Nanny accommodation - any advice?

[Curioustiger]

First post on Mumsnet - go easy!

I am returning to work in July and am looking for a nanny in central London (probably full time). I am flexible as to accommodation and am thinking of:

• live out but relatively long hours (8am to 8pm, say, plus up to one evening babysitting a week if poss by separate arrangement), or
• live in but with the nanny accommodation comprising of a separate one bed flat (which I own) approx ten minutes' walk from the flat where I live (and within prob 15 mins walk tops of school etc). Hours and babysitting as above. Obviously I would adjust the salary to reflect the accommodation.

I do also have one spare bedroom in the flat I live in now but it would definitely be cramped so I am thinking the options described above wpuld work better than straightforward live-in arrangements.

I am happy with both scenarios so was thinking of advertising the post with both options listed and letting the nanny decide. Any thoughts from current nannies as to whether this is an attractive proposition? Or from employers in terms of structuring contracts etc to include separate accommodation?

I would say as a nanny who has done live in that a job with a separate flat in central London with a live in wage would be snapped up.

You'll have no problem at all finding someone, however, I would add 1-2 nights babysitting into the contract - that is very standard for a live in nanny. A lot of live ins are being asked to do half a day at the weekend as well, but as you're asking for quite a late finish, its probably better not to add.

I wouldn't even offer the bedroom in your flat as an option either.

Karoleann, do you mean 1-2 nights babysitting as standard each week or the option of 1-2 nights to be agreed by both parties? I would absolutely love the former but don't want to make the position unattractive!

Ps thanks chocoholicanon that's good to know. I am so new to this...

As an experienced live in nanny, a job with sep accommodation will be snapped up.

(Infact, my new position ends late June... can I ask how old your children are?)

One daughter - she will be almost three and starts pre reception in sept so will be drop offs, pick ups then after school care, one son who will be about eight months! I am still working through details at the moment but PM me if you're interested?

You will need to be aware of the tax implications of separate accommodation. Have a read here.

I'm sure MrAnchovy will have some knowledge of this and will probably be along later this evening/weekend.

Thanks nbee84 I didn't realise that the tax position changed, although it all seems reasonable enough.

As long as you agree a gross salary then it will be the nanny that pays the extra tax - just be sure that a potential nanny knows about it so that she is not shocked when she gets her first pay packet.

I get a flat with my job and work two nights a week babysitting. Usually Monday - Thursday but I occasionally do a Friday. I don't pay any of my utility bills either just my personal expenses. I have a friend who is starting to look for another job, feel free to PM me if you'd like.

"I'm sure MrAnchovy will have some knowledge of this and will probably be along later this evening/weekend."

I do have some knowlege of this and can confirm that it is HMRC's view of the law that separate accommodation for a nanny is taxable.

In addition, a nanny that does not live with the family must be paid at least National Minimum Wage. It is likely that this also applies to babysitting.

With the babysitting, I'd bear in mind that live-in nannies do 2 nights a week as standard as they can have their supper/have a shower/put some washing on/relax in their own home/ go to bed if it's late etc whilst babysitting, so it's fine when also doing long hours.

If the nanny is living ten minutes away she isn't really living in, she's living ten minutes away with accommodation provided, so she's not getting home/leaving work until you get back, possibly late, so quite a different ask.

Thank you all, really helpful!

I think you will be much better off renting out that flat, and having nanny live-in, although only you can decide if that would be too cramped for your style.

Strix, I do currently rent the flat out, and yes I probably would be financially better off if I continued (although there's not much in it)... But there's only one bathroom and one living room in the place I live in now .... Food for thought though.

I just think you'l be paying an awful lot in tax if you provide accommodation and that probably not worth it. And you won't have the benefit of a true live in if you need early starts, overnights, etc. For example, i sometimes might leave for work / airport VERY early and i just leave them all in bed and sneak out. If your nanny has a flat, she would have to get up and come over.

We too don't have a lot of space. 3 adults and 3 children in 3 bedrooms (all 3 kids in one bedroom) and 2 bathrooms. I think you would probably need a shift pattern on your bathroom. Like nanny and kids take bath/s shower in evening or after you are finished in the morning.

But it could work...

However, if your space is more important than the income on the flat, you might disagree.

No what you say does make sense as I also travel a lot with work... Interesting. Will have to have a good talk with my oh!

Hi there I'm an experieced nanny who's done both live in and live out. A live in job with separate accommodation is the dream of every live in nanny I know, therefore you're likely to find a great nanny and if your nanny is happy, she'll likely stay long term saving you a lot of time/worry/money on agency fees in the future, even if you're losing some income from your flat.

Particularly if I were you tigerlilygrr, I'd keep the offer of a separate accommodation and have the nanny sleeping over in your spare room when you're going to be very late, leave early or need some proxy parenting when needed - just let her know you might need that sometimes. You'll probably want to keep your spare bedroom when you have visitors and if you have just one living room, either you'll have to hang out with your nanny after work (don't feel guilty it doesn't sound appealing. Your nanny probably doesn't want to hang out with you every night, either!) or she'll have to stay in her room every night which isn't great, really. What about weekends when you want to have family time with a nanny around?

Also most families with live in nannies don't realise that it's important to have a life besides work, us nannies like to have friends over, we might have a boyfriend and yes we'd like him to stay over say on weekends and many nannies are foreigners with families/friends living abroad who'd like to visit and most families are not comfortable with the idea of having "strangers" over. So what happens a lot a nanny will work as a live in nanny to gain experience for a bit until she's able to find a live out job so she can have an independent life. If you want a long term nanny, you need to keep your nanny happy.

We've done nanny, us and DS in a 2 bed, 1 living room flat. It's crowded but if you get on well with your nanny that's not an issue. It does cut out the possibility of visitors though.

Londonnanny79, I think that's what I am going to do (separate flat for nanny plus option of bedroom for any late nights). I am really keen for the nanny to like working with us and hopefully form good bonds with my DCs for a few years. Although this is definitely still subject to working out the tax and financial implications as mranchovy suggests above! Fraktion, your point about having guests is quite important ... We have family to stay a lot so our spare bedroom gets a lot of use anyway.