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's a very odd calculator.

I just tried my mum's postcode in the Midlands and my old postcode in London. Apparently, my share of gas and electric in the Midlands would be over 100 a month but only 70 in London and food in the Midlands was 101 and only 96 in London. This is well at odds with my experience of the relative costs. My mums gas and electric don't come to 100/month now and I certainly wouldn't be doubling them if I lived with her.

£633,where we are. Seems very high and people think I'm awful for my son paying £310 a month lol. He pays his own phone bill and all his car bills etc and earns £25000 a year so I think it's a fair amount. I'll show him that though and ask for a rise lol.

£791 unfortunately DC’s still at school🤷🏽‍♀️

£574 for my parents postcode. I could rent a flat cheaper

£509 for mine, but I’m in NI and I think the cost of living tends to be lower here. That would cover my small mortgage, electric and rates. Mind you my electric is £200 per month. The joy of running animal care business. 😁

My brother still lives at home. I checked out my mum’s postcode and it’s 50% more than the rent she pays for the whole house!

£598 a month.

They said the rent component should be £411 a month then added on gas and electric which is roughly equal to 3/4 of my monthly bill with £100 for food.

A room with bills is around £400 a month here, and possible to rent a whole unfurnished basic flat for around that level so no way what should be charged in digs.

This seems a lot and I wouldn't charge that. But I would charge them something because it's a good middle ground before going into commercial renting or paying a mortgage. If they don't pay anything, going by friends' experiences they just spend money on rubbish and end up with no savings. If I could afford it I'd do what pp said and give it back to them when they leave but if I couldn't afford to do that, I wouldn't feel guilty about it. What I charged would be well below commercial rates, especially given that it would include things like utility bills, council tax, food etc which wouldn't happen in a commercial let. Probably about £200 a month.

£572 here! Completely ridiculous because dd could have her own place and cover the bills for less than that here so where they getting their figures from?? That's over £200 more than my rent!

It says based on average local rents etc but seems to me they have really inaccurate info because the HIGHEST rent in my postcode is £630 and that's for a 3 bed! The gas and electric is way too high.

Looks like I owe my mum 759 quid for the month we stayed there when we moved house! It's OK though, I can get it back from my DC when they're grown up!

578 here. But given that I only pay my landlord £550 per month I'm definitely going to be quids in! Just need to convince my children to move back in and share the sofa bed as I don't have a spare room in my one bed cottage.

Seriously though, the calculator is flawed

My DDs are still tiddly but it’s £698 here, which is more than our mortgage payment!

£532 which is ridiculous.

£345 for rent - our house is £500
£85 for gas and elec - costs £116
£102 for food - spend just over that a week

And by ridiculous, I meant on the kids behalf not mine.

YANBU to think that no adult child would pay the sums on here.

Maybe that's the point: it's pitched so high for the parents who want their DCs to move out, but have no end in sight of that happening.

I only have one adult DC currently, but I do feel a bit sorry for friends and acquaintances I know, whose DCs are well in to their late twenties and early 30s, and still have DC at home. I expect that will be in years to come, when I'll have wanted them all to have left by then .

I was talking about this yesterday. When I first started earning, my Dad said to me I could keep my wage packet the first month, but following that, anything I earnt, I had to give him 50% for rent. My friends said he was probably keeping it for me for a deposit that never happened, but I actually think it’s a good idea. It certainly taught me to appreciate things and set me up for living on my own. I’m considering doing it for both my kids (although I may keep it for them as a deposit for a house for them)

Interesting it doesn't include council tax in the sums though.

Only £449 for DD (we live in an inexpensive part of West Yorkshire) so I'll look forward to that.. in 20 years time!

This is awful - my children are young but the amount quoted could cover a flat in my area. I think it is just going to fuel resentment and anger from both sides. It also ignores the structural inequalities that mean adult children are bouncing back to their parents homes.

Twenty years ago, I paid £20 a week, and boy did I resent it 😂

The sums seem very skewed. £55 per person for electricity when we pay that per month in the summer and about £80 in the winter. But only £89 per person for food. They clearly have never fed adult men. Also odd that it's calculated £55 per month electricity for our 4 bed detached but £65 per month for my granny's 2 bed terrace.

I wouldn’t charge my DC anything to live at home. Maybe a contribution to costs if you’re struggling.

MIL decided to charge DH rent during his uni holidays and gap year, which I found shocking. As a result, he ended up staying in halls during the holidays and then moving in with my family instead for a few months until we rented our own flat.

Actually I should add the caveat that I wouldn’t charge them rent as long as they were saving (not frittering) and actually keeping their rooms tidy etc (not slobbish). If they were using it as a doss house, then they’d be moving out

My parents charged us a very nominal rent when we were students (with part time jobs), largely just to get us used to paying rent and being financially responsible etc, however, what they didn't tell us was that they saved it all and then gave it back to us as a lump sum when we moved out / towards deposit etc. They didn't need the money off us but it taught us very important lessons around money by paying rent not "being entitled".