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Original poster

My 21 yo son and 19yo GF plan to rent a house together

212 replies

Menomaddness · 16/02/2023 07:35

This is a good thing generally, they've been together 2 years, spend a lot of time sleeping here and it's time. They both work but not in especially well paid jobs. About £45k income between them, but DS is on a decent career path. GF less so but she's very young.

Rent will be £1200 pm plus bills.

They do not have £1200 left at the end of the month currently, both spend money like water, but I guess when they have to they'll sort that out. DS pays keep of £200pm currently.

What worries me is the future. If they spend all this on rent, they'll never buy anything, but I also recognise that feels like an impossible dream anyway. An ex council flat is about £250k to buy here, so even if they saved 10 or 20% deposit, they wouldn't get the mortgage on their income.

However, I also know that as someone close to retirement with the mortgage paid off, buying young has made my current situation much better than it would otherwise be. I really can't imaging paying £1200 pm rent throughout retirement (more if they don't stay in a starter home forever).

Where will generation rent live as retirees?

Obviously it's a really long way off, but is there something of a time bomb for this gernation of young people?

OP posts:
Im99912 · 16/02/2023 09:27

Is there any rent to buy schemes in your area

my son is doing that despite having a big deposit - 50k

and we live in a really expensive city

so the rent would normally be 1300
but he’s paying 850 for a two bed / 2 bath huge apartment - he has a proper AST for 1 year

But he can rent it for up to five years and then buy it or leave but if he buys it then no issue with releasing him from the tenancy

He wants to buy but there is an issue with the lease so he’s waiting for it to be sorted

or there is a government scheme where you get 30 percent off the price of the house on new builds so the deposit is less

Coxspurplepippin · 16/02/2023 09:32

Are they putting anything into a LISA?

Axahooxa · 16/02/2023 09:35

Too soon to be worrying about that. Let them enjoy their first house together and see how the relationship goes.

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JennyDarlingRIP · 16/02/2023 09:35

You have the security and stability to be able to help but you're choosing not to. That's fine but don't act like it's all very worrying for you.
My brother and I both left home at around 25 (after moving away and back for uni, I graduated at 23 4 year degree and took a gap year to work full time to save for uni) on the proviso that we saved like hell. We both moved straight into mortgaged properties. My parents are very working class, left school at 14 don't have the cash to gift deposits etc but this was something they could do. We both paid £200 a month keep worked hard (main job plus either overtime or pub/restaurant work), saved lots. To be honest that's how we knew our parents had bought in the first place, often had multiple jobs etc. Needed more money you did overtime got a cleaning job on top etc.
In your shoes I would be saying to them it would cost you £2000 a month to live in that house, put £1800 in savings and give me £200 or so to cover basics and live here for two years. You will need to show me you are saving not frittering money or the deal will be called off and you have to move out. At the end of that two years you will have £43k deposit to buy a flat.

JennyDarlingRIP · 16/02/2023 09:36

They definitely need a LISA

Quitelikeacatslife · 16/02/2023 09:39

I'd be tempted to suggest that as they are so young they have a bigger plan to save £1k each per month for a year and then buy. They should have over £20k then . They will then get the affordability check as even with bills covered there are other expenses. I'd tell them they will not get that chance again once they move out of home and a year will pass quickly

ClaribelLowLieth · 16/02/2023 09:40

If they want to save but have their own place wouldn't it make more sense to house share? That's what we did when we first moved out of home

Sd352 · 16/02/2023 09:40

Are you expecting their pay will never increase? I rented until I was 31, but will probably still be mortgage free before 40.

MyrtIe · 16/02/2023 09:41

The rents mentioned on this thread are insane. We have a two bed and pay £380pm! Big city in the north.

It's not surprising so many people are in housing need, it's outrageous that rents have risen as much as they have.

OP please let them get on with it - they'll make their own mistakes, or not, just as we all did. My guess is that as soon as they realise how expensive living together is they'll stop spending money like water anyway, out of sheer necessity.

Wnikat · 16/02/2023 09:46

It'll be good for them. They'll have to learn to budget and look after themselves. And they're too young to be committing to a mortgage together.

Topamaxtwit · 16/02/2023 09:47

@MyrtIe here in Cornwall. Bog standard 2 bed is £1250.

www.rightmove.co.uk/properties/130725632

Cornish wages are low.

Example: Falmouth / Exeter University are paying £21630 for a Finance Assistant

bluetongue · 16/02/2023 09:48

It will be great for him.

In some ways it would be worse if they bought a house together and their relationship didn’t work out.

From personal experience they will learn to adjust their budget. Maybe not immediately but it will happen.

JimHensonWasAGenius · 16/02/2023 09:50

My DNephew and his GF were sick of renting so she moved back home and he came to stay with DH and I for 18 months whilst they both saved for a deposit.

They now have a mortgage.

That's how many do it, if they can.

MyrtIe · 16/02/2023 09:52

Topamaxtwit · 16/02/2023 09:47

@MyrtIe here in Cornwall. Bog standard 2 bed is £1250.

www.rightmove.co.uk/properties/130725632

Cornish wages are low.

Example: Falmouth / Exeter University are paying £21630 for a Finance Assistant

That's actually a lovely house - we're on the fourth floor and have no outside space at all, so it's nowhere near as nice as that! And far less space obviously.

But that's still an outrageous amount of money. Our monthly income is about £1.9k, so there's no way we'd be able to afford that!

Catspyjamas17 · 16/02/2023 09:54

I was 24 when I rented with DH in 1999, one bed flat was £900, our income was about £42,000. Manageable then - we went out and ate out regularly and went on nice holidays, but everything else costs so much more now. Especially energy bills. I think our gas was included and electricity was hardly anything.

JimHensonWasAGenius · 16/02/2023 09:54

JennyDarlingRIP · 16/02/2023 09:35

You have the security and stability to be able to help but you're choosing not to. That's fine but don't act like it's all very worrying for you.
My brother and I both left home at around 25 (after moving away and back for uni, I graduated at 23 4 year degree and took a gap year to work full time to save for uni) on the proviso that we saved like hell. We both moved straight into mortgaged properties. My parents are very working class, left school at 14 don't have the cash to gift deposits etc but this was something they could do. We both paid £200 a month keep worked hard (main job plus either overtime or pub/restaurant work), saved lots. To be honest that's how we knew our parents had bought in the first place, often had multiple jobs etc. Needed more money you did overtime got a cleaning job on top etc.
In your shoes I would be saying to them it would cost you £2000 a month to live in that house, put £1800 in savings and give me £200 or so to cover basics and live here for two years. You will need to show me you are saving not frittering money or the deal will be called off and you have to move out. At the end of that two years you will have £43k deposit to buy a flat.

Precisely what happened to me with my DP's and then did with my DNephew, letting him live with DH and I for 18months.

OP is in a position to help if she really wanted to.

Topamaxtwit · 16/02/2023 09:55

@MyrtIe well I just looked at flats and the cheapest was £950 for a 2 bed. :(

Awful situation for the local families. X

RagzRebooted · 16/02/2023 09:57

emptythelitterbox · 16/02/2023 09:08

Gosh they're both so very very young.

I would encourage them to become more established in their careers. Has the gf been to uni and have a career?

It would be tragic if she ended up with a tiny baby and no job skills. So many young women entire up in poverty.

Relationships tend to go a lot more smoothly without money troubles. They've got plenty of time for moving in and starting a family.

Agree with this. I left home (overcrowded Council flat) at 17 and had my first child at 20, 3rd at 24. Got in the benefits/low income trap and only now at nearly 40 have we got to the point where we're looking to buy a house in a few years. We're having to move 500 miles to even do that, but at least we'll then have space for our DC to stay at home and save while working or area has rents affordable enough for them to move out.

FixTheBone · 16/02/2023 10:02

If you can afford it, I'd 'charge' them £1200 to rent a room off you, and put it straight into a savings account or ISA - in two years they'll have a 10% deposit on a £300k house.

Hopefully by then house prices and interest rates will have regressed a little, and they'll be earning a bit more - currently 25yr mortgage is about £1600/month on those basic workings...

Jarra · 16/02/2023 10:04

Can they move areas? Maybe 30-45 mins away from you?

RicardaPrycke · 16/02/2023 10:06

My DC are the ages of your DS and his GF, @Menomaddness, and I know you haven't asked for advice about this - but I wouldn't want either of them to be living with a boyfriend or girlfriend at this stage. They are far better off meeting loads of people and having fun before even thinking of sharing a house and a life with someone else. They'd be better off with rooms in a house-share. Obviously none of this solves the problem of how young people will ever be able to afford a house of their own. Though there comes a point where you have done all you can do to set them up to do well in their careers and earn a decent amount of money, and they just have to work it out from there.

Choconut · 16/02/2023 10:11

I guess your answer to what happens to renters who can't afford to buy the way their parents did? Is that presumably they'll inherit their parents house at some point or at least enough money to get them on the housing ladder.

Fuckityfuckfuck123 · 16/02/2023 10:19

Tbh, in your position id be saying that GF can move in too, but on the stipulation that they both pay keep, and that they save 50% of their earnings each toward the deposit of the home they will eventually buy. 5 year deadline.

It will work out they have a fairly similar quality of life whilst living under your roof finance wise, but does set them up with the ability to meet the affordability of a home that they will eventually need without getting stuck in the rut of renting.
Its hard to get out of renting when youre there. Finding the deposit seems nigh on impossible, then throw kids into the mix it becomes an even more vanishing possibility.

Ive rented since i was 17- when I was chucked out in the clothes I stood in. 14 years later, Ive paid more in rent than the house I currently rent is worth. We earn fairly well, but the house prices are shooting up and we cannot meet affordability.
weve got 11k tucked away, thats the deposit our landlord put down on our house 7 years ago.....that 11k would go nowhere now, wouldnt even buy a flat in this town.

mushroom3 · 16/02/2023 10:19

Many young adults of their age are renting and paying £600 per month plus bill, This is a very typical student rent in a large city, students have less money to live on and so I'm sure they will be fine. As their careers/salaries move on they can think about the next steps.

WindUpPenguin · 16/02/2023 10:20

When I was that age, my peers and I all lived in shared houses. A room in a shared house will be much cheaper. In terms of renting the rest of their lives, they are very young. There is plenty of time for them to make the decision to move to a cheaper area, invest in a good pension and start saving for retirement. I wouldn't worry about that now.

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