Moving in with partner - what would be fair?

[otterturk]

Person A owns a 2 bed flat and is in a relationship with person B. Getting serious; not at stage of combining finances.

Person B is going to move in with person A, now that A's lodger is moving out. Both are earning professionals, A earning 30% more than B.

Running costs of the whole flat are £1300 incl. mortgage, utilities, council tax, broadband, tv etc.
Lodger paid £950 all in. If B doesn't move in, A will get another lodger.

How much rent should B pay A?

1. £650 (half costs)
2. £950 (same as lodger paid, so A isn't out of pocket because B moves in
3. Half way between these amounts - £800
4. Something else.

I would be really interested in any thoughts/suggestions.

[quote otterturk]@SimonJT renters don't have a huge amount of security ever. Arguably, B will be paying less now than before so will have more security if choosing to save the difference.[/quote]
They have much more than this suggestion though. If B was a tenant B could only be evicted by the courts, where as in this situation B could be given literally seconds notice. For me no stake in the property means taking rent would be innapropriate.

@otterturk
She'd have more protection renting her own place than living with him. He says it's over, that's it fuck off move out.

Landlord says it's over, it has to go through court and takes a long time.

Interesting a few people assume A is male and B female. It's the opposite.

Has he made any suggestions?

Landlord can serve notice and tenant is out in 1 or 2 months with a break clause.

Could A rent their place out and get somewhere 50/50 with B. Equal cost, equal risk.

I assumed A/you were female and b was Male 🤷🏻‍♀️

The situation is resolved now. I was just thinking about it this afternoon and wondering whether it had been fair so wanted to see what people thought. Thanks everyone, v much appreciated.

@canigooutyet

Why 50/50? She should pay a third of market rent and utilities.

He's getting rent from a new lodger once that person moves in, half from the op what does he pay exactly? Not that much considering he will be making a profit from renting the spare room.

I don’t think the OP is intending on getting a lodger as well as moving the partner in. And sometimes it’s the female that earns more and owns their own home

@IncrediblySadToo 👌🏼

Certainly no more than 650 pounds.

DP and I were in roughly the same situation when we moved in.

Based on what we did, B would pay about 40 percent (70/170) of costs except mortgage, plus 100 pounds rent. This was at A's suggestion.

@otterturk

Landlord can serve notice and tenant is out in 1 or 2 months with a break clause.

Yes they can serve notice, but only a tenant or a court can actually end a tenancy.

@GeorginaTheGiant oops yea missed that if b doesn't move in then lodger, I read it as both.

That will teach me to read tft properly 🤣

It would be easier to move a lodger in lol, mortgages always confuse the situation.

I'd go for the rent it out and get somewhere together as equals tbh. Also sorts potential issues such as repair bills etc, cos although fixing the leaky roof benefits me as a lodger, it doesn't benefit me financially.

@otterturk

Landlord can serve notice and tenant is out in 1 or 2 months with a break clause.

Yes unlike the person you shack up with who says sling your hook! How much or little has been contributed won't matter.

The tenant would be out at the earliest 6 weeks once the notice has been served, and even then that depends on if the judge orders a same day eviction. To issue a notice it couldn't be because they had broken up.

Many LL's find themselves several months down the line trying to get tenants evicted.

50/50 that’s what my fiancé and l did when he moved in with me

@otterturk

The situation is resolved now. I was just thinking about it this afternoon and wondering whether it had been fair so wanted to see what people thought. Thanks everyone, v much appreciated.

What a waste of a thread, with a convoluted OP and not even the courtesy of saying what was resolved!!

A life time ago op when dh and I met, I owned my house. DH had a spare pair of shoes. DH insistent on maintaining his own residence despite being skint. He moved in a month before the wedding and insisted on paying his way. He paid half towards food and all bills - utilities and council tax. He didn't pay rent or contribute to the mortgage because it was my house. We had a pre-nup. He didn't contribute to the mortgage until we moved and bought a house in joint names at which point my equity was safeguarded because he didn't have any.

@Goingdownto if you're interested..

DP moved in with me. He paid with full £950 for five months so I had a bit of time to adjust my finances, pay off a tax bill etc. He now pays half. We're also now engaged with a baby on the way.

@OhTheRoses he sounds like a really decent chap

He is otter 30 years on and all that. But bald and a bit of a tum bit he is the most decent, moral, loyal chap I could have hoped for.

Thank you OP
How will you change things once married? Say, to protect your original investment in the mortgage and give him security going forward as he's paying half?

I own my own flat in London. When my boyfriend moved in I went with some of the suggestions above, I cover my mortgage, we split bills, (though he buys all food as he eats about 4x as much as me)!!
Didn't think it fair for him to contribute to a mortgage he may not benefit from. He is putting away most of what he's saving in rent though, with the plan to be able to put the money into the next place we buy.
I really disagreed with the option of charging your partner more than half of your expenses.

I'm never sure why the mortgage is relevant in these. If you lived in a rental you wouldn't expect to pay a different amount if the landlord had a mortgage or owned outright.

Because it could give you/them a claim on the property www.ft.com/content/4192e51c-e41a-11e8-a6e5-792428919cee

@goingdownto We have a rental agreement drawn up currently where it sets out that he does not have any claim on the property and the £650 is rent. Moving forward, we plan to buy another property together in the coming year, at which point I'll rent out this flat. When we buy, we will have a legal document drawn up to protect the disparity in our deposits.

@overwork the way I see it, he benefits from living somewhere nicer and cheaper than he could afford otherwise. He can save this money (and does; it will be put towards our joint property), whereas if he wasn't here he wouldn't be able to save as much. We both benefit.

Thanks again for perspectives. I wasn't sure if it had been fair or was now, and I am now more appreciative of his generosity in suggesting he paid what my lodger had while I prepared my finances for the drop. He's a good chap.