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?

That's actually a very good point!

My DS is in 2nd year apprenticeship and earns over £2k per month. We take a £200 contribution towards the home and he has managed to save over £10k in his first year.

I was going to up his contribution slightly as he got a pay rise, but as you say, if he was at uni, even living at home, we wouldn't have been taking money from him, so will leave it as is.

We cover his car tax, phone bill and ever-increasing protein items in the food shop.

To the OP, I think £200 out of £900 is a lot. I would definitely encourage more saving

I think you can understand that without having to pay your parents. Everyone’s circumstances are different. If you feel like your child needs this lesson fair enough. My son does not. He is sensible with money and understands budgeting. He also lived away at uni and had to budget for 4 years and did that very well so I am not worried.

Totally agree with this.

We have taken a token amount of £100 from our eldest who is working full time on roughly the same wages as me. He wants to buy his own house so we have encouraged him to save as much as he can but still pays that £100 to cover electricity as he works from home so heating is on all day as is his office light and powering 2 computers each day.

If you charge money it will take them longer to save to move our and her only saving £50 a month will take ages ro save up a decent amount of money.

Same will happen with our youngest when they graduate and start working.

Barnsleybonuz, 100%, agree. My friend of almost 70, had her entitled 40 year old son living with her. He often earns £2k per week,has borrowed money from her..she downsized to a flat,has only her pensions, state and small private, but her maintenance charges are eye watering.. she has a disabled ds living at home.. spent a lot of money making a room ready,new bed etc. it's making her ill. Originally he had roughly £70k, he could have put a deposit on a small property. He's trying to get her to move to a bigger place,hers has 2 bedrooms, she gave up the lounge for him.

My daughter works part time and attends college she brings home about £1000 a month, I don’t charge her anything, I pay her phone contract, her college travel costs, half of her driving lessons and give her £20 a week towards her lunch costs, I have bought her a little car and she is expected to take over the majority of running costs once she has passed her test. I also pay £50 per month into her isa. I won’t start charging her rent until she has a full time job and her take home is £1500 a month, then it will be £200 per month which I will pay straight into her LISA. At the moment I am happy for her to use her earnings towards fun things. Her large friend group is all moving apart for Uni in September and she’s saving hard for a summer of music festivals and holidays, she’s not 18 yet. I was living alone,’skint with far too many worries when I was just a little older than she is now, I am more than happy for her to just enjoy her earnings at the moment, she works really hard for it.

I would suggest £200 board or she saves £300 into her Lisa. Which hopefully incentivizes her to save, if she chooses board I would definitely take it and might secretly save it for her but I wouldn’t let her know.

What have they to deal with?

The OPs daughter is an adult, earning a wage and is being asked to contribute towards food, phone and bills. That's called living!

I think you are getting confused with an obviously useless and selfish man by the sounds of it and parents supporting young adults living at home saving to get on the housing ladder. I understand the charging money if you need it only or if you feel like your child really need this life lesson as they don’t understand finances otherwise.

With mine, it's £200 + 1 bill that gets their name on it - my DD1 has the water bill, for example.

For me, getting their name on a bill to use as ID, having them pay & see how bills work (my DD1 and I have discussed how to reduce the water bill as we're on a meter - the water bill was picked because of her love of long showers), and starting that process of building up their financial history is the most important. My kids know I'm more than open to cutting or dropping rent if their financial situations changed or if they'd prefer to help the household with taking on more housework (I also pay them to do additional tasks around the home that I would pay someone else to help with or would be a significant relief to their father and I).

Also, those that pay rent get a bigger say in household projects and they're aware that the money goes towards activities or things they want around the house that would be a struggle or taking longer without their contributions. They can see/experience and part of their conversation of where their money is going.

I was raised by my grandparents in a home where money was plentiful due to their business.
When I started earning from a part-time job at age 16, my contribution was to shop, cook and provide dinner for the family (my grandparents, myself and my 2 younger uncles) one week night and one weekend.
If I wasn't going to be there on my allocated nights I had to make sure there was a meal left to heat up.
I very quickly learned that chicken thighs were not just tastier but much cheaper.
Eggs from our hens were free!!! so plenty of egg based dinners.
Apples from the orchard were free so plenty of apple sponge/tart to fill up on after a dinner that may not have been a long lasting filling one.
Fillet steak for dinner???? in your dreams😂
2 years later when I was earning a very considerable wage I was then handed a bill a month to pay, done on rotation so it may have been a cheap internet one this month but an expensive electricity/gas one the following month.
I learned a hell of a lot about the cost of life and budgeting for it I can tell you - I also learned how to switch off the heating and yell at them to put on an extra jumper and point out that a cold shower was very very good for you😂

Nothing (if l could afford to cover it) for first 12 months, so she can get started, then 25% of take home pay.

Grethagreeen,no not confused. My friend didn't charge her son when he was living at home in his teens and working. He got married, mortgage kids,(he's got 3 he doesn't support) he feels he should be treated as he was before..it's his "home" he shouldn't have to pay. It never was his home, she downsized 10 years ago on retirement.. I have always helped my dks in times of need, break ups,child care,a home, but there is a limit.

I get mine to buy and cook a decent portion of their food - still share family meals but we have fewer round the table affairs these days. I would however encourage saving. He them to do the Rebel finance course or similar then to start investing now for later.

Thats a massive leap if you somehow think children living at home without contributing all end up like your friend’s son. By supporting my son, I am just enabling him to become an independent home owner much sooner than he would if he was living at home learning to pay electric bills. He knows people have to pay bills, he has paid them at university for 4 years and he is not dumb.

Exactly this? The faux naivety "ooh why would you expect a working adult to contribute to their living expenses?" gets right on my tits.
I remember my son in his mid twenties querying it when I put his board up to £250. I gave him my entire budget mortgage, council tax, water, gas, even tv license everything. He held his hands up in mock surrender when he realised just what a good deal he was getting.
Anyway op I think £150 plus taking on her phone contract is a good start.

Many people don't have £650 a month left after bills you know

If you don’t need it charge nothing - BUT that is conditional on her putting 1/3 of her pay into her LISA
she needs to learn budgeting vs frittering but if you can afford it, let her save not pat

dd is nearly 20 and on a full time degree apprenticeship on £30k year. We charge her £200 a month, on the condition she saves £1k month minimum

If you need the contribution then I think your plan is more than fair. If you don’t need it yourself I’d likely put it away to give back when she moves out but there’s no need to have £800 spare every single month

Many people don’t correct and many people do but at 18 when they’re trying to save money and have the luxury of no bills why make it harder for them if as parents we can afford to (and I say if because I realise not everyone can afford it).

How's it making it harder for them? Or is it ok for an 18 year old to spunk £650 a month on sweet FA

Grethagreeen,he was in a relationship, has an adult DD, then married 10 years with a mortgage, just now seems to imagine it's his poor DMs responsibility.

I wouldn't make a profit out of her but would expect food and phone to be paid and a contribution to gas/electric.

£200 sounds OK, but definitely time for her to pay her own phone contract, it's a good way to start building up a decent credit rating as well.

I would also encourage saving more as its the only time in life when she'll be able to save a decent % of her income before having to run her own house.

The same with mine. I never charged my own children to live in the family home.
They have still managed to find rentals and pay their own way through adult life, with no budgeting problems.

I agree. I think most people understand that if you live outside the family home, you have all sorts of additional expenses!

I find it strange that many posters change from being all consuming, memory making, DP into money making, ruthless, financial gainers when their DC hit 18 years.
It’s almost like a step back in time when Edwardian families couldn’t wait for their DD to leave home to become a servant.
We have never charged our DC rent or bills. Never wanted to.