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?

MN is so privileged. When my child turns 18, I lose around £350 a month from exh and child benefit. I will certainly feel that and I would not call myself in poverty. I'm just a single parent so one income these days does seem to mean 'poor' to other people.

I hope ds will go to university but really don't think he'll be ready at 18. I imagine we might have some time while he works a bit instead.

I think what you propose is reasonable @TakeALookAtTheseSwatches .

If you see your young adult child as a ‘contribution’ then you are the problem.

Totally agree! I take a token amount from my 3 totalling £400 pm. I have used this to up my pension contributions. DC are u u by still able to save, run cars & have a social life. Why should I subsidise them to have £100s of £ spending money to squander while facing a bleak retirement.

Because it's a parent's job to teach them life skills.
Letting them think it's normal to keep every penny of their wage is irresponsible

I doubt very much whether the average 18 year old believes that every penny of a wage is spending money. If that's the case, there's definitely been a parenting fail somewhere along the line.
Mine knew about tax, insurance and bills etc long before that!

I have an 18 year old but different because he’s still in school. He works ten hours a week.
He pays for his driving lessons and he pays for his phone and any extras he wants with clothes and food. He also pays for his gym membership.
Travel is free on buses in Scotland so he either takes the bus or he has to pay for his own train tickets into the city.

I buy all the basics including all meals.
If he were working I wouldn’t charge rent but I would very strongly encourage that he put the majority of his pay into savings so he could use towards the deposit of a house or travelling or whatever.

The phone bill should be hers to pay.
I presume clothing, make-up, deodorant, etc.. she pays for
I'd firstly ask her if she wants particular foods its up to her to buy or pay further

Thanks all, I've discussed with my daughter and husband and she's going to put the max amount allowed in to the lifetime ISA (which works out at just over £300 per month) she'll then save however much she likes for a car on top of that. She'll be taking over her phone bill. She's very happy with that as she's keen to buy her own house as soon as she can and will be able to do that in around 5 years with that rate of saving (hopefully she'll be able to go full time within the next couple of years)

She's also not one for buying much, she has absolutely no interest in expensive clothes or shoes, I had to practically force her to get new trainers after about 3 years because hers were falling apart 😂, she goes for a night out maybe twice a month but that's about it. I think she'll use most of her money to afford a car (she's already passed her driving test)

My dc are 10 and 13 and they already know this is what happens…do most people wait until their dc are earning to enlighten them with this fact of life?

I can only imagine that's what's happening. Mine went to uni many miles away at 18, if we'd waited until then, it would have been a problem!

That sounds like a good plan 👍

Sounds like you've raised a great kid!
Great plan for her.

I never charged my daughter anything when she was living here, but once she was earning, she paid for her own phone and clothes. She and her husband lived with us during 2024 and during that time, they bought and cooked their own food - they are strict Muslims and only eat organic food - but it didn’t occur to us to charge them anything for living with us. I suppose we probably used a bit more electricity and water for laundry and showering during that time, but other than that it didn’t cost us any more to have them living with us.

I wasn't actually suggesting it was left to age 18.
Reading the update OP has done a great job and raised a savvy young adult

This is very similar to us. Dd pays no rent but it’s in the condition she puts money into her ISA. We don’t pay her phone or any of her bills. She runs her own car that she pays for. Any fancy food or treats for her and her bf she pays for. She buys all her toiletries.
She’s on track to be able to buy a flat before she’s 21. I think she’s learning to be sensible with her money. She works really hard.

because now there an adult there’s no need to subsidise them
charged ours £130 ( have saved it for them but they don’t know)
which is no what it cost for food and utilities

Unless you need it can’t understand why people charge massive amounts or a fixed % to profit from there kids

Well, you the student loan system expects parents to contribute and I am perplexed as to why you would refuse to do so.

I didn't refuse. He just didn't need the money. And no one full loan parents are not expected to contribute. It's the kids from better off families who are expected to make it up to full loan amount. He had far more than that Id also given him the car for his 18th

I gave my mum £150 when I first started work in 1983. I think it was a third of my take-home pay.
Her rent went up and she lost child benefit so I needed to cover that.

Parents are expected to contribute according to income. Several of ds’s friends receive full loan & their parents are not expected & indeed are unable to contribute. Those choosing to remain at home are even expected to contribute to their families household expenses from their loan.

I am not expected to contribute to my daughter’s uni living expenses. When she lived with us full time & was earning she paid £50 per week keep. Now she is in halls she doesn’t pay keep & we don’t charge anything when she’s at home in the holidays as we are fortunate not to need anything from her but not all families are that fortunate.

That's a lot, I remember paying less than that when I was renting in London at the same time. If you hadn't gone to live back home, I suspect she would have had to move if she couldn't afford it.

I wouldn't ever charge my child rent

That's s very privileged comment

You didn't need to cover that. When our cb ended when college finished so did college bus fare and weekly dinner money and it evened out. Plus once kids start earning they of course pay for their own social lives so we weren't forking out 50 quid here and there everytime they went out.

They have their whole lives to pay bills, while at home any extra should be saved toward independent living not go in Mum and Dad's pocket.