Moving in

[RebelRobin]

I am lucky enough to have a lovely boyfriend that I would like to move in with me. I want to get the money side out of the way but sorted so we both know where we stand. My bills for living come to £900 per month (not food) just to live in my flat, so mortgage, water, utilies, wifi, council tax etc comes under this. what would be reasonable for him to pay and would he have a claim on my flat if we should split up 5 years down the line??

I'm sure wise mums netters will help me with this!

[cheesecadet]

Not if it's just your name on it.

You'd both have to work out his outgoings and incomings.

[RebelRobin]

We have similar wages, he rents at present

[cheesecadet]

Well half that then? Could you talk to him about it, or are you in disagreement?

[Somerville]

It is possible to make a claim on a property if you've paid towards the mortgage or equivalent (such as paying for maintenance or doing a load of work on the property for you).

You might get to want proper legal advice on that if you want to protect it.

[RebelRobin]

I was also wondering how to explain getting £450 a month into my bank account every month? Do I declare it as 'renting out a room' if you see what I mean? Otherwise it may look a bit dodgy to the tax man surely?

[Somerville]

Can't you just transfer some of the bills into his name, so it works out roughly 50/50?

[RebelRobin]

No, I don't want to do that. I like being in control of finances for my flat, as I hear so many horror stories

[Morasssassafras]

If your bf contributes to the mortgage etc then it is possible for him to make a claim on the house as a pp said.

www.resolution.org.uk/advice/livingtogether/

[purplefox]

Why would it look dodgy to the tax man? You're not renting out a room (guessing you'll be sleeping in the same room?), he's contributing to the joint living costs which are paid for by you.

[DoubleCarrick]

I'm pretty sure he could come under the rent a room scheme? No tax to pay and nothing to declare. Would need to check though cuz I'm not 100% certain

[Just5minswithDacre]

Get him to make you a standing order for "bills"

[weallhavedreams]

Money saving expert is a great place to get advice on this sort of stuff but as far as I'm aware the pp are correct in that contributing to mortgage will allow him a claim.

You are better off having him contribute to the bills as he won't have any right to claim ownership over your property that way.

Perhaps you could split bills 50/50 and he could put 50% of what he would have paid towards mortgage in to a savings account. Then if all is still good in xx number of years you can either use that saved money for him to "buy in" to your property and add his name to the mortgage or you can use it towards buying your next place together? That way he's contributing to bills and food etc. But has no claim and you both have a fall back should you want the arrangement to become more permanant.

Its important you think about his security as well as yours as he would otherwise be effectively helping you pay off your mortgage but for no ownership of the property and without being able to save towards his own

[NameChange30]

You need legal advice really.

Before we got married, DH and I rented together, then he bought a flat in his name only (at the time I couldn't buy with him because I had no savings and a small income) and I had to sign a legal document saying I would have no legal claim on the property. We have always split the bills proportionately to our income, ie he earns more so he pays more. Strictly speaking I suppose I didn't have to contribute to the mortgage when the flat was just in his name, but I didn't mind - I figured that I would have been paying rent if I wasn't living with him, and my mortgage contribution was much lower than rent would have been. Luckily it all worked out because we got married, sold his flat and used the equity to buy a house together.

My advice for you depends on the situation really.
How long have you and your boyfriend been together?
How does his income compare to yours?
How do you share expenses (meals out, weekends away, etc) at the moment?

To be on the safe side, it might be better if you continue paying the mortgage yourself, but split all the other bills (council tax, utilities, internet, food, etc) 50/50. However, if he earns significantly more than you, it would leave you with a lot less disposable income. And if you hope to buy a property together and/or get married in future, he might be happy to contribute to the mortgage, as they will be joint assets in the end.

[StereophonicallyChallenged]

If you really want to protect your interests (for now, I'm guessing it would change if the relationship continues long term) then I would get a rent book from a stationers and charge him rent him the room under rent a room.

The rate you can get is £7500 per year with no liability to tax, so £625 per month.

**disclaimer is that I personally wouldn't want to live with someone as a lodger but I know people for whom this has worked perfectly iyswim.

[RedMapleLeaf]

Hi, I'm a few weeks ahead of you. At the moment boyfriend is keeping on his rented property (and associated costs) so we're just splitting 50-50 the bills that would go up with him being here (gas, electricity, water and council tax as I lose single occupancy) and also sharing food costs more formally. Other bills such as broadband I am going to continue paying for until it comes to him giving up his rented property. At that point we'll split all of the bills.

The only thing I won't take a penny for is my mortgage. Firstly, at this stage I want the house to be completely my asset. Also it frees money up for him to buy his own investment property for the sake of his financial safety/independence in the future.

[NameChange30]

Cross post with weallhave. That's a sensible suggestion. If he agrees to save the money he would have contributed to the mortgage, he could use it later if you want to buy a house together.

[RebelRobin]

Thanks for all your advice , some food for thought and some great suggestions