Other half is moving in, how much rent should I charge?

tightauldgit

Mark300zx said:

elsien said:

Why would you be charging rent? 

They are a partner not a lodger. 

You would be paying your mortgage anyway and you don’t want them to have a claim on the property so whatever between you, you feel as a sensible split of the day to day bills, food et cetera.

That may leave them with more spending on a day-to-day basis, but it leaves you with a property which hopefully is appreciating in value and where you have security but they don’t because you can throw them out at any point. Swings and roundabouts.

Rent is a term for a contribution to living there, they may buy a property to rent out while with me so they would benefit from that, also if they are a partner shouldn't they share costs but not wish to be reimbursed for the benefit of moving in?

So you want them to give you money for the privilege of moving in with you so that you can pay your mortgage but you don't want them to have any rights at all? I don't think that's really how it works. You may be better off trying to find a lodger than a partner. Personally if someone asked me to move in with them on this basis I'd run a mile.  

Mark300zx

There is a balance isn't there, an acknowledgement that they are living somewhere very cheaply which would probably cost circa £1000 otherwise. That also releases their money for them to invest elsewhere! 

michelle09

When my partner and I moved in this was the deal we had:

 Partner paid 50% of all bills including service charge and food but not mortgage. Partner would put equivalent of mortgage into a savings pot.

If we got married then the pot and my partner's savings would be put into the flat and we would become joint owners (both benefit). If we split then I could tell my partner to leave same day without guilt as they should have had a pot built up and could have checked into a hotel.

By splitting bills you both get a financial benefit. Your partner is giving up all rights by moving in. Ultimately if you charge your partner any of your mortgage costs they could try and claim an interest. They may or may not win but it isn't a risk I would take.

But I wouldn't move in with a partner who was trying to profit from me either! 

_Penny_Dreadful

Mark300zx said:

There is a balance isn't there, an acknowledgement that they are living somewhere very cheaply which would probably cost circa £1000 otherwise. That also releases their money for them to invest elsewhere! 

The other options, renting with an AST or being an owner-occupier, would give them a lot more security than you're offering so is worth more than the rent you're wanting to charge. 

Wanting your partner to pay half your mortgage whilst giving up any claim to your property is trying to have your cake and eat it.  What is the longer term plan if the relationship goes well?  Would you at some point in time want to own the property jointly or sell it and buy a new home together or for your partner to carry on paying off your mortgage for a property they will never own.

JReacher1

michelle09 said:

When my partner and I moved in this was the deal we had:

 Partner paid 50% of all bills including service charge and food but not mortgage. Partner would put equivalent of mortgage into a savings pot.

If we got married then the pot and my partner's savings would be put into the flat and we would become joint owners (both benefit). If we split then I could tell my partner to leave same day without guilt as they should have had a pot built up and could have checked into a hotel.

By splitting bills you both get a financial benefit. Your partner is giving up all rights by moving in. Ultimately if you charge your partner any of your mortgage costs they could try and claim an interest. They may or may not win but it isn't a risk I would take.

But I wouldn't move in with a partner who was trying to profit from me either! 

How did this work out in the end?

Gavin83

Mark300zx said:

elsien said:

Why would you be charging rent? 

They are a partner not a lodger. 

You would be paying your mortgage anyway and you don’t want them to have a claim on the property so whatever between you, you feel as a sensible split of the day to day bills, food et cetera.

That may leave them with more spending on a day-to-day basis, but it leaves you with a property which hopefully is appreciating in value and where you have security but they don’t because you can throw them out at any point. Swings and roundabouts.

Rent is a term for a contribution to living there, they may buy a property to rent out while with me so they would benefit from that, also if they are a partner shouldn't they share costs but not wish to be reimbursed for the benefit of moving in?

As others have pointed out you can't legally charge a partner rent as they're neither a tenant nor a lodger. Therefore any money they pay across is a contribution to the household. That contribution to the household entitles them to a potential claim should things go wrong. If you don't like this idea (and I don't blame you) then don't charge 'rent'.

My suggestion would second what others have said. Ask them to pay their 'rent' into a savings account. If you stay together then they have a pot of money to contribute to a mortgage/wedding/whatever in the future. If you split then they've a pot of money to set themselves up again and you're free to kick them out guilt free and safe in the knowledge they've no claim on your property.

MobileSaver

Mark300zx said:

There is a balance isn't there, an acknowledgement that they are living somewhere very cheaply which would probably cost circa £1000 otherwise. That also releases their money for them to invest elsewhere! 

The balance is that they're living very cheaply but have absolutely zero security of tenure; if the two of you have a blazing argument a year from now then your partner could find themselves homeless practically overnight.

Similarly, while they're not contributing to the actual property, they are contributing to shared bills so you are probably benefiting by paying less for council tax, electric, heating, broadband, Sky etc.

Scorpio33

Gavin83 said:

Mark300zx said:

elsien said:

Why would you be charging rent? 

They are a partner not a lodger. 

You would be paying your mortgage anyway and you don’t want them to have a claim on the property so whatever between you, you feel as a sensible split of the day to day bills, food et cetera.

That may leave them with more spending on a day-to-day basis, but it leaves you with a property which hopefully is appreciating in value and where you have security but they don’t because you can throw them out at any point. Swings and roundabouts.

Rent is a term for a contribution to living there, they may buy a property to rent out while with me so they would benefit from that, also if they are a partner shouldn't they share costs but not wish to be reimbursed for the benefit of moving in?

As others have pointed out you can't legally charge a partner rent as they're neither a tenant nor a lodger. Therefore any money they pay across is a contribution to the household. That contribution to the household entitles them to a potential claim should things go wrong. If you don't like this idea (and I don't blame you) then don't charge 'rent'.

My suggestion would second what others have said. Ask them to pay their 'rent' into a savings account. If you stay together then they have a pot of money to contribute to a mortgage/wedding/whatever in the future. If you split then they've a pot of money to set themselves up again and you're free to kick them out guilt free and safe in the knowledge they've no claim on your property.

Bit in bold is incorrect. You can call it what you like, but they only have a claim on your house if they have contributed towards the mortgage and there is an intention that this will give rise to a claim on the property. This is usually proven by the other partner paying the mortgage company directly (rather than given you money). The only other way a claim can be bought about is if the other partner has contributed substantially to home improvements - for example getting a loan for an extension. Merely contributing to the household doesn't give them a right to make a claim.

Morally though, you would want to make it "fair", which is always a contencious issue and depends on your relative earnings, financial commitments, even what they used to pay in rent coudl come into it.

diystarter7

Hi OP

I'm staggered as no one has mentioned this yet. Ask your OH about this and what they feel about helping towards moving in and just in case things did not work out, how would this be addressed?

Do a trial run of a few weeks and see how it goes and chat and investigate the options

Thanks

baser999

I lived with a friend in her property years ago and at one point we both found ourselves unemployed and for a short while both claiming benefits. DHSS weren't convinced we weren’t in a relationship to the extent they arranged a visit to discuss how we bought and paid for shopping, used washing machine, did we eat meals or spend leisure time together etc. 😱