How much rent to charge 18 year old?

[TakeALookAtTheseSwatches]

My daughter left college last year and started looking for a job, she started working just after Christmas. She works part time hours and her take home pay per month is around £900. She's putting £50 in to a lifetime ISA and she has no other bills (I currently still pay her phone contract which is about £30 a month)

We provide all her food, she eats tea with us and we have breakfast things/snacks in the house. She doesn't usually eat dinner but will sometimes buy herself a meal deal if she wants something.

So what would be reasonable? I was thinking around £200 a month and I'm happy to put £50 of that in her lifetime ISA too if she wants. She is saving up for a car so isn't spending frivolously. Is £200 too much?

Just wondering why would you charge your daughter rent? Is money in the home tight?

£200 is fair enough. It’s a bargain really, if you think about food, heating, hot water, broadband, council tax. I have never charged my adult kids any rent but I’m probably too soft.

33% of take home pay.

Because adults (especially working ones) pay their way in life?

I wouldn't charge her rent but I'd make her pay for her own phone

I worked out what a third of our shared bills were (three adults living here at the moment) and charge that. I would get her to take her own phone contract on too (probably good to help her build up a credit record)

Nothing unless you are really short of money, let her save as much as possible while she can.

Teaching them life skills ? Teaching them how to budget ?
This comment always grips me on here . I’m late 30s and out of people I know / friends , the ones who wasn’t charged rent at home struggle with money now and always running to parents to be bailed out .
Even if you take the money and put it aside for them for later , they’re still learning that you got to budget and can’t live off mum and dad forever and learn to contribute to a household .

To give her an idea how to budget? She is not likely to have £850 disposable income when she leaves home. The mum is suggesting putting some of the rent money into the ISA.

£200 is not really rent it is board, covering her share of food bills laundry etc

to my mind rent is paying for the space, food utilities etc are on top of that

average cost of food in UK is £40 per adult per week so that is £160 already you are paying £30 for phone so that leaves £10 for share of bills so a bargain

to my mind she should be paying her own phone

£900 (-200 board) (-30 phone) (-50 ISA) -(60 transport) (-75 clothes and makeup)
still leaves her 465 for going out, eating out, presents, entertainment savings for a car holiday etc
my guess is 465 is way more than your own free do what you like with it money

Another way to look at it is to charge her a share of the costs of the house, excluding the mortgage. For example if there's 4 people then 25% of

• Food spend
• TV License
• House insurance
• Gas & Electricity
• Water
• Broadband / Phone
• Streaming services
• Council Tax
• etc

I think this is easier to justify, as it's clear you're not making a "profit" from her. I would either add it up every month, or review it every 6-12 months.

Zero. I don’t need the money nor do I want to “charge” my daughters for living in their own home. They have enough to deal with.

I wouldn’t charge rent but I wouldn’t be paying her phone bill or any other ‘luxury’ if she’s wanting a car and driving lessons they are expensive enough without paying ‘rent’

£200 to a freshly 18 year old is a lot of money! She’s showing she’s responsible by adding to her lifetime isa, you should arguably be encouraging her to fund more into this than pocketing it yourself, unless your finances are so tight that you actually need the money.

I would suggest that the best thing to do would be to suggest she pays £200 into her lifetime isa in lieu of board, if she doesn’t want to do so then yes fair enough to charge. This still teaches her life skills around money whilst putting her in a good position to buy a house in the future.

Alternatively, if you are really set on charging her then £100 is a much more reasonable amount.

To be honest unless I needed it i wouldn’t bother. But what I would do is ensure that she is saving a good portion (imo 50 is not enough).

If you can afford to, I wouldn't charge her more than a small amount that I'd put into a savings account for her future.

£900 pcm is a good part-time wage. I don't get this charging nothing, take a contribution to the household and teach some financial responsibility. I'd ask for £300, to include rent and everything you've listed. I'd put £50 of that into her ISA, and £100 into an account she doesn't know about - to give back when she starts to talk about wanting to move out.
You haven't said how much you need to have a contribution. Don't go short yourself and end up watching her out enjoying spending say @£200 per week on whatever she feels like. Be fair on yourselves as well.

nothing as you said she is saving for a car and I’m assuming driving lessons then house deposit in the etc . Why charge her rent ?

If she is only saving 50 a month what on earth is she spending 850 a month on when all her food and lodgings are paid for by you?

I would absolutely take 200 or 300 for her and save it for her.

Nothing, but tell her to up her LISA to £250 a month.

I wouldn’t charge my 18 year old anything unless I needed the money. I would instead encourage saving as much as possible for her future goals.

I wouldn't charge her rent, but let her start paying for her own phone contract and put more money away into that lifetime ISA. She'll need to think about things like insurance, tax, MOTs, servicing and fuel money for the car as well.

Zero ! She’s your daughter !
unless money is seriously tight for you

I wouldn't charge a teenager working part time any rent. But I would expect them to pay for most of own food/groceries. And their own phone, going out etc.

Once they were full time then I'd start charging a proportion based on how much utilities etc are used by that one person.

£200 seems a lot tbh for an 18 year old. If she’s earning £900 then putting £50 in ISA, that’s £850 you then take away £200 that’s £650, how much is she trying to save each month for a car?