Renting my property to husband’s ex

@TheHerboriste I think you misunderstand me. I'm suggesting the ex-wife finds a private rental. The op has said the problem with a private rental is that landlords will not consider child support when deciding whether the ex-wife can afford the rent and will, therefore, require a guarantor. Op's dh can be that guarantor. That solution avoids the messy situation of current wife becoming landlord to ex-wife for the next 30 years and not being able to evict ex-wife if she doesn't pay the rent. Assuming that's what happens, then Op can continue to rent out her rental property and put any profit in an account for her daughter, which is what happens now. Op's dh will continue to pay ex-wife the £800 per month child maintenance because it's required for the private rental.

Can your husband get a mortgage on a 3 bed property and instead of paying maintenance he could put £800 towards mortgage? His ex would have to pay shortfall and the house would eventually be his children’s property. That give his DC a roof over their heads plus it’s an investment for the future for them.

He actually expects you to forego £6000 a year on top of the inflated CMS??

No. Just offer for the girls to live with you FT. They can have days out with their mother, who hopefully can finds a houseshare she xan afford on her wage.

You already are subsidizing these people to an excessive degree. Your husband is really taking advantage of your earning power.

She sounds shiftless and lacking in resources. I expect a plausible excuse will arise pretty quickly.

There’s nothing wrong with making a profit. It’s how our economic system works.

Investing in residential property is a valid wealth-building strategy, as is investing in stocks, precious metals, etc.

Don’t blame landlords for our government’s failure to build more affordable housing.

Also most renters have champagne taste on a beer budget, wanting a room for each child and other amenities. That’s consumer demand, not greedy landlords. When I was young we slept 2-3 to a room, even as young adult housemates.

And what if the husband comes up short?

At the very least he needs to divert the £800
per month from the ex to OP, up front.

Rentals are not affordable unless they are council housing rates.
Rentals are about 50% higher than mortgages in our area, and that then contributes to the cycle of not being able to afford deposits as well as inflated prices because of lack of houses available.
Noone is being a landlord to help out tenants, it's to make profit. Our neighbours who rent have a smaller property than us and pay £500 more a month than our mortgage.

For heaven’s sake, now you’re just enjoying the drama. Just get your dh to guarantee his ex-wife’s rent and the problem’s solved. If she pays her rent, his guarantee will have cost him nothing and you will have avoided a huge mistake.

Your gut is right, it's potentially kinder to all of you not to facilitate this situation in order not to put the relationship at risk. However if you live in an area where the rental market is anything like where I am then I fully understand the choices she will be looking at and that you don't want the DC to have to live like that when you potentially have the key to preventing it.

You're damned if you do, and damned if you don't so you need to go for the least worst option. You sound financially comfortable, I'd agree to increase the £200 per week to something which will enable them to attain a reasonable place to live for a specified amount of time, rather than have them in your rental property and risk that going wrong.

That’s what I thought.

Why would she stop paying rent ?

I’m pretty sure that landlord insurance will not cover if you are renting to friends/family at a rate so significantly under market value. Also how does this impact your tax situation? It sounds very simple as a solution to your DH I’m guessing, but not in practice and aside from the family dynamics it would be a legal/regulatory nightmare.

Going against the grain here, but I would do it. DH to pay you instead of child maintenance payments might be a good solution.

The money has nothing to do with the children's right to a relationship with both parents.
If the mum is working part time and getting UC that would be enough to live off without maintenance depending on area, so another alternative would be moving somewhere less expensive. But that would also not be beneficial if it reduced contact with dad.
If finances allow it then staying in the more expensive area and the children maintaining contact with the parent who is earning less and available to parent more of the time as well as the parent working full time would be the most beneficial to the children.

If tenants want lease to be renewed, would your H want his ex to move in with you? To help her out? Or for you to build a granny annexe?

Bloody hell. Why are men never expected to
house their wife’s ex-husband? Why is it always women?

OP I’ve tried to rtft but does your DH have the capacity/means to purchase a property himself that he could then rent to her? It would mean that the girls have something to inherit, they all have somewhere to live that can be subsidised at his wish as it’s affecting his own pocket and you’re not the fall guy.

I'm shocked by some of the responses, especially against the mum and suggesting the kids shouldn't live with her. Talk about derailing a thread.

I would have said no to renting to ex, but on reflection, it might be the best course of action here. The girls are family. This way they remain nearby and have a decent place to call home. Is there any way of approaching this as a medium term rental. As in, until all children at Uni or out of full time education? After which you will be looking for market rent, she will have to give up her lease?

Appreciate, I have no idea how difficult it would be to ask her to leave/increase rent when the time comes.

Maybe suggest renting to her on the condition that the extra £200 ceases in lieu. But appreciate that might also be tricky.

If you do go down this route then you need to get specialist advice to make sure they won't count you and your DH as one legal unit.

You cannot claim housing costs if you are renting from the other parent of your children.

Whilst you keep everything separate from your DH with your rentals finances you need to be sure that UC will view it the same.

I rented a property to my cousin (didn't actually know she was my cousin at first) through a scheme where she was introduced to me by a housing officer. They knew my set up was proper as they'd vetted it all for the scheme. When we realised that she was my cousin and she told them it took 14 weeks (during which they froze her housing benefit) to "investigate" and decide it was fine.

The reason I said @literati about building a granny annexe or let her move in to your home is because your H has basically asked if you will keep his ex for life in a rental you own. As you said yourself, once DC go off to Uni and leave home, she won’t even be able to afford a discounted amount of rent. A loss of 60 thousand in 10 years plus you will be paying for your step children’s university fees is a lot of money, I’m amazed he has even asked! Next he will be asking you to sign over the deeds to her!

No. She has 50/50 care and he is paying maintenance. She can get a second job if she’s struggling on the income she has.

Then you should boost her budget rather than renting your property to her. xx

Nope - not in a million years. Ever.

how long have you been married / together and how old are all the kids

he seems to have landed on his feet massively with you and your inheritances

he wants you take a 500 a month hit for his ex wife
so that’s roughly 6k a year
say she stays for 10 years that’s a 60k hit your taking min
not to mention if you have to do any major stuff like a new boiler / windows

he seems to be very free and easy with your money / assets

You don’t even want your DH to be a guarantor on a different property for her
he has ( you said ) an interest / percentage in. the property you live in

a a landlord and a court could easily secure a ccj against your husband if the ex don’t or can’t pay at any time they could put a charge on his share of your house

@literati can I take it the ex is now working full time considering her children are mid teens? has she thought about looking for another job after hours that could help her earn more money??