To think no adult kids would agree to pay this!

[Cruelstepmother]

Just found this 'how much rent could you charge your kids' calculator! www.comparethemarket.com/home-insurance/content/pa-rental/ - they suggested my cuckoo-back-in-the-nest stepson should be paying us £593.80 a month. What are your views?

It would be better to get a bloody mortgage and at least own your own house....

I have just realised that the calculator doesnt ask for number of rooms, house type etc so is totally pointless! A big detached house with en suite bathrooms, large garden, garage and drive etc will always be more expensive than a 3 bed terraced house in the same road regardless of how and who is renting it!

I think it's a bit unfair of people to say 'oh I'd never charge my children rent, or treat them like lodgers'. Many wouldn't charge their kids rent if they could afford not to, but many parents can't afford for their adult kids to live with them free of charge!

It's a whole extra adult person putting up the price of water, electricity, food, toiletries. Sometimes even more than one.

It's all well and good if you can afford the increase in bills etc but many can't and shouldn't be judged for it.

If the AC are earning a decent wage I would say £200-300pcm is fair depending on the level of services they use/how much they help out. Some may eat a lot and never buy anything, others are picky or eat elsewhere, some might do the garden (properly) - I don't think it's good for them to pay nothing. The parent could hope to break even though which I think is fair.

My parents rented house is in an area where all the houses nearby are the same. According to the comparethemarket calculator, if I moved back in with them, they suggest I pay 83% of the total rent and 128% of the total energy bills. The food bill also looks to be about twice as much as it should, and of course, council tax would be the same for 3 occupants as for 2.
When I first started working, I gave them 40% of my net pay - half of which they saved for the day I moved out.

What's really depressing and I've seen it happen is when parents become accustomed to the income they get from their adult children and reluctant to see it go. I knew someone who had an opportunity to move out and flatshare with a friend who'd moved back into the area only for his parents to sabotage it as they didn't want to lose the money.

I guess what the calculator does is taking the average rent for the area and split it by two before adding the cost of the services and food.

It is basically what they would pay if they were house sharing with friends or other professionals? I would expect DS to pay his share (costs divided by number of people in the house) if he was earning as much as me but I understand that if the parents are well off and the costs are much higher this may not be appropriate.

When my parents left home in the 50s they each would send home money weekly to help their parents. It was normal to hand your mother your pay packet unopened and be given something back. That's poverty though where every penny counts.

I completely agree with pp (sorry not.sure how to tag etc) who said its not fair to judge those who charge their AC rent.

In my home country it would be unusual but as my DC grow up (DS1 is almost 19) I am starting to think that it is actually a good idea even if the parents CAN afford not to charge anything. It helps prepare them for the real world.

Also agree with pp who said divide rental value by number of people actually living in house at the time. The calculator is showing the same amount for a 2 bed and a 5 bed in my postcode. And then take into account how much food etc is actually being consumed by the AC in question.

£854 and I have 4 kids. Really looking forward to the them leaving and then coming back now 🤑

We're nowhere near that stage but it's rather a lot - it's actually almost as much as our basic mortgage was. The breakdown of gas and electricity is way out though - those charges are more than what we pay per month for the household - surely it should be a proportion. I could make a profit here!!!!

I think it's different if it's a mortgage to rent. If you're renting you could downsize immediately as soon as AC has gone.

It's sad that those whose parents are better off end up better off and more able to save for a deposit.

It used to be commonplace to rent forever in France. I wonder what happens in countries where housing costs aren't as crazy.

wow are you lot seriously deluded ?

you don't buy a house on basis of charging your children almost mortgage rental !!!!!!

2000 my parents made me contribute nearly £80 a month, being a starting apprentice, this wasn't much but it set principles of rent etc.

when i moved out, my parents gave that in total back to me and each of my siblings and that paid for all the things that were never thought of when you move out

£100's of pounds ????

What are you thinking ?

you want your children to eventually move out ?

Bamboozled have you actually read the OP or clicked on the link?

Bamboozled I think you have the wrong end of the stick, here! 😁

Mixed if you rent a studio you get the additional space to yourself but you also get the additional cost that is not included in the rent.
Community charge
Water rates
Insurance
And then you have all the additional items that you use whilst still living at home but tend not to buy yourself
Tv licence
Broadband
Loo roll
Toothpaste
Kitchen roll
Cleaning supplies and detergent
And then you have the use of family items
Pans and kitchen stuff
Washing machine and dryer and outside line
Towels and bedding.

Very few adult children are asked to pay the true cost of their accommodation whilst living in the parental home and the few that are can always leave if they think they are getting a bum deal.
The majority of parents I know with adult children the same age as mine living in the same area as me are asking for around the same figure mine give me. Some I know can’t afford to put 2/3rds of it into a isa and some are loaded but still charge and have no intention of giving any back. Neither is wrong.

Bamboozled have you actually read the OP or clicked on the link

Im going with no...they haven’t

I don’t understand how the rent is that high if the house is shared with so many people
Because they’re basing it on what a room in a multi occupancy house would cost in your area.
Many posters missing that point that a lot of parents don’t have a house with a tiny mortgage they are paying full market rents.
Yes of course if you have a £400 mortgage you won’t be charging £600 rent but that’s a privileged position to be in.

Dontsweat

That's a fair point about the studio flat. Hadnt thought if that. And i agree that neither is wrong. Each to their own.

Bamboozled

I think the calculator is more deluded than us

But a multi occupancy house in our area costs a fraction of what it says we should charge AC.

Rightmove says HMO, nice room, nice house, nice garden. (Not a shit hole, those are cheaper) costs £475 with all bills.
Food is supposedly £125 per month.

Even then it comes to £600 per month as opposed to £698.40.

But in an HMO dc wouldn’t have me and their father asking where they are going, what they are doing every day.

Also if both dc wanted to they could move out into the same room. Even by the websites own calculation it would be only another persons food bill of £125 and instead of £1396.80 it would be £725.

No idea where they get their figures from but certainly not from the postcode

(We are the only house in our postcode)

I really don't understand why this calculator is suggesting I charge about 50% more than a nice room in a flat is available for about a 20min walk down the road (closer to amenities). My ds is only 5 but when he's 20 I would imagine that being close to the pub, chipshop, cafes and off licence will be more important to him than the garden we have or nicer furniture. And that's not to mention the independence. It's a weird calculator.

£816 for my parents! They didn't charge me anything and I lived at home until I was 25 and could afford to buy a house!

Why are you asking your adult child where they are going and what they are doing everyday?

Well I think that calculator is bollocks since I rent my own flat for 550 and it suggests if I was living with parents I should pay 841!

£570.32 for my area. I probably average that in frequent smaller payments to my parents even though I'm on an incredibly low income.