Was chatting to an old friend recently and was quite shocked by what she told me about the financial dynamics of her relationship of 8 years.
Both are graduates in their 30s. She earns c. £25k, him c. £30k. She isn't very good with money and has old debts of a few 1000s.
They were both privately renting when they met. After a couple of years she was offered a Housing Association flat. They moved into it together.
A couple of years ago his Mum died (Dad already gone) and left him her house, his childhood home. He didnt want to sell it so they moved into it, even though it is 30 miles away from where she works (and is ever likely to get work). She assigned her HA flat to one of his friends.
Both her and her parents have spent money on home improvements. She contributes 1/2 the household bills and pays out quite a lot in petrol commuting to work every day.
Despite this he says he doesn't want to marry her in case they divorce and she gets half his Mum's house. She has no rights to live in his house and lives with the threat that he can throw her out on the street on a whim.
Because she earns less and has debt repayments to make every month (he doesn't make any payments towards these) sometimes she is short and so puts their joint shopping bill on her credit card!
She has no pension/savings and can't get onto the property ladder because he wont move/sell and get a joint mortgage. (Where they live is cheap-if she lived alone she could buy a small 1 bed on her salary). Meanwhile he is sitting on amortgage-free house and puts away £500pcm into his own savings account.
Sorry for long post but this is financial exploitation/abuse isn't it? She knows that I was a bit 
about her situation but what can I do/say to help her?
Is this kind of thing common or has my friend just got a twat of a boyfriend?