Cousin's son is suddenly without student accomodation and needs to stay with me, how much to charge him?

[Mxflamingnoravera]

My cousin (I am not close to her but I am close with her sisters) lives overseas and her son is studying in my city at Uni. He had uni accomodation last year and was v excited that he and his friends had found a place for this academic year. Today he contacted me in a panic, the landlord had backed out because one of the student's visa had not yet been granted and has said they cannot move in.

I have quite a lot of my cousin's son stuff here as he came to stay a bit over the summer as a base to visit other family, it was only days here and there and he is a delightful young man so I was fine with this.

Now he is in an awful situation, term is about to start and his house has fallen through. I have said he can stay until he gets something sorted and he will need to contribute to bills (I am mortgage free). How much do I charge him? He is 20 years old, very sweet, extremely innocent in many ways, has spent all his life in Africa or Dubai as an "expat". His parents divorced over the summer so money on my cousin's side (his mum) is probably not as easy as it was. I was thinking £300 a month- is that too much? Too little? I will probably cook for him if I am cooking anyway, but he lives on pizza and ordered in stuff which I never eat. He will be using heat, light, water etc esp as it starts to move into Autumn.

I want to be fair and I dont want to be out of pocket. What does anyone suggest as a fair rent in this situation?

My house (general bills, utilities, insurance etc) costs about £750pm to run. So would £300 be a reasonable amount to ask. Is it too little? Too much? It is family, so I am really not sure...

I would say £100 a week. I wouldn't charge by the month because he may well leave mid month. That £100 would cover breakfast but no other food.

I would charge him less than his student accommodation. He's in a pickle and will be looking for something else. He doesn't want to be there any more than you want him there so it'll only be for a short time until his friends visa comes through

Sorry I wouldn't charge anything if it's family, especially if he's likely only going to be there a very short term.

£300 will be less than his student accommodation.

once the friend’s visa comes through, the other friends may well have found a smaller place to share etc as they are unlikely to have convenient cousins in Bristol. It could be quite a while.

Will he be relying on your wifi? If so do you have unlimited data usage on your plan?

150 + chores you hate to do yourself

Is this the uk? Because the rent is extortionate for students but he willl have a loan that was for accommodation so he can use that surely ? Why should you be out of pocket if he has the money ?

£300 is reasonable. I'd prepare for the long haul though, accommodation for students is scarce in Bristol, some have to rent as for out as Newport.

Yes, uk - OP is in Bristol.

This is a private rent, the cousin isn’t in halls. I was paying £550 a month for a room in a 3 bed flat 25 years ago, no bills or food included (ok, London not Bristol, but still a major city)

I’m not sure why some
posters are arguing down from £300!

I’d say £100 a week, it’s an inconvenience to you and you have no idea how much water / energy he’ll use. As you say you can always give some back later if you see fit. Charging nothing gives him no incentive to find somewhere. If he’s living off take outs then I’d be concerned that he’s never been taught how to fend for himself and you’ll be tidying up after him too!

I suspected it was Bristol £300 is a complete bargain. My DM is putting my DS up next summer I will be giving her £100 pw young men eat a huge amount and take loads of showers.

He and his family would otherwise be paying quite a lot more for rent, utilities and food.. . Why should he / they save all of this while you provide it and suffer the inconvenience.

Ask what his rent / utilities / food budget is.. ask if he wants to do his own thing food wise.. and then set a figure. Check the validityv of the alue by looking on the university accomodation advice pages. It would not be unreasonable to say if his budget were £1,000 per month.. that you asked for £500.

You do not want to make it so attractive that he he never leaves and he should be in a position where he has loads of extra beer money and you have loads of extra inconvenience!!

Yes £300 is a bargain, but it's a stop gap, I doubt he wants to live with me long term, just as I don't want a long term lodger. I agree, charging weekly makes it more of a temporary feel, and to those of you who think I should do it for free, you can take him! I certainly cannot afford to have him here without any contribution to my costs which will increase.
He's a dote, and I want to stay thinking of him this way, not resenting him because I no longer have my house to myself. It's a terraced house which feels cramped quite easily.

How generous of you to have him stay.
I would make it 300 but reserve the right to reassess the charge after a month.
You might find that he eats only breakfast or that he eats every meal and snacks. He might make the power bill double??

More important, because you do not want to fall out with the young man - you need to decide on the ground rules.
Really think what you can put up with if the relative ended up staying a few months.
Which chores would he do? When can he have access to the washing machine? What time of day would you prefer he showers? (And how long is a reasonable shower?) Where should he keep his bathroom bag? What will you expect him to share so that you will not worry? Approx time he will be home/if he'll be home for dinnrer etc. Can he invite a guest over? Can he cook in your kitchen?
It is a good idea to plan a touch base reflection meeting every fortnight that will not offend you or him where you can openly discuss any problems. Your aim is sustainability of friendship.
You might agree to a three month term and only increase it by a three months once.
Or it might be an ongoing thing that suits you both to a tee.

A big thing you need to agree is guests. If you tell him obviously no parties and any overnight guests have to be ok’d with you first then that will definitely motivate him to find a new place!

Charge the same as his house would. You want him to be comfortable but not too comfortable, he needs a reason to find somewhere else.

I wouldn't charge a delightful skint family member anything and I'm not even mortgage free. Shocked you'd even ask the question to be honest.

He will be getting a loan presumably if he was going to be paying rent on a property (which would be far greater than £300). Why should OP who has said they struggle to make ends meet be out of pocket when this arrangement is more for the relatives benefit than theirs? I mean I'd support family where I could but there's no need to martyr yourself and struggle along financially when they can pay keep.

I was wondering if this was Bristol OP - £300 is a bargain. (Under half market rate at the moment, especially with bills included). It’s more than fair and will hopefully allow him to save a bit as well.

£300 inc. utilities is an absolute bargain. I’d build in a review period so that if he’s storming through electricity, data etc then you could up it a bit but I think £300 is v reasonable - wish my DCs Uni accommodation had been that cheap!

£300 is a bargain. Make sure he helps with chores too.

@Fallenangelofthenorth He is not skint. He's an international student from a family who are not without money.

My daughter is in Bristol and pays £680 plus bills - £300 is a good price and I imagine he'll be really grateful

I take £50 / week from my daughter - covers all food, heat, electricity, water, broadband. I also do all her washing. She sometimes buys meals out, but is free help herself to anything in the fridge and once or twice a week, cooks for the rest of us. Does no other housework at all and often has her boyfriend stay over. I think that's a good and fair deal for her!

But I guess it depends on if you want it have a lodger-type arrangement or whether you're doing it as a temporary favour and don't mind being his mum for a few weeks (cooking, housework). Be careful you don't get stuck with him indefinitely if he and his mates can't find a house. And set some early ground rules about unsociable behaviour, keeping tidy, smoking, coming back late at night and generally what is expected from your side! Be warned, students can be a pain to live with!

@Mxflamingnoravera if you charge weekly I think it saves the awkwardness/difficulty in working out pro-rata refunds if he finds somewhere quickly.