selfish; it's very sensible.

Rather than charge your partner rent, one often-given suggestion is to split all the regular bills 50/50 and for the partner to put an amount into savings each month equivalent to half the mortgage/the cost of local rentals/whatever figure you jointly decide.  If the relationship remains strong, the money in savings can be used to buy into the property - if it goes bad, your partner has a lump sum to move on quickly. 

tacpot12

I live in my partner's house. We have a budget for all our regular monthly costs such as council tax, water, gas, electricity, pet insurance, credit payments for DFS sofas, and also our yearly costs such as the car tax, car insurance, TV licence, etc. (these are just divided by 12). I pay some of these, and she pays the rest. We can't ever arrange that the split is 50/50, and so I make a balancing payment to her every month by Standing Order. We review the budget  annually, and I change my standing order accordingly. 

For our irregular costs we have a simple spreadsheet where we record what we have bought if it is a joint purchase like lightbulbs, a vets bill or fuel for the car.  I record all my joint purchases and she records all hers, then at the end of the month, one of us will pay the other to settled up the difference. e.g. If I have spent £200 and she has spent £100, she will pay me £50 so that we have both laid out £150 that month. It works well for us. The only isse we have is whether certain items really are joint purchases - I make a point of buying all tools with my own money, whereas materials for repairs around the house are a shared cost. 

If we have a big cost, like we need a new appliance or new carpets, usually one of us will pay the whole bill with a credit and the other will either pay half directly or add it to the spreadsheet. I'm happy to do this if I have bought a new appliance on a credit card as we have always balanced the spreadsheet by the time the credit card bill is due to the paid.

I also pay her some 'rent' - I do this as much to ensure that if we ever split up I know I can afford to pay rent as I do to be fair to her and to pay my way. 

Ramouth

Mojisola said:

wilshire93 said:

With this in mind I am unsure whether I would be able to charge a ‘rent’ amount rather than 50/50 split? And whether this would then mean he could not make a claim of my property 

My other option would be to continue paying the mortgage amount myself and then split the bills 50/50 

I feel selfish so please no hate but I do feel I need to protect my assets

It's not selfish; it's very sensible.

Rather than charge your partner rent, one often-given suggestion is to split all the regular bills 50/50 and for the partner to put an amount into savings each month equivalent to half the mortgage/the cost of local rentals/whatever figure you jointly decide.  If the relationship remains strong, the money in savings can be used to buy into the property - if it goes bad, your partner has a lump sum to move on quickly. 

Excellent idea

TBagpuss

Another option is to have a formal cohabitation agreement which explicitly states that he will not be entitled to a share based on any contributions or improvements unless there is a formal written agreement put in place 9e.g. if he were to fund an extension, you'd put in place a written agreement at that time saying what interest that gave him) 

You can then if you wish have a n agreement that he pays an element of 'rent' as well as contributing to the bills- personally I'd go with a figure of about half what normal rent / mortgage payments would be.   that way, he is getting cheap housing and you are getting some help with your outgoings, so you both benefit,  then split the bills equally. 

You can opt to review the agreement after 3, 5and 10 years and make changes if, as your relationship continues, you feel it is fair to do so. 

The type of claim he might make is based on there being a mutual intention or agreement that his contributions would give rise to an interest in the house. It becomes very hard to argue that their was a mutual intention that he would gain an interest, if you have a formal written agreement signed by you both saying you agree that he won't!