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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

Partner seems to think he's my landlord AIBU?

681 replies

user1476961324 · 20/10/2016 12:15

TLDR: My boyfriend wants me to move into his house, and is asking for me to contribute what he would consider ‘market rent’ if he rented the room out.

He owns the house outright, and the associated costs (bills etc) are paid by a family trust. I.e. he has no living costs to be there. He’s an adult, FYI, we are in our thirties.

He has recently asked me various questions about how much people rent rooms for, what bills cost etc. I thought he was just interested, as he has never had to pay these costs.

He told me today that he thinks that I should pay £850 per month to live in his flat as that would be the market rate if he let a room out.

I had volunteered to pay half of bills… but £850? It’s only a two bed flat, with no mortgage. I’ve told him where he can stick it.

Am I being unreasonable, or is he?

OP posts:
Sunshineonacloudyday · 20/10/2016 17:42

Dowhatnow there is no rent to pay or mortgage do you suggest she gives him money to hold for himself on top of her paying half for food and the up keep of the property and extra bills coming in. The op does not sound like a free loader she knows that she will have to pay out money nothing's free. You think she should just give him money for him to save like he is her child to go and spend on a Yacht. He is benefiting more than her and they are meant to be a partnership.

BaggyCheeks · 20/10/2016 17:43

dowhatnow But the OP's DP will still have an extra amount to do what he wishes with? She's offering to half the monthly outgoings.

DinosaursRoar · 20/10/2016 17:44

Dowhatnow - I find it really odd when people on here suggest you should pool all finances the second you move in together and don't have DCs, surely you should keep things separate for the first 6 months or so, until you are certain living together is going to work out to make it easier to split up? So many couples didn't last when they start living together if you don't have any shared responsibilities (like DCs, mortgage) why wouldn't you keep things separate until you are sure you want to commit for life to this person?

I agree that sharing the flat should mean sharing the costs. This isn't him asking you to share the costs, but to give him an income. Nope.

Rent somewhere else together and he can rent out his flat.

PersianCatLady · 20/10/2016 17:44

living in trust property is a benefit, but no rights are conferred by that
True BUT this is NOT a trust property, the OP's BF owns it outright.

OP that is correct isn't it?

Theoretician · 20/10/2016 17:45

And tell me Theoretician, how much do you charge your DP to live in your property?

I love the assumption that what I think has any bearing on what happens. It's almost as though you think two people who live together should discuss who contributes what and come to an agreement. I had a similar theory, once.

My wife moved in with me. She repeatedly batted off attempts before and after moving in to discuss who would contribute what. When she got tired of me trying to start that conversation, she asked me what means I had to enforce a change to the status quo, which was her contributing nothing and making a mess of the house while staying home not working. She interpreted my being lost for words as meaning I had no sanction, and asked why she should enter into a discussion when there was no possible outcome that could improve her position. For the next several years she contributed less than fuck-all. (Nothing financially and I would have to clean up after her if I wanted the house to be as clean and tidy as it was when I lived alone.)

She did start contributing when I wanted to sell our home in London and move elsewhere, freeing up some money to retire. By then she had a job (of which she kept 100% of money for herself) and she wanted to stay in London to pursue that career. She calculated an amount that I think she mostly based on what it had previously cost her to live in a student hostel, and has paid that ever since. (Though she did ask what mortgage outgoings were, which resulted in my attempting a conversation about the irrelevance of that. You can't make someone understand something if it's in their financial interest to not understand it.)

The flat we live in, which I paid for without any help from her, would cost/bring in 30K a year rented. I now live on investment income, every 100K of mine tied up in the flat is 4K a year less income that I have. (Unfortunately no trust fund or inheritances paid for it, everything I have was generated from my own labour.)

At a rough guess I would say she currently contributes 5K a year that you could count as "rent." There is no logic to this contribution whatsoever. (To repeat: the amount was set by her according to her own bat-shit crazy logic, I had no say in it.) My original (ignored) logic that she should cover the extra cost of living in London is now irrelevant, as I no longer need/want to leave. Her (ridiculously financially illiterate) logic that the size of my mortgage outgoings were in some way relevant has apparently gone out the window, as she didn't change the amount when I paid off the mortgage in 2008. (I could have paid it off before she began contributing, but for investment and tax reasons chose not to. However I use that fact to justify my assertion that she contributed nothing to the house.)

Overall, across 18 years of marriage, and if you count the house as a joint asset, she has contributed 20% to joint costs.

Despite any appearance to the contrary I may have given, I've never needed or wanted her money. I wrongly thought that by pointing out that I was subsidising her by tens of thousands each year, I could persuade her that it was only fair she should clean up after herself. That was what I really wanted. (And before anyone says anything, no, a cleaner does not solve the problem of a messy partner.)

She wants to give up her job now, and thinks once she stops working, she should stop all financial contribution. Apparently bills are something that only you only have to pay if you have income from working. Her investment income (which is now the same as mine) can't be used to pay half the bills, but mine can be used to pay all of them. (We can each afford to pay the whole bill several times over, affordability is not the issue, fairness is. Actually it isn't: I don't give a fuck if I have to pay for everything. I'd just like to live in a clean and tidy house.)

Boiing · 20/10/2016 17:46

Ps for the few years that I was in the privileged position of being able to pay all outgoing costs for both myself and my then boyfriend (now husband) as he was studying, I felt fucking delighted to be able to do that for him. I know it's different as he wasn't earning, but he had plenty of savings and could have afforded to chip in - but as I didn't need him to, I suggested he didn't. Your bloke is being a bit ungenerous. So he's richer than you. He should be happy to help you then, not trying to profit from you.

MoveItMoveItMoveIt · 20/10/2016 17:46

Just explain to him what is so blatantly obvious:

You'll pay half of expenses, bills, food etc and any house upkeep but you're not paying rent. He's not profiting from you moving in. He needs to get real and if you even consider this you need a huge reality check!

CoolCarrie · 20/10/2016 17:47

If he wants money so much he should rent out the spare room! Sorry OP he is either greedy or daft, as you would be by moving in with him.

MoveItMoveItMoveIt · 20/10/2016 17:48

Don't listen to dowhatnow that's nonsensical.

dontcallmethatyoucunt · 20/10/2016 17:48

persian yes I did misread it. I corrected it later... basically, sod him!

MoveItMoveItMoveIt · 20/10/2016 17:48

It's not unfair to earn more than someone. Maybe he has a problem with this. Quite spiteful and misogynistic.

ToastDemon · 20/10/2016 17:49

Theoretician you don't seem to like your wife very much!

Janey50 · 20/10/2016 17:50

He is your boyfriend and he wants you to move in and rent out a separate room? A bit strange. If your DP asks you to move in,IMO it usually means sharing the same room as them. I would tell him to rent the room out to someone else.

Sunshineonacloudyday · 20/10/2016 17:50

Theoretician do you and your wife have children and by the way I will not use that as an excuse for her behaviour.

PersianCatLady · 20/10/2016 17:52

The problem with her NOT paying market rent is that because he owns the house it could be said that he is financially supporting her and later down the line were they to split up or he was to die the OP could try and claim that she was entitled to a share in the property or financial support.

No one likes to think about these things at the beginning of moving in together but I think that the BF seems to come from a family who like to ensure that their money and assets are kept safe.

I think that the BF has been advised by his family to take steps to ensure that the OP does not have any claim over anything of the BF's.

OP - I am describing what I think your BF's family think about how any woman could try and get a share of his assets. They sound like a super cautious bunch what with the trust and all.

I do not think that you are in any way out to take his assets or anything like that at all so sorry if it sounds a bit like that

IhatchedaSnorlax · 20/10/2016 17:53

I thought the same Toast!

dontcallmethatyoucunt · 20/10/2016 17:54

He could get a legal document drafted for that though Persian. Paying 'rent' could also give her a claim on the property, but you are right, not paying creates a dependency.

Sunshineonacloudyday · 20/10/2016 17:56

What about pregnancy doesn't that change the contract T & C.

PersianCatLady · 20/10/2016 17:57

Persian yes I did misread it. I corrected it later... basically, sod him!
I'm confused?? Misread what??

ZuleikaDobson · 20/10/2016 17:59

Why is it fair that she can save almost 100% rent by moving in with him? (she pays bills now but only wants to pay half bills of his) He might want to save to buy a yacht or something. Surely they should both have an extra amount to do with as they wish?

If he wants an extra amount, he can rent out the spare room. When you ask someone you love to move in with you, you don't normally expect them to pay for the privilege so that you make a profit - otherwise we would all be sending our children out to work to pay for their board and lodging. Sure, we often ask adult children living at home to pay, but I suspect there are few, if any, parents who ask for a market rent and many of them put what the child pays into a savings account to go towards the child's future housing/wedding/whatever.

When OP is sharing the house owner's bedroom and probably doing things like cooking, shopping etc for him, what he is asking for is way over market value anyway.

harshbuttrue1980 · 20/10/2016 18:01

I agree with Dowhat. OP, you earn more than him and you aren't suggesting pooling your incomes. That's perfectly wise, and I wouldn't either. However, why should you get to keep the benefit of the higher income, when he can't keep the benefit of the fact he has a property? Either you keep everythign separate, or you pool everything. You must have thought your ship had come in when you met him if you expected that you would suddenly be rent-free for the rest of your life.

ZuleikaDobson · 20/10/2016 18:03

But in effect OP is going to pool everything, as she's perfectly willing to pay half of all expenses. Or are you suggesting that she should pay more than half purely because she earns more? How does that work if she loses her job or moves to one on much lower pay?

TimTamTerrier · 20/10/2016 18:04

Without considering exact figures, this is a situation where both of you could be better off, or either one of you could be in an unchanged financial position while the other is much better. The fact that he thinks that all the benefit should be to him is the most important thing, and it is likely that he would continue to think this about other choices in the future.

This is exactly the same mind set as two friends going out for a meal. At the end of the meal friend 1 reveals that she has a voucher for buy one get one free meal. Either both friend 1 and friend 2 can have a half-price meal by splitting the bill or friend 1 can have a free meal while friend 2 pays full price. Friend 1 might claim that she should not have to pay as friend 2 was expecting to pay full price so she isn't any worse off, but I'm pretty sure that if any of us was friend 2 we would feel taken advantage of and never be going out for a meal with friend 1 again.

In this case there could have been a bit of give and take about the exact balance of the cost saving of living together between the OP and her partner, and it doesn't sound as though the OP would have minded some adjustment. But, if he is not willing to share this cost saving, will he be willing to share other things in the future? Not just financial things, but decisions about where to go on holiday or little things like who gets the last scraping of jam when the jar runs out and you don't have another in the cupboard.

minifingerz · 20/10/2016 18:04

"you don't normally expect them to pay for the privilege so that you make a profit"

OP could start charging for sex. After all, her body and her looks are her sexual capital. Why should the boyfriend share it free of charge?

Also, when she cooks a meal - log it. Either her cooks one involving equivalent skill, time and effort or he coughs up some dosh to pat the OP the value of her labour.

Sunshineonacloudyday · 20/10/2016 18:07

She didn't say that she was pooling her income he has told her that he wants rent for her half of the room. I must be one lucky bitch to have such a loving partner in my life some of you on here sound awkward. She hasn't said she don't want to pay bills or food or general up keep of the property. She hasn't even moved in yet. My partner never expected that we just naturally shared our incomes.

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