Rent, Rules and Teenagers

[MaNeOi]

My niece (on my husbands side) has been kicked out of her parents - they are quite unreasonable people and we've always got on well with her. The reason they've kicked her out is because she goes out every Saturday and doesn't get up until 'gone noon' on a Sunday. Personally think this is fine as I was doing the same at 19.

She is going to rent somewhere, but due to where we live it will most likely take her a while to find something appropriate and she's said her aim will be to move out by January.

We don't want her to take advantage of being rent free in out house so was wondering on suggestions for rent to charge her, she earns £16,000p/a, and any real rules. The only things me and DH have come up with is to take care of her own room, not disturb the kids late at night and to just keep us posted (text us) if she is not coming home, or going to be really late so we aren't worried.

(We are also going to put the rent she gives us into a 5 year ISA in her name).

You sound lovely. How lucky she is to have you and your dh. Maybe £200/£300 per month

For rent - should be below market rate for the local area (to allow her to save up for rent deposit etc, also as she is family) but not so low to make staying in your house indefinitely the attractive option.

How old are your kids? You should consider to what extent it is her 'home' for example, can she have friends/boyfriends to stay like she would in her own home? What chores does she do etc?

I also think you're doing a really nice thing for her and she sounds like a reasonable girl, so probably no need to be strict!

I'd say more than that. She needs to learn what life costs if she;s going to rent somewhere. £100 pw is more realistic for a room, all bills, breakfast and evening meals when she's around. That gives her £200 pw left. If I were you I'd tell her to hand over £100 of that again for saving up for a flat deposit. That leaves her £100 pw to cover travel, clothes and going out. If she really doesn't like that, then she's not being realistic about what grown up life costs. Any caring adult in her life needs to help her realise how tomanage money so she doesn't get into horribel CC debt..

This website lha-direct.voa.gov.uk/search.aspx can tell you the LHA rate for a room in your area. IIRC it is based on the price that it would cost to rent a room in the area with it being set at the 33rd percentile (ie a third of the rooms nearby will be cheaper, and two thirds will be more expensive). It's the maximum amount you would be entitled to for Housing Benefit if you had no earnings.

I would see if that's a suitable benchmark or otherwise go a little lower if you think it is too high.

Also, does she have a deposit ready for when she moves out? If not, it might be better to give her some/all of the rent back for that rather than saving it unless she'll be able to save up enough by January.

You sound great! Up to you how much you charge her for rent but bear in mind her salary works out to £300 a week. I'd have thought about £200 would easily cover her bit of the bills and leave a lot besides.

Good luck to you all, hope it works out satisfactorily. Lovely idea to put some in an ISA for her every month. Wish I'd had an aunt and uncle like you pair.

Jesus, I pay £150 a month but I do buy all my own food etc and have used the rest to save a deposit to move out end of this year.

My parents rule was always if we’re not in full time education we should be in full time work. When we were in full time work we paid 10% gross wage each month in rent. It was enough that we felt it but low enough that it allowed us to save. It covered rent and bills and food if we were home. We had to let parents know when we were going to be home and if we were going to be out for the night. We definitely cleaned up after ourselves and didn’t disturb anyone else in the house with our comings and goings but we were free to go as and where as we wanted.
My parents could afford to keep us at home so obviously if council tax, bills or food become unaffordable with and extra perso than the percentage should be set higher. It was considered a necessary donation to living at home, without being considered tenants but without the free living of being a child being supported where parental rules and curfews can be enforced.

When we were home, there was always enough food in for for breakfast and lunch but dinner was a family affair, if you didn’t eat with the family you sorted yourself out. We could ask for things to be bought in a weekly shop but it was always expected if we finished the last of milk, eggs, shampoo or other hously necessities we’d top it up ourselves.

What about if she brings boyfriends home?

I lived at home with young nieces so understand the importance of younger children’s routines not being interrupted, it was a helpful household, I often did school runs and house shops just as part of living at home

you sound lovely i’d charge what you suggested and give it back to her when she wants to move out, so that she can use it as a deposit for renting.

id maybe suggest no group of friends or a boyfriend round just because you have kids. dont see the harm in having a close friend over every now and then, and im sure she can go to their place too.

Also we were allowed committed relationships or friendsat home but not one night stands or impromtuu parties

My dd 18 & 20 each pay 10% of their wages. £50 is put into an isa each month. Helps toward the cost of extra food as we never sit down together due to different work schedules

My son was bringing home 1250 a month (18k a year). He gave us 200, spent 100 on the train to work, ran a car, was always out and buying new stuff and still saved about 400 a month. He kept his room and bathroom clean, did his own laundry and jobs like mowing the lawn and cleaning my car.

The 200 he gave us probably covered our costs. He ate most of his meals at home and took stuff (mainly leftovers) for lunch.

Thanks for your comments/advice everyone! I think we are going to ask for £200 - she's very responsible so we know she has savings and will continue to save.

As regards to house jobs we are just going to ask her to be responsible for her own room, generally clean up for herself. She's a personal trainer (in training(?)), so she eats quite a strict specific diet, so we are just going to say she can help herself and welcome to all meals but if she wants something different she will have to do it herself.

Finally, we've not covered her boyfriend/friends in detail but we have said that the boyfriend can stay but obviously as longs as he respects the house. Additionally we have no problem with friends longs if its not lots of comings and goings and lots of people on a Monday for example however this isn't a big concern.