£20 a night?

[Silverbook]

How much would you pay for a school pupil to stay in your house while you were away on holiday? Main responsibility is to feed the cat. What’s reasonable?
We were thinking £15-20 but it’s divided the room with half thinking that’s too much and the other thinking not enough.
I’m reaching out the the MN wisdom and the decision here will be final.

I'd rather pay a cattery and leave an empty house than trust what appears to be a sensible 15 year old...

I would have been utterly responsible at 15 as would my own daughter at that age. I used to babysit and nearly every parent used to merrily tell me there was "wine in the fridge" as they left but I never touched it. I didn't want to think that if there was an accident and I had to call for emergency services that I'd be a teenager reeking of booze.

I would have LOVED to have done this at 15. A house to myself to read all day and (at that age) watch Dirty Dancing over and over on the VCR!

If they live close by there’s no need for them to stay overnight, popping in a couple of times during the day would suffice.

So weird that a 15yo would house sit.

Feed cat 2 X per day, put post on ta let, water plants etc fine.

But staying there ? Seems strange.

There are a lot of 16 year olds still in school. Turn 16 between September and end of august, leave school after GCSEs june time. So all but the youngest will turn 16 during school.
The kid in this case is 15 though

Put post on table*

Op you only know one side of this teen. The responsibile side his parents see. Not what he's like with his mates.

Or more importantly what friends of friends might hear he's Home Alone and decide to have a party.

If he's only 5mins away then I think I'd ask him to check in on the cat twice a day at £10 a time. So £20 a day without the need for him to stay.

If it’s 5 mins away they can call in and check on the cat a few times a day if necessary. Pay for that.
15 too young to be in their own in the house for 10/days, I wouldn’t want my 15 yr old to do that.
Is it that they want them to earn some cash, if so, 10 days responsibility to call in 3 times a day ( or whatever you think) check on cat, play with them and ensure house is secure, £15 per day.

The whole "teen will invite all their mates and trash the house" I have only seen in movies

You must live an incredibly sheltered life.

I have been to many many parties when younger where things got out of hand, in different ways, usually involving drugs/alcohol, when parents were away.

Only this week my DH work colleague arrived home from holiday to absolute mayhem as word had got out on social media that his 17 year old daughter was having a party. A lot of uninvited guests turned up, fighting broke out, the police were called and his house was a mess.

I'm not saying that will definitely happen here but there is no way I'd chance it.

I also think it's weird that it seems like his parents are the driving force into him staying overnight in the house when the logical solution is for him to just go in a couple of times a day and feed the cats

I wouldn't have left my dd overnight alone at 15!

It they're only 5 minutes away, why can't they come on twice a day to feed and fuss over the cat?

I'd pay £20 per day for that, and ask them to water my plants while I'm at it.

I would not let a 15yo stay for that long in my house. I don't care how mature and sensible and boring they are.

I dont see anything wrong with it, every situation is relative to the people involved, seems like a responsible youngster getting a chance to earn money and trust from family and friends. If their family is close I'm sure they would be there for any emergency needed. Just make sure there aren't any insurance issues.

We left DS when we went on holiday in the UK when he was 16 and he didn't trash the house

Nope.

No way would I have a 15 year old in charge of my house for ten days.

Yes, check your insurance OP as it's not a professional person so it may be different to if you employed someone who was a house sitter

About £10 a day, cattery price. What we pay our neighbour's teen to do same, and we know the house will be fine because it is literally a neighbour's teen. Teen can choose to stay, couches are comfortable and we leave bedding, or just pop in to look in on cats. Teen gets some space from parents (who are lovely), and plenty of entertainment on hand (netflix, disney+, prime, alexa music, guest wifi, etc) and quiet to study in if they're studying.

Yes, but that's your son at his home, not a random 15yo living in a different house alone..

PS Plus we have outside cameras We'd know immediately if there were 'others'

You would have to pay me to let a teen stay unsupervised in my house for 20 days.

@xoomer yes I did read the thread and responded to the OP's question.
She didn't ask if it was a good idea. She was asking about the £
Can you can bear to see an opinion that is different from your own?

£25 a day.

Can't imagine paying a 15yo £250 to live in my house, eat my food, use my hot water and watch my TV ha ha

Why do they need to stay in your house?

I would trust a 15yo relative to feed the cat and water the plants, but I just don't see the need for them to stay in your home alone for such a long time and I suspect the novelty will wear off pretty quickly when they realise they have no company and nothing to do.

But if you're away on holiday, what (realistically) can you do about it?

You are taking the piss. €10 a day to sleep on the couch with no food? Surprised their parents let them. Guest wifi made me laugh though. Doesn’t every house have wifi? Quiet to study as an incentive also made me laugh.