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?

Whats their plan when they are 70?

Because they have no idea what it means to be a family.

It’s very sensible to own your own home and build equity rather than throw money on renting. I don’t know what people who rent all their lives will do in old age. How will they continue to afford the rent?

My maternal grandparents rented all their lives. They moved into a house that was more suited to their needs as they aged and continued to pay the rent. They had savings so were not entitled to housing benefit but had they not had savings they would have had help.

Contrast to my father in law who is stuck in a house that is not suited to his needs. It needs a lot of work doing to it and he can't afford to move or do the work. He gets no help and if anything happens to him then the house will be taken anyway to pay for mother in law's care.

If a decent pension out of that. If no money then housing benefit. Seems strange to do nothing for whole of live though because of what " might" happen at 70.

Taking on a mortgage isn’t always the wise choice. If you hit hard times the only help you have is a crappy SMI loan. Last year the number of repossessed mortgaged properties was the highest it’s been in five years:

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/cj0e0jjz88ro

I love this comment. It’s definitely true, from my own personal perspective of why my sons contribute to our home. We’re family and they don’t want me to go without, or their 12 year old little brother-while they sit with full bank accounts and me struggling. It’s a very personal thing for everyone, as to why parents accept a contribution to the house pot or ask. For me it’s the rising costs of stuff…
For my sons, it was deeply personal to offer me and ensure I accepted it without questioning or guilt.
I worked 2 jobs when they were little, looked after my mum as a carer and struggled to get by, not that they’d of known(so I thought)
I tried my best to hide the struggles-but they noticed and I didn’t know they had 😞
my smaller portions at tea time, my ability to make every school holiday fun, the trips to McDonald’s where I’d sit with nothing, so they could have, the holidays I couldn’t afford with them, but clothed them for a week away with grandparents, the uniforms I’d buy months in advance and the presents I’d save all year for that I thought I’d hid well 😂 and the observation they’d made, about what family means.
I never and have never, passed comment on their Dad- I was made to feel cheeky, asking my ex, for a small contribution to uniform about 14 years ago! it’s was tough that year.
I remember feeling embarrassed and crying to my mum-my Sons had heard that and I didn’t know.
As much as they love their Dad, both don’t want to be the man he is and me struggle, while they sit with over £1200 in their banks, living their best lives and me and their 12 year old brother going without.
Both put £50 per week in the house tin, with pride and appreciation. They also save, go out, pay for driving lessons, have holidays booked for later this year and are happy.
Both passed their GCSE’s with confidence and had the opportunity to continue education-Neither did and that was ok-but they both knew, they were expected to find Jobs, in order to fulfill their own lives and not sit on their arses, while i funded an unsustainable teenage lifestyle of what they are paying for now. They are my children forever and I will always help them, if I can-but, they will never want me, who they love and need at times because I’m their mum, to not be ok along side them and that’s what family means to them and me. I probably sound awful to other posters, but every family is different and it works for my family.

You should be so proud that you have brought up such wonderful young men.

What a nice (not) way to talk about your DC.
You know, those babies & children you were once so protective of!!!

Yes, the ones who I have worked hard (and still am) to bring up to be independent, functional adults! We are not doing our kids any favours by being their crutch indefinitely - young adult brains learn by experience, so we shouldn't deny them that experience. I think it's a bit selfish.

What do you mean do nothing? I doubt many people have a decent enough pension to pay rent in their retirement. Housing benefit is not the solution. I also don’t want to subsidise people who have not secured their retirement thank you.

Well be afraid to travel, work abroad etc as they sat in parents house saving to buy.

And what do you suppose you do now paying tax and NI. You are already paying for those just on state pension. Think of the fact that many women paid reduced stamp in the past if they were married. Those are now pensioners. Plus all the SAHM of the 60s and 70s

actually the places in the world where they do not expect cadult children to pay rent are also the same places where adult children are supposed to care for their elderly parents when they can no longer work; for free no charging parents rent or keep either but looking after them when immobile or have dementia no care homes so yes that can work you will eventually own family home generally it becomes eldest son's respomnsilbilty to care for his parents ( where of course it is actually his wife doing the grunt work) so no you don't pay rent as a young adult but you are absolutely expected to fund your parents retirement

Actually on this thread no body is actually charging rent when you rent you pay to live in a space it doesn't include council tax utilities or food, what people are talking about is board or keep, an adult paying their own way for the share of consumables and utilities they use, ie food toothpaste toilet roll laundry etc,

And yes the government does assume for UC housing benefit that if an adult child there is working they are contributing and your housing benefit will be adjusted via bedroom tax or similar
" When an adult child (aged 20 or over, or 16-19 and left education) living with you earns a wage, it affects your Universal Credit (UC) primarily through a non-dependant deduction from your housing costs. They are considered to be contributing to household expenses, which reduces the amount of rent support you receive."

At 18? On £900 a month. That’s ridiculous.

Well, I know a lot about the culture in Spain given DH is Spanish.

Yes, adult children do help look after their parents but they absolutely are not expected to fund their retirement. It is actually seen as quite shameful to be taking money from your own DC.

The general culture is much more family-centric though and people muck in to help each other out. They will never see a family member struggle if they can help.

I have a Bangladeshi workmate who is the eldest son. He didn't pay keep but his wife moved in with his mother and him on marriage ( she was widowed) and she was financially supported by him since then and when she was elderly her DIL did all the care for her until her death. Apparently thats not unusual

I grew up knowing I would pay my parents a third, of whatever my salary was. Taught me to pay my way.

I was very surprised when I finally left home to receive a fair amount of that back. Went towards my first home. But it wasn't an expectation.

It depends on what your bills are, surely? It's about £250 for us, which leaves £650 a month disposable income, more than most people have! For a teenager, that's huge!

I walked to school and received free school meals. My mum was unable to work due to numerous health conditions and was widowed when I was three.
I earnt my own spending money from quite an early age by babysitting and had a job in a newsagents on a Sunday from 16.
I was fully aware of my mum's finances by the time I started full time work and I decided on what I believed was a fair amount to give mum towards my keep.

That amount was to cover all bills including food. I didn't live away from home until I bought a flat with now DH in 1987.
It was just how benefits were structured then. My mum was a widow and unable to work due to multiple health conditions. Her council rent went up when I left school and started working.
I was fully aware of her financial situation and the amount I calculated based on 1/3 keep; 1/3 save and 1/3 to spend.

What a cosy little bubble you must live in. 35% of households (i.e. over a third) live in rented accommodation. Nearly a quarter of pensioners rent.

I am not in a bubble. I understand some people can only afford to rent, but I would never encourage that as you are paying often more than if you were paying a mortgage with nothing to show for it at the end/ no asset. I worry about my retirement with a good pension and mortgage paid off. I can’t imagine being a renter facing paying rent in retirement and don’t think housing benefits is the answer. That’s just the young generation paying for increasing older generation who never built their own equity.
Anyway - this is derailing the thread a bit I think.

Where did you make up the bit about being afraid to travel and work abroad. I have done both and at the same time owned property. Strange post.

It was a third of my take-home so I still had a third to save and a third to spend but it was more than friends gave their parents.
I had full sight of my mum's finances and worked out was was necessary to cover the bills.

Because it costs money. If you are a 20 something still living with mummy so you can ave then you don't spend the money you have on travel. And is there much point buying a house in one country when you may not even want to settle there