Money Moral Dilemma: Should we ask our daughter and her boyfriend to start paying us rent?

neilmorgan

If they pay you rent then you could lose benefits.
If they pay your bills you shouldn't.
Direct debits are hard for someone else to pay but food bills aren't. Suggest they "help out by paying the food bills which is cheaper than rent would be"

04Felix15

If they’re aware especially your daughter of your circumstances ( being on low income etc) and have not offered to contribute anything at all ( as she seems very organised and sensible)  and she want to live with you with her her boyfriend too for 5 months for free  …  ask them to leave that’s inconsiderate I hope this is not the case. 

Howvever … 

If they don’t know of your circumstances or your daughter might be thinking absentmindedly genuinely, as  she has a lot  going on, with the pending house move, decorating etc then explain your situation and ask for a contribution from both of them. It should be ok im sure. 

Sleazy

It's easy to say 'coulda, woulda, shoulda raised it before',  But you didn't.

You can't change the past five months, but you can change the future going forward.

Of course they should be contributing at least their expenses if not a bit more for your inconvenience.
The longer you leave it, the harder it will be,

Emmia

gilesco said:

Crazy, they're earning £10,000 a month, their rent/mortgage cost should be at least £3,000 a month, claim for yourself whatever is left from what they pay.

They won't be, a chunk of that will go in tax... Nonetheless they should be contributing to the costs of the household

[Deleted User]

Why did your daughter stop paying rent, was it agreed with you, or did she just stop?   You should have raised it right away, of course she should pay her way, and so should her partner.  They are sponging off of you, disgracefully, and it doesn't matter whether you can afford it or not, they don't decide what you do with your money!  Ask them what is going on, and tell them to stump up.  Show them the responses on here if you need support to get what is fair.

blue12

Agree with all the above comments regarding with just compensation and taking the entire situation into account, especially as they are certainly not scraping by themselves. I don't know the Universal Credit income reporting rules but if the rent received would make you ineligible or reduce the amount of UC you receive, then weigh the consequences either way. If "rent" and "sharing expenses may have different effects on UC, perhaps you can honestly separate report "income" from "household expenses". 

Menace101

Annual salaries don't mean anything when a house costs a ridiculous amount of money these days in comparison to 20,30,40 years ago. Especially now. Young people are struggling and trust me when I say that no one if they had the choice would want to leave with their parents as an adult. The choice is simply not really there. 

I don't see why you would need to charge her rent, and whilst you didn't mention it I would hope she is at least contributing towards food shop, treats etc for all of you whilst she's there. If that's not happening amd she's purely leeching, I'd probably ask her for a further share towards water, elec, food (probably not council tax ) if that has had an impact.

Hope you get it all sorted out. 

lakesider52

Not such a good idea for them to pay you rent as it could affect your Universal Credit. It's better for them to pay some of the expenses directly eg food etc rather than giving you the money to pay them.

EmsLee

I think it’s very rude and disrespectful  of your daughter and her boyfriend to not contribute at all to the extra costs incurred with them living with you. She surely is aware that you are low earners and the impact of having twice the number of people using all the facilities would increase your food and fuel bills. If she can’t offer you a financial contribution in case it impacts on your benefits, maybe they could buy you something that you may not be able to otherwise afford or some household item that may need replacing. They could pay for the food shopping if you feel unable to take money off them because of you receiving Universal credit. I trust you don’t do their laundry for them?! They need to grow up.

zoesarahuk

sakuramoon said:

I would definitely expect them to contribute to the bills and food at least. There aren’t many people who can put £1,000 away every month with this cost of living crisis! I know someone who was on universal credit while living with her parents as she was between jobs and she had to pay them a large part of that towards their bills. Certainly as you’re on a low income it seems unbelievable to me that they wouldn’t be paying. Are they not aware of your situation? I hope you can discuss it with them soon especially now that with Winter energy bills will likely be increasing. 

Even after putting £12k away a year, they've still got £108k left!!!!! That's £9k a month. What on earth are they doing with that? They can afford to rent somewhere whilst they decorate their house and still have plenty left over. Selfish to not give her parents something, even if it's just for the shopping and inconvenience.