Should I charge my soon to be ex rent

Lost7887

My husband and I have decided to separate amicably after 8 years.

The short version of my dilemma is that my husband wants to stay at my house (bought before we married) whilst he saves a deposit even though he has his own mortgage free house which he rents out. He can’t get this house back as they’ve just signed a year contract.

The question is should I charge him rent? I’ve never asked him to pay anything towards the mortgage before but that’s before we separated. He contributes towards the bills. I would be £300 better off each month if he paid half the mortgage.

I don’t want to be selfish but I have to keep a roof over my head and previously when I’ve been made redundant I’ve been down to my last pound before I found a job so I’m pretty sensible when it comes to money.

Luckily no kids are involved and we are parting on fairly good terms.

I must say he has anxiety and depression and I have anxiety which is why we’ve talked things through instead of fighting about it.

Would you say it’s fair to ask him to pay towards the mortgage? 

KxMx

I see no reason why he shouldn't pay you rent money as well as bill money. I think it's absolutely fair. 

kazwookie

Just be careful what you agree / call the money, until you are divorced / have a financial settlement, other wise it 'could' be seen that he has a vested interest in the property.

I would suggest he pays food and bills only, at an amount you can agree on. £400 £500 £600 or what ever

sevenhills

Maybe you could draw up a lodger agreement? Some people do charge family for board, so an ex living for free is not what should happen.

pphillips

Renting a room is fine.
Mortgage payments, definitely not.

Make sure you get the agreement in writing ✍ 

kimwp

Blimey, why doesn't he have a deposit already if he's not been paying any rent?

Lost7887

Kimp - he's been overpaying his own mortgage to clear it off. He still has savings though but not enough to put down for a deposit on another house. I know he could just rent elsewhere but he rather buy or wait until he can get his house back.

PPhilips - to him it's rent but I'll put it towards the mortgage as I'm also trying to clear mine off.

Good news we had a chat last night and, although he doesn't like it, he's agreed to pay rent. He's also agreed to sit down and put things in writing as we've verbally agreed that neither of us will go for each others house so thanks for that suggestion everyone. Not sure if it'd stand up in court though. 

kimwp

Lost7887 said:

Kimp - he's been overpaying his own mortgage to clear it off. He still has savings though but not enough to put down for a deposit on another house. I know he could just rent elsewhere but he rather buy or wait until he can get his house back.

PPhilips - to him it's rent but I'll put it towards the mortgage as I'm also trying to clear mine off.

Good news we had a chat last night and, although he doesn't like it, he's agreed to pay rent. He's also agreed to sit down and put things in writing as we've verbally agreed that neither of us will go for each others house so thanks for that suggestion everyone. Not sure if it'd stand up in court though. 

It sounds like he's done financially very well out of your relationship- he's had his income and the rent to pay off his mortgage, while living rent free at yours. I'm pretty sure a divorce court would deem at least part, if not half, of his rented house to go to you (unless your assets exceed his)

In terms of him paying you rent, you just pick a number to charge him and put that in the lodger agreement. It can be larger or smaller than your mortgage payments, be inclusive of bills or not - it's money a lodger is paying you to rent a room in your house, not "money towards" anything. You can have an income of up to £7,000 annually under the rent a room scheme without owing any tax, noting that any money from the lodger counts towards this limit, even if contributions to bills are paid separately to the rent. What I'm not sure about is the implication of you still being married. The point of making sure that payments are rent and not contributions to a mortgage is to avoid claims between unmarried people - surely by being married, he would have a claim anyway?

Thrugelmir

Have you sought advice yet from a family solicitor?  The financial settlement will cover all assets irrespective of who owns them. Don't short change yourself.