How much ‘rent’ for child

[Freshstarts22]

Inspired by a similar thread but different circumstances. 18 yr old, left education at 16 and had worked since. Usually earns over £1000pm but can occasionally be a bit lower. No outgoings as such but doesn’t eat much food at home so doesn’t really cost me in food ect.

when they left education I lost over £300pm in child benefit and UC. I work part time, single parent with a younger child too. I wanted to ask them for money at that time out of principle but didn’t.

Anyway, I’ve decided that 18yr old should be contributing towards bills now. Partly because I could really use the money, partly out of principle and partly because they need to learn how to be responsible.

How much is reasonable to ask for. £50pw?

Watching with interest as my dd17 is leaving college until September and getting a job..

50pw sounds reasonable. Like you say they need to learn in life you have to pay your way.
If they aren't happy they can look for somewhere to rent but it will cost them A LOT more than that!

My sister is 21 and still at home, she looked at a could of flats last year but just couldn't afford it. She pays board, and always says she "knows where her breads buttered!".

That was supposed to say "couple" of flats 🙄

I wouldn’t charge rent to my kids but I’d charge what they cost if I wanted/needed to.

Not much food but how much? Is he home much? Electricity?

What’s their longer term plan? Are they studying? Or looks like minim wage jobs their future?

Whatever it costs you to have them there. Their share of the bills and food.

Ours are a few years off from this, but I'm thinking around 20% of take home pay once they're out of education. They won't be going to uni. This will cover utilities, rent, basic toiletries/cleaning stuff, normal food shop.

Ideally they'll also save 20% and can then enjoy the remaining 60%.

I'm sure they'll end up getting some of it back at some point in the future.

YANBU given your circumstances. Explain your £300 dip in income when they left school. I assume they now pay for own clothes, travel, entertainment etc. £50 seems fair to me and I agree it's important for them to have some financial responsibilty and incentive to earn more!

50 pw.

I intended to do what my parents did for me. They took a third for “rent & bills”, advised me to put a third in savings and then a third for fun. I found this really helpful as when I moved out it wasn’t as big of a shock at the real cost of living.

They did give me back some of the third they took when I moved as a starting gift.

Are you able to increase your working hours?

I paid my mum £200 pm back in 2001!

When DS was working in hospitality and earning a decent wage, we charged a third, which I saved (unbeknownst to him) when he wasn’t working I drip fed it back to him in tens and twenties.

He is now doing an apprenticeship and is on a pitiful wage, we supplement him by £200 a month, basically paying his petrol to travel to and from work.

He is due an inheritance soon and some of it is owed, we don’t need it so will set up a small pension (with/for him) and drip feed the money back to him, again unbeknownst to him.

Swings and roundabouts.

I wouldn't charge board myself but I can see your predicament. Is there any chance you can work full time now?

My parents used the rule of 10% of our earnings, so for example my sister who studied and worked part time paid a smaller amount than me who worked full time and earned more. We both ate and used washing machine etc but it would not have been fair to charge the same to each of use esp as it was our choice to study/work full time. My parents didn't need the rent but it was more of an exercise to understand we need to pay our way in life.
I believe its given me good knowledge and understanding of finances.

£50 per week seems very fair. I'd be encouraging him to save a chunk too into a LISA as government tops it up.

£50 pw sounds reasonable to me.

It'll help you out, be a life lesson and he still has plenty of spending money.

I don't charge my two 'board' as such because I want them to be able to save to move out. I do however charge them for their share of the utilities because these increase because they are here. So they each pay a quarter of gas, electric, Wi-Fi, and water plus £15 per month for 'shared' shopping such as loo rolls, laundry tabs etc. They also buy most of their own food.

My DD is at Uni, commuting and works PT and gives around £500 a month.

It depends whether you really need the money or just want it. If you genuinely can't afford to keep them unless they pay, do your somes and present them an itemised list of how much it costs. This way you will persuade them and they will understand why it's necessary.

A lot of the time parents decide to charge their children rent for no other reason than they can or, even worse, think that it's some kind of "life lesson" for them. (Presumably the life lesson being that the parent thinks their responsibility for their child ends as soon as they turn 18.)

I’m the same OP - single parent no support, except I work full time . But I lost my tax credits when my son started work so he pays £500 per month . I couldn’t afford to support him as I have another child to pay for too.
my son earns about £1200 pcm. He’s still better off than living in a shared house .

I agree he should be paying something towards wherever he lives. Your reasons are a bit skewed in that you lost CB, you had 18 years notice on losing that money and its not up to him to replace that. However of course he should be paying something towards costs of where he lives.

What's that got to do with anything?
Youngsters need to be able to budget. Sit down with them and go through the bills on a spreadsheet. 50 sounds reasonable to me

Very similar circumstances. Single parent with younger child also. I've lost maintenance cb and tax credit - and increased council tax too since my eldest turned 18. I set the 'contribution to household costs' to him at £225. Also rising costs everywhere doesn't help! It doesn't cover the difference but it helps. I'm not in a position to fund him as an adult and he understands this and has paid up every month so far at payday. It's not easy for single parents with kids turning 18, especially with a younger child too.
Two parent households might not have much of an income/expense change when a child turns 18 - but for me it's hit me quite significantly.

Yes I agree with this. I hardly paid any rent, I think only about £40 a month as I was saving for a house. I paid for my itemised phone bill plus the extra to have sky multiroom also. My £40 covered a contribution towards food really and was just a token amount really. I saved hard for a house deposit so my parents were happy not to charge more.

If they were struggling for money or if I wasn't actively trying to buy a house then I would totally understand charging more.