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?

Maybe they aren’t bothered about him moving out. Why should they be?

You’re not doing them any favours. I don’t think many parents expect a contribution for financial gain. Not everyone is so well off that they can pay all their children’s subscriptions, phone bills etc. and not expect anything towards the household bills. The children shouldn’t feel entitled to free board either, when they can afford it in addition to a good social life, holidays etc. Doing their fair share of chores is expected too.

In your opinion only!!
Quite happy with our way of treating DC living at home, thank you.
They all own their own properties & financially sound.
Each to their own!

Why are they living with you if they own their own properties?

DS earns £1600-1800pm and pays us £250. He helps with cleaning, does his own washing and will cook occasionally too. I put it in a savings account for his travel/leaving home fund however he’s unaware of this.

All of ours got a year rent free after finishing education and then rent after that. And no, I’m not saving it to surprise them with, why should I continue paying for my kids once they have jobs??

👏👏👏

In 2 or 3 years time my DS and his girlfriend will have saved up enough to buy their own 3 bedroom home in London. They will be home owners by the time they are 26 -27 which they would not have been able to if not living at home and partly subsidised by parents who can afford that. This works well for us. He has the rest of his life to pay utility bills.

This, absolutely.

Then you're not charging him rent. It's enforced saving. Why not just be upfront about it?

Zero but she pays her phone bill.

Understanding how to budget isn’t solely dependant on paying rent. No one I know pad rent when growing up and all are responsible adults with good jobs and mortgages.

Totally different if you need the money….

We did not charge rent after Uni & returned home. Moved out when they were ready to.

Unless you truly need the money, I would give her the option of either paying you £200 or putting the same amount into savings every month - if she has any sense she’ll pick the second option. I really don’t like the oft-advised solution of taking rent but secretly putting it into an account for her - there’s something very infantilising about it. Just give her the options and let her make her choice.

I think it’s controlling. Previous poster said I was infantilising my DS, but I think this type of control is infantilising. You are not teaching your child to save or be good with money this way.

Yes, I agree, it is infantilising.

Funny.
My parents never charged me anything.
Gentle reminder: You imposed this life on her, she didn't ask to be born and trapped with you.

I find it strange that some people can't comprehend that we can't all afford to let our adult children live rent free. The clue is in the word adult.
I didn't subscribe to all the memory making bollocks either. We just lived our lives together doing the best we could.
I have one son living alone in a council flat with mh difficulties, I also have ds2 and a dd who both own their own flats on their own with responsible jobs. So I am pretty pleased with the way they turned out. Obviously not theone with health issues.

All these saying charge nothing, will this still apply when she’s 27, still at home and has more disposable income than the Op would ever have.

Op, I think she should pay her own phone and also ‘keep’ of at least £150.00.

I left school in 1980, my first take home wage was £33 a week, my mother had £10 keep off me from day 1 plus I bought my own food for my packed lunches.

It makes it harder for them in the sense they can’t afford to save as much because they’re handing it over for rent. Who said they’re going to waste it all? Suppose that depends on the 18 year old

Age 18 and 27 are completely different. An 18 year old working part time I wouldn’t charge but a 27 year old working full time yes they should contribute

She's not trapped... she can leave at any time. She's a working adult

Unfortunately not. My nephew being one. He thought money grew on trees,I,agree parents should teach their teens about budgeting. When our children were at sixth form we gave them a monthly allowance and if they had no money left before the next payment tough. They soon learnt.

Yes, my parents charged me from when I started a Saturday job when I was 15. They didn't need to, they owned the business.
When I did a holiday job when I was at uni, it actually became cheaper for me to live in university accommodation and work from there, so I didn't see them in the holidays.
I wanted my children to always have a home until they were ready. It's the family home and they will always be welcome. They're not lodgers. They budget well, strangely enough.
I think if you're on UC or a very low income, a contribution does make sense though.

How long does this apply for? I didn't ask to be born, yet funnily enough In still have to pay to do so.

See when my DS came back after uni I immediately lost my 25% council tax discount and bills doubled. So should I be paying more due to him being there?