Rent Arguments

[TheUnexpectedPickle]

I’m moving in with DP. He part owns his flat with a mortgage and pays rent on the other part. The rest side and mortgage side are pretty much equal amounts.

we have been disagreeing on the split of the bills and both think that our way is the right way, so thought we’d take it to MN for an impartial opinion.

partner A thinks DP should pay the mortgage and I should pay the rent. partner A thinks this is fair as it’s what DP would charge a lodger if he rented out the spare bedroom. Partner B thinks this isn’t fair as we will be sharing a bedroom and I will have to put a load of stuff in storage.

partner B thinks DP should pay the mortgage plus half the rent while I pay the other half of the rent.

in both scenarios we would split all other bills equally, and take care of out own phones, cars and other personal expenses.

who is right?

So your son will only pay £200 and his partner will be charged £450??? Isn't he just the prince? 😂

Your son's partner is going to pay over half of the mortgage cost? Sorry that's a piss take, some of that will be the capital repayment which he'll get back if he sells! That's cheeky as hell and I'm shocked the partner has agreed to it

Sorry that was in reply to 70kid, I thought her original text would show above

Will you have a house share arrangement or are you a lodger with benefits? Eg can you use the spare room? Have a friend to stay?

Will he pay in full for any repairs or maintenance?

What do you pay now and for what? It should be cheaper to share (than live alone) in a like for like property.

Massive piss take. I hope she realises how tight he is and claims it all back in court in a few years.

Do you both earn the same amount? Then I think it's fair to split the rent/mortgage and bills. You are both sharing a bedroom - you are both giving up space and privacy.

Why do you need to put your stuff in storage if there's a second bedroom? Can that not be used?

The mortgage is irrelevant, you should pay 50% of the full market rent. Luckily you knows what it is in this situation. Lets say the rent is currently 25% because the mortgage covers 75%. Then 4x the rent is the full market rent, and you should pay half of this.

@SpaceshiptoMars
my sons gay 😂 no women warming his bed or any plans to have kids

They are both perfectly happy with the deal
my sons partner gets to stay in a much nicer place than he could afford on his for much less
But my son has the option of renting the spare room / bathroom out if he needed to

@Pinklady245612
yes my sons partner is perfectly happy to do that
my son will be also be paying the council tax and service charge which is quite high as it’s in a gated complex with a gym and other stuff

at present my sons partner is paying 750 -800
a month for a room in house with multiple sharers so he’s cutting his bills by 50 percent and getting use of a whole apartment rather than one room

i think the plan is that he will be using the spare room as his office as he works from home so my son can’t rent that out which wad his original plan

@70kid

The use of the 2nd room is one crucial difference. Your son's partner is being treated AS an equal partner, because he has use of ALL the flat.

In the OP's case, the second bedroom appears already spoken for - because she is having to put most of her stuff into store to make the arrangement possible. If the 2nd bedroom is to be occupied by a lodger or the DPs young children - or is DP's home office/games room/gym - why should she pay for half the use of the flat?

Another major difference is if there is no built-in assumption that your son's partner is the live-in help/housekeeper/childminder. Giving the OP use of the kitchen instead of use of the 2nd bedroom is really no compensation!

This.

Keep your independence.

Why don't you just buy somewhere together when you're ready?

I agree with the PPs that say to keep your independence.

If he wants you to pay full market rate, then is he offering you full market service, ie, the spare room is yours (you can use it to store your stuff maybe?) and the protection of a tenancy agreement?

So he’s giving her a tenancy agreement and the spare room then, right??

I’ve seen it suggested many times for a woman moving in

not for a man though…

Tell me you hate your son's girlfriend without saying you hate your son's girlfriend.

^^ boyfriend. But the point still stands.

I think the mortgage/rent thing is a bit of an arbitrary split.

Add up the total mortgage/rent/bills/food, plus any other joint expenses savings you want, and then decide how best for you to contribute, I.e., 50/50 or a proportional split depending on both your earnings.

You shouldn't be paying anything towards the mortgage if you're name isn't on the mortgage/rent. Pay half the rent but you shouldn't have to contribute towards a mortgage on property they purchased.

Also are they a higher wage earner than yourself? If so then they are being selfish to split everything down the middle. If the relationship doesn't work out and you have contributed towards the mortgage would they then pay you back what you payed?

It wouldn't be fair for you to pay towards a property he will eventually part own/or own outright in the future. You would have contributed towards paying that mortgage off but come away with nothing. Maybe make an appointment at CAB and have an agreement written up.

Pay half the rent. Work out what half the mortgage would be, and put this in a savings account every month. If you get to the point of buying together or going on the existing mortgage, you'll be able to pay your half retrospectively. If you split up, you'll have no right to claim any of the mortgage you've paid half of so I wouldn't contribute until my name was on it.

I think she mean's £650 for the mortgage. The rent will be the same. So she pays £450 of the rent and he pays the rest.

Whatever the cost of the rent and mortgage is should be split 50-50, along with the storage fees (don’t know why you can’t use the second bedroom storage though 🤷‍♀️), and all household bills such as CT, water etc. You want to be in a partnership, be in an equal one. Obviously when kids and marriage comes along things change, but at the moment you are merely in a non-binding relationship and no one should be carrying the other financially.

Disclaimer - if one of you earns substantially more than the other, perhaps a percentage proportion of wages would be more fair.

Just buy your own house. Problem solved.