Buying a flat for nanny

[UnicornRidge]

Can any wise men/women share their experience?

We are considering buying a 1 bed, or 2 bed flat, close to our family home, for our future nanny, when we move back to the UK.
DH is not keen to live with a stranger, albeit on a different floor.

Both of us work long hours. Live in is a better option. The going rate for a nursery place in central London is £2k per kid. It can easily add up.
If we get a two bed and rent one room out, can we rent it out on a lodger contract? The bills will be in our name.
When we terminate the nanny contract, do we have to evict the nanny through some special procedure?
Regarding tax, is it a benefit in kind that is taxable by HMRC?

Thank you!

I am a landlord who run HMOs and vanilla residential let. All long term. I had many long term tenants who turn heating to 30C. It happens a lot.

Have friends who run holiday let. People do this all the time when they are not paying. It is human nature. My friends who run holiday let have WiFi controlled AC and heating. He has a smart meeting. One guest recently kept the windows open, had the electric towel heating on all day in her room, £55 a day electricity bill.

For those who accuse me for having new money than sense. Only say that if you are willing to pay £1650+/month energy bill.

If you know anyone, please PM me. That's why i am here hunting for pointers. Not many law firm deal with trans-Atlantic legal and tax advice on property and employment.

I hate to say that I am be surprised! Many people can't keep their trousers on. I work in a male dominated macho environment. My sister works with mostly men. They openly talk about it at work. Cheating, sex tourism and women who are young enough to be their daughter. I have learnt to accept some men will cheat physically, no matter how much they love their spouse.

Paying a nanny to rent within 1 mile is an expense. Renting a flat from someone is also an expense. A one bed in the area is going for £2k+ a month.

Buying is an investment. We flip houses as a side hassle. The nanny flat would be an investment. The yield is low in the area but not that low if bought run-down.
This flat serves three purposes: nanny, BTL and carer. My nan had two live in carers. The arrangement was great. Better than putting her in a care home. She had a 5* end of life care. Her kids still had to step in from time to time.
When our parents are older, they can live with us, with assistance from a carer.

I'm fuming at my imaginary nanny, I think she's eaten all the biscuits.

😂

I'm not sure why you even mentioned the cost of a nursery then....I'm Sure by the time you've paid higher rate mortgage, landlord insurance, had all safety inspections done, paid pension, wages, national insurance, holiday pay etc the costs will be well in excess of &
£2000 a year.

We flip houses as a side hustle....... (sigh)

What's wrong with that? FTB cannot buy them as they are not in mortgageable conditions. We bring them back to living conditions and rent them out.
Do you prefer them to stay empty and attract squatter?
Someone is going to buy derelict properties. Either individuals like myself or an institutional landlord.

@UnicornRidge your talking about plonking your nanny in one of your flipped, refurbs in central London.
Your hardly doing a national service.
But who else will do it??? (Wails)

Don't forget about the nanny working such long hours that she wouldn't be able to commute or the random lodger

Surely the simple answer is to use the money you’re spending on a terrace, and the money you could spend on a flat, and buy a bigger house?

Most property developers I know are super laidback and tend to be rational problem-solvers.

Fretting about a future imaginary nanny to future imaginary kids? living in an imaginary flat with an imaginary flat mate until the imaginary carers move in isn’t normal.

Don't show your prospective, imaginary nanny and lodger this thread, OP. They will run for the hills.

I cleaned HMOs until recently, the heating on full blast even in the summer

to be honest I think your husband wants all the benefits of having wrap around nanny care with none of the niggling issues of having someone live in your house. He needs to get over himself and realise everything comes with a cost.

If both of you are full-on jobs then yeah you will need a nanny who is actually there living with your children. otherwise you are going to be in a situation where you are both out until 10 pm regularly and when you come home you expect nanny to have stayed up until then sitting on the couch and then shlep off to her own flat a mile away.

you are way overcomplicating your needs. you both have full on jobs. you have children. you can afford a house. you can afford a nanny. You will need care way beyond 9-5 (otherwise what is the point of this post)

Just buy a house where nanny has a suite where she can be away from you when off duty.

😂

I hate it when the nanny turns the heating on full whack AND then throws the biscuits out of the window.
You just can't get the staff now a days

when you say long hours what do you mean

live in doesn’t mean the nanny is on call all the time

usually 2 nights a week bs to 10pm

i think you would be better off finding a live out nanny who will either bs twice a week for extra money

or let her go at 6/7 and hire a bs to do 6/7 to when you come home

even if they did nursery they usually shut 7pm latest so would still need a bs if home late lots

but yes many years ago when I was a nanny I knew of 2 nannies who had houses as part of their jobs a mile away or so

they lived in them rent free , bills paid All the time they were employed as a nanny

so it does happen but rare

tell hubby to not be such a prude And buy a bigger house with a top floor for nanny

You can easily do annexs in terraces. Unless your garden is absolutely tiny. Could you not convert a loft or basement? I think it would be less tax and cost to move to somewhere you could extend. There was an amazing terrace annex on a design TV programme once. But even an extension can easily be made to feel like separate living space.

@karmakameleon must’ve been awful that the person who raised your kids for you wanted to be warm. However did you cope, you poor dear?

Ha! I'm glad I'm not the only one wondering if the OP actually has kids yet.

I think this is more common in Places like Paris. It’s really common for au pairs to be housed in little studio apartments close to the family they work for.

I think if you were to go down this route I’d get a one bed or an hmo. Where I live people often have accommodation tied to their employment but pay their own bills. You just have to pay appropriately and suck up the tax costs.

Every student in halls according to my son.

Most halls don't have control over their heating so if it's too hot you have no choice.

Don’t be ridiculous. How hot is your house when you’re not in it? Because if it’s 25C I’d be quite surprised.

(And she didn’t “raise” our children unless you think schools raise most of the population.)

I know quite a few people who’ve done this and for them it’s worked out well (partly due to property prices going up, which may not be the case for OP). It’s expensive (as there is tax to pay on the market rate rent value of the accommodation and bills which the nanny will expect you to cover) but it can work well. You need an employment lawyer with experience in domestic staff and tied accommodation- they will be able to explain the tax and property issues as well.

Very unlikely a nanny will be happy to share with a random lodger so you may need to rethink that.