Sharing household bills with new partner

LolaPup25

My daughter owns her home due to an insurance claim which left her paraplegic, so she has now mortgage.  Up til 4 years ago we lived with her but then we moved out so her partner could move in.  Due to this she lost her universal credits due to her partners wage and savings.  (she does work part time and is self employed to allow for her to be flexible with her hours due to her disability and how is can affect her physically and mentally).  They split the household bills 70/30.  He doesn't pay any rent which has been fine until now...the house needs roof repairs of approx £8000.  He is not happy to pay for this as he feels it will be dead money for him as he doesn't own the house and will not get that money back.  Our Daughter cannot get a loan. And is not entitled to any grants due to her partners income.   Is she unfair in asking for her partner to cover the cost of the repairs???  

eschaton

If he doesn’t have ownership of any of the property, then it would be some stretch to expect him to help maintain the property. 

You can’t have your cake and eat it. 

elsien

if he is paying for things like roof repairs, then that could potentially give him a beneficial interest in the property if they split up. 

What would she have done to pay for the repairs if her partner hadn’t moved in - would  you have paid for them because you were living there?

marcia_

LolaPup25 said:

My daughter owns her home due to an insurance claim which left her paraplegic, so she has now mortgage.  Up til 4 years ago we lived with her but then we moved out so her partner could move in.  Due to this she lost her universal credits due to her partners wage and savings.  (she does work part time and is self employed to allow for her to be flexible with her hours due to her disability and how is can affect her physically and mentally).  They split the household bills 70/30.  He doesn't pay any rent which has been fine until now...the house needs roof repairs of approx £8000.  He is not happy to pay for this as he feels it will be dead money for him as he doesn't own the house and will not get that money back.  Our Daughter cannot get a loan. And is not entitled to any grants due to her partners income.   Is she unfair in asking for her partner to cover the cost of the repairs???  

 Yes she is being very unfair. Why should he pay to maintain her asset when he has no benefit from it 

itsthelittlethings

Sorry - he is actually being very kind. You should ensure he is putting money away so if the relationship ends he will have something for himself. If he is contributing to the property above and beyond bills (in my understanding) he begins to own a stake gradually in the proprr.

If I were her I would also think twice before getting married.

itsthelittlethings

This is where UC is not beneficial for a disabled person with a working partner as she now has no meaningful income of her own.

Emmia

LolaPup25 said:

My daughter owns her home due to an insurance claim which left her paraplegic, so she has now mortgage.  Up til 4 years ago we lived with her but then we moved out so her partner could move in.  Due to this she lost her universal credits due to her partners wage and savings.  (she does work part time and is self employed to allow for her to be flexible with her hours due to her disability and how is can affect her physically and mentally).  They split the household bills 70/30.  He doesn't pay any rent which has been fine until now...the house needs roof repairs of approx £8000.  He is not happy to pay for this as he feels it will be dead money for him as he doesn't own the house and will not get that money back.  Our Daughter cannot get a loan. And is not entitled to any grants due to her partners income.   Is she unfair in asking for her partner to cover the cost of the repairs???  

If the boyfriend wasn't living in the property (the daughter was living alone) how would she afford the repairs? It seems that she's not saving any money despite not having rent/mortgage to pay. Home ownership has costs for maintenance etc.

I appreciate his income means she's not getting any benefits, but unlike what is probably the vast majority of people of her age, she also doesn't have to pay rent/mortgage for her housing.

Also why are the bills (utilities, council tax...) split 70/30? (Presumably your daughter pays 70%) If they're sharing, surely 50/50 would be a better starting point and should give your daughter the opportunity to save some money. 

The boyfriend definitely shouldn't pay for the repairs (it is a bad idea for your daughter to accept his money for this, as she'd need to buy him out if things went wrong), but he should be saving an amount equivalent to rent so he can move out quickly in the event of a relationship breakdown.

Keep_pedalling

I also think he should be paying 50% of the household expense not 30%. For her sake he should not be paying for any major work on the house. 

First thing to check is does her house actually need £8k of roof repairs. How old is her house? Has she been told this by the person who is going to benefit by doing the work. Unfortunately people have been conned into having a new roof when they only need minor repairs.

ButterCheese

LolaPup25 said:

we moved out so her partner could move in........   she lost her universal credits............ He doesn't pay any rent ......... He is not happy to pay for this roof as he feels it will be dead money  

He's taking advantage IMO.  Fair would be: he pays rent, backdated to when he moved in, and pays rent going forward.  This would enable your daughter to pay to fix the roof, even if it means getting a loan and paying back monthly; his 600-800/month rent (whatever the going rate is) would clear that in a year.

Why does he think he shouldn't have to pay rent?  Where else could he live where that happens?

 

MyRealNameToo

Keep_pedalling said:

I also think he should be paying 50% of the household expense not 30%. For her sake he should not be paying for any major work on the house. 

Are you sure he isnt the one paying 70% because he's the higher earner?

As others have said, if he does start contributing substantially into the upkeep or improvement of the home there is a reasonable prospect he can claim monies were they to split up. It's certainly something your daughter should be be considering before any further discussions on contribution to a significant project. 

I dont think there is a bad thing for him to help on a major project but it should be part of wider conversation on the long term and potentially formalising his relationship with the property 

FrugaiMacDugal

LolaPup25 said:.  

They split the household bills 70/30. 

It may be that he pays the 70%, the OP might come back and clarify that.