The rent dilemma again...

[ThatNavyViper]

Hi All - I know this has been asked a number of times.... But I am still none the wiser.

The situation. I have brought my own flat (all my own money). Partner moves in. Now there is uncertainty about what they pay.

Currently - half the bills - not including the mortgage. Which I think is far.

I won't charge rent. I don't any come back in years down the line should anything go wrong.

The only situation now is things like boiler repairs, maintaince etc.

We are unsure who should pay this? As they will use things like the boiler just as much and get all the benefit from it.

How does everyone else do it?

You wouldn't charge a tenant for boiler repairs..

You can't really have it both ways. If he doesn't pay towards the house, why should he pay towards maintenance?

You own the house and will do if you split, you should maintain it.

You wouldn't directly... But it would be factored into the rent...

Which is why you should charge some form of rent!!

Good point. so how do you work round the costs that are going to increase by having an extra person living there... Things like wear and tear

He should be paying some kind of rent, and you should cover all maintenance.

Does that not give them a legal right over the property if something was to go wrong?

Would you say the 'rent' should cover the maintaince aspect, but not so much that it benefits me and my mortgage payments? The difficulty is, if they have a legal claim over the property? Don't get me wrong, I don't want to charge anything where I would have a financial advantage, but at the same time I want some form of protection if anything goes wrong (personally I don't think they would - but recently i saw a family member pressure another family member to make a claim on a property following a break up)

How would this work if anything was to go wrong down the line (don't think it will, but you never know in the future)

You could look into some kind of co-habitation agreement if you want to charge rent but don’t give him rights on the flat (don’t have him pay towards the mortgage or maintenance). But I found it quite transactional. When my then-boyfriend moved into my flat, we just split the bills. I figured that wear and tear wouldn’t be a big factor in the short term. I also was the higher earner so didn’t want to charge him. After a couple of years, when it becomes clearer where this is heading, you might have another conversation.

It's reasonable for him to pay rent as this contributes to wear and tear on the property.

I think if you're down to worrying about wear and tear if your partner moves in then you're not ready for this kind of relationship!

Relationships are not business transactions. By all means protect your assets legally but don't turn your relationship into a tax assessment!

There has to be some give and take or you'll strangle the life out of it.

To add, if you go down the wear and tear argument, does that mean they can charge you the same expenses if they give you a lift in their car or you use their things?

Have him cover some bills entirely given he’s living rent free. Long term it’s not a good idea to live that like, you will be resentful that you’re paying a mortgage whilst he’s saving loads of money by living rent free (or spending it) and two he will be resentful he doesn’t own the property. You can’t charge him for half the boiler if he’s got no claim on the property, that’s all your cost. Maybe see how it goes and long term buy something together and either rent yours out or sell it.

What wear and tear is one more adult human in a house/flat going to cause? Does he boing from wall to wall when walking about? Does he have high heeled shoes that mark the floor? Does he have very sharp buttocks that reduce the weft on the sofa and create gouges in the mattress?

Half the bills sounds reasonable. Half the cost of furniture you will both use. Maintenance/repair costs of things like boilers, drains, whiteware you could ask for a contribution to as additional use of water may be contributing and he sees the direct impact but not a roof replacement or a damp proof course.

Go to a lawyer and get an agreement, it's only fair that he pays some maintenance since he will be using all the appliances. However, you need a lawyer to be sure that he won't have any claim on your property.

It's not about the wear and tear for me - it's just grossly unfair that you have a mortgage bill to consider in order to be homed and he wouldn't have any equivalent cost 🤷 A man that allowed that set up as a long term arrangement would not be attractive to me, I want someone who wants to pay their way and not live on coattails.

I think you should be charging some form of rent and draw up a tenancy agreement. It doesn’t need to be the market rate but it should help cover costs like these. Both people should benefit from living together and you have additional costs from him living there (council tax, energy, wear and tear). I’d look at the market rate for a room in a similar property and then charge about 1/2 - 2/3 and then split the bills. He might be more comfortable with that as well. It’s your house but it’s his home too and it’s only right that he would want to pay his fair share. He shouldn’t be paying for a boiler - that’s the homeowner’s job. If you split up he can’t take it with him. He could, for example, take a fancy fridge if he’d bought one, but I’m pretty sure he couldn’t take a boiler.

You'd need to check with someone qualified but I think the key thing would be making sure they aren't contributing to the capital payments on a mortgage - so the interest is the cost of continuing to have the place whereas the capital is contributing towards the place itself.

Because although people are talking about give and take, otherwise you can end up in a situation where you have almost no disposable income and they've gone from paying full rent to almost no rent? I don't think I would feel comfortable about that if I were the person moving in? Yes, to a chunk better for so I could be putting some money into a savings account for a house deposit, but not to a totally unequal split.

You lose your single person council tax discount for starters. I think the suggestion to charge him a reduced rent is good. You should both be benefitting from this arrangement. If this relationship really does have legs, you can potentially look to buy together in a couple of years or so time. He will have saved some money for the deposit.

For now, a cohabitation agreement and when / if you buy, ring fence your deposit so that you’re tenants in common.

There’s some terrible advice on this thread.

@ThatNavyViper please, please get some proper legal advice (from a lawyer not the Internet). Really you should have done this before you had someone move into your home.

(In the meantime definitely do not charge him rent or draw up any sort of ad hoc tenancy agreement.)

Can he pay half the bills and money to cover food for both of you. So it's not rent, but it's more than just bills.

Alternatively can you class him as a lodger and charge rent that way?

Thank you.

I think my point was... If they aren't paying rent, how would it stand when I have to pay out for a boiler repair and put myself in debt to cover it. I agree with what people say - boiler repairs and such things should be covered by the property owner, but usually this is covered in the rent they charge their tenants

Twice as much us of things like boilers, kitchen, bathroom facilities... Means they will wear out quicker compared to one person

You really need proper legal advise here to protect your asset.