How much to charge for rent?

[Bulldog01]

Our Daughter & partner moved in with us recently.Dad & I charge £500.00 per month. Our Daughter & partner are employed & work from home.They have a loft room & have use of a 2nd bedroom to work from. We have upgraded the internet with EE.The lounge,dinning room,kitchen,& bathroom are shared facilities.We live in a old house,the area is not great,but good transport links.We use more energy than average due to poor insulation.We are retired have a net income of £1500.00 net a month.No mortgage or rent.With one pension presently untill early 2026.My daughter & partner are saving up.They earn around £4,500 net a month.Our daughter has mentioned that she thinks £400.00 is the amount that they should pay each month.What are thoughts?

I would charge enough to cover the cost of them being in the house. Then I would write up a contract that requires them to save 30%*4500 minus that amount every month. So if you charge them 500, I would require they save 850 in a specific house fund savings account. If you lower the rent to 400, the savings requirement would increase to 950.

They could move out again if they don't like it and rent privately.

Realistically, the lower the rent the more they can save and the quicker they can get out!

I would agree to a reduction in rent if they are open and honest about what rate they are saving at, and if they can prove that there is a specific savings account where their house deposit money is going and that they never dip into it. I would be ok with one sun holiday if they have stressful jobs, but would not be impressed if they were having a lot of weekend breaks or going to lots of pricey events.

I would work out what they are actually costing you and charge that amount . I assume they are buying their own groceries etc so work out the difference between your previous monthly bills and new ones .

I think 2 rooms for £500 per month is perfectly fine, presumably that doesn’t include food and that they do their own laundry and cleaning. Where we live it’s about £500 per month to a have a room in a house share per person. To rent a one bed flat is around £1500 per per month.

£500 for two people and two bedrooms is very cheap. I think your daughter is being cheeky asking for a reduction when they earn so much more than you!

Totally this.
They've got it cushty yet quibbling about what amounts to £12.50 per person per week.

Where do you live and what is the market rate for house share rooms?

What is included for that - lodging, which bills, any food?

I think £500 is very reasonable (especially for two bedrooms and the fact that they working from home). I really don’t see why you (particularly as pensioners) should subside these adults any more. They should easily be able to save £3000 a month on that salary.

£500 for 2 rooms and utility bills sounds like a bargain! Do you feed them for that much too?
A room in a shared flat local to me is at least £650 a month, typically £700+ not including bills but it might depend on your local area. The cheapest 1 bed flat in my local area is £800 and it's tiny!

If they are genuinely saving up to buy a house then I would just charge them what it costs you for them to live there. But I would expect them to be grateful, keep the place clean and buy me the odd bottle of wine.

£500 sounds very fair! Leaves them £4k to live on with no other bills.
They should be able to save £2.5-3k a month.
I’d say she’s being cheeky even asking for a reduction

£500 sounds very fair. They wouldn’t get a grotty single room where I am for that.

I think £6-800 is more realistic.

Quibbling about £100/month, given their salaries, doesn't sound very grateful.

£500/month sounds pretty nominal. Does that also include food and their contributions to gas and electric and other bills. I would think they should bite your hand off at that.

Of course it is your DD, but only and partner, not husband, how stable is the relationship? If this is a permanent relationship I would be happy to subsidise them as much as I could afford so they can get their own place, but you need to look after yourselves too.

Also is this arrangement going to work? What are they like to live with, will they take up the whole house or mainly stay in their areas? It could be lovely or a nightmare.

Tbh with their attitude I wouldn't let them live in my house. You are going to be out of pocket and you haven't got a large income.

I agree. She is taking the piss, OP. £250 a month for each of them for two rooms! Tell them both to leave if they don’t like the £500 a month and then see how they get on in the currently gruesome private rental sector.

Personally I would be charging them £800 per month.

Your DD is taking the proverbial!
It should be £500 per room imho.

Thank you for your replies. I now feel validated! I was thinking that as we are related, we were charging too much!

We paid my parents either £200 or £250 a month, I can't remember exactly, in 2017 whilst I was staying with them Monday -Friday all bills and good included. We were paying rent on our house in our previous city where my partner was living full time and I was living there at the weekends. My job started near my parents a year before my partners job started so this was a stop gap for 9-12 months whilst we bought our own home in the area.
I would have been happy to pay £500 and possibly would still be happy up to £750 depending on the specifics to my parents to live with them full time now.