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Renting Room to Girlfriend – Anyone Done It?
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NorthernStarFree Member
Well not technically a room but more like having her move in with me.
Bought a house 4 months ago and now that it’s all done up and looking nice I’m thinking about having her move in with me as she’s currently renting her own flat. She has been dropping hints about this for ages.
I’m currently paying for the full mortgage by myself and have already put down a 50% deposit on the house (been saving a few years for this).
So what’s the procedure – she will of course be paying her share towards the utilities but should I also be charging her rent? Is that fair or is it just plain mean?
Thinking about worst case scenario – if she does pay rent and then we do split up say a couple of years down the line would she be entitled to a share in the house? Just wondering what the legal implications are?
Would it be fair to give her a share in the house anyway if she’s paying rent and effectively helping me pay of the mortgage?
Any thoughts appreciated.
BoardinBobFull MemberWhen my girlfriend (now wife) moved into my place years ago, I asked her for half the mortgage as rent and I paid every other bill. After a while we slowly transitioned into 50/50 contribution towards everything
KevevsFree Membermy sis bought her boyfriends Grandmothers house, that he lived in, and now charges him rent 🙂
JunkyardFree MemberI would speak to her about this rather than us
Expecting a contribution is fair esp bills but really if you cant discuss this with her I am not optomistic for your future 😆
re the legal stuff but pretty sure it will remain your unless you stay living in it for 30 years without marrying then split. Formal contract should help and it is the perfect romantic move in gift 😉
You have deocrated haven’t youMrKmkIIFree Memberi know someone who rented a flat from her boyfriend’s parents – every time the boyfriend stayed at hers he had to pay the girlfriend rent!
they are happily married now, mind 🙂
2hottieFree MemberI do it with the GF, she owns the house and I pay rent.
Seems fair to be honest. The mortgage company insisted that she get a rental contract for us.
I’m happy with it as it provides us both with a bit of security. I have pre existing debts and I certainly don’t want them to effect the house in anyway at all. (I doubt they ever would but better safe than sorry)
Your GF should be happy to contribute but don’t expect half the mortgage and having two people live in a house doesn’t cost twice as much as one. Best talk to her about it.
JunkyardFree MemberThe mortgage company insisted that she get a rental contract for us.
right up there with what these shoes I have had them for ages 😉
qwertyFree Member💡 sometimes, if she’s extra dirty, you could reduce her rent fot that month
rightplacerighttimeFree MemberThinking about worst case scenario – if she does pay rent and then we do split up say a couple of years down the line would she be entitled to a share in the house? Just wondering what the legal implications are?
Ah, love’s young dream. Good to see that romance is still alive.
Do you think she’s been dropping hints because she’s thinking of a long term future with you, or because she wants to sponge off you and live rent free whilst she’s looking for better prospects?
helsFree MemberI don’t know – that plan seems to have everything for you and not much for her.
When I was in this situation the flat in question was valued before move in date (such confidence) half the mortgage and all bills paid then when one party moved out flat valued again and half the increase in value paid out, but those were the days when flats increased in value quite quickly.
What if she wants to get in the property ladder herself ?? Maybe she should go in on the flat with you ? Perhaps rent your flat out and you rent a place that is both of yours ?
You see this is a financial and practical arrangement, I guarantee it she sees it as growth in the relationship and more important than 4 walls blah blah etc
Whatever you do, aim to resolve things to a more equitable situation within a year.
P.S it is very hard to move in to somebody else’s space as a couple it will never be properly shared
NorthernStarFree MemberQwerty, I like your style!
Decorated already so there should be not too many issues there.
Will be discussing with her, it’s best just to know where the ground lies though before talking it through (hence asking on here) and whats reasonable and what’s not kind of thing.
Things going well in relationship at the moment and we’ve been going out for a year – but you never know what’s around the corner do you.
rshaulFree Memberif u can afford to pay the mortgage urself then just keep doing it.as u said she can pay her share of the bills to make life a bit easier for u.got to look after urself firstly so if the relationship does go pete tong then there will be no issue at all if she hasnt contributed to the mortgage.
ReluctantFree MemberI kinda did this with my GF. I moved into her house in 2006 – i pay half the mortgage and we split the bills down the middle. There is a threshold at which the rent money becomes taxable income, but it’s pretty high and we don’t worry about these details. If we ever split up, i wouldn’t consider i have any claim on her property and i’d slink back to my hole in the ground.
I do her two standing orders a month one for rent and one for bills. It’s worked well for us.TiboyFull MemberNot 100% on this but I have heard that even if you have a rental agreement because you are in a relationship she may be entitled to a share of the house should you split. Best bet would be to speak to citizen’s advice to make sure you know where you’ll stand. Chance favours the prepared and all that…
StoatsbrotherFree Membersometimes, if she’s extra dirty, you could reduce her rent fot that month
god – I wish could have had that in a prenup.
JunkyardFree Memberthe claim on the house would be diificult to prove without longeivity. He bought it alone with 50% deposit so she could not claim on that. There is no such status as commonlaw wife despite the misconception.
Unlike married couples, unmarried couples have no basic rights to their partner’s property or to maintenance if they split up. Basically what is his is his, what is hers is hers, and what is jointly-owned needs to be divided….
If the property is in the sole name of one party then basically it remains that person’s property on separation, unless the other party can establish that there was a common intention that they would be entitled to a share in the property.Steve-AustinFree MemberAs long as you are both practical reasonable people there will be no problems with whatever you do, and any agreement you come to will be fine.
Its if you separate then the problems can arise.. At this point if you can both be reasonable about everything there should be no problems… but if you have had children, got married in the meantime, your partner contacts a solicitor then it can be very complicated
Read this and thisA few of you could do with reading the 2nd one 😉
you can ask me specific questions if you like NS. mail me if you do
JunkyardFree MemberFeels courageous and argues with a lawyer armed only with Google – what is it they say about representing yourself 😆
it can be quite difficult to establish a beneficial interest
If it was short say 2-3 years it would be nigh on impossible to prove IMHO with a 50% deposit having been paid by one party when they were together , the other not contributing and moving in after the event and paying “rent”.
If it last years then they will have married got kids etc so it wont matter either.
I thought it was only used where there was some long standing arrangement [relationship length] or other proof of contribution over time with an expectation that you had a share for example OP looses job partner pays mortgage for 3 years then they split up or siiliar.TandemJeremyFree MemberCheck what Steve has to say. A lot of misinformation on this thread
Steve-AustinFree MemberI can’t remember the case off the top of my head but the courts found that a beneficial interest had been created by non married non rent paying spouse paying for some paving slabs that were delivered. like i said it can be very complicated..
If she’s a bunny boiler be afraid
DekerferFree MemberYou should check the ramifications of this move carefully. When I did something similar, my solicitor asked my gf to sign a statement saying that she would not make a claim if we split. I seem to remember that the mortgage company also needed to be advised. At that time (approx 8 years ago) the advice was that another person making a contribution to the finances of the property and its upkeep could have a claim over it.
It was actually a pretty horrible message to deliver to my gf at the time. However, we are now married with two kids so she gets her own back every single day…….!
Mixing money and relationships can be incendiary so you should both take some advice. The suggestion above to consult Citizens Advice Bureau seems a good one.
Good luck.
NorthernStarFree MemberSteve, great advice by the way – cheers.
No she’s not a bunny boiler so fingers crossed should be okay. Just wanted to make sure about the house situation that’s all. The reason that I’ve bought myself and not with her is that she didn’t want to be tied down to any sort of financial commitment on that sort of scale yet. I was also the one with the deposit saved, where as even though she earns ok, she spends most of her spare cash on shoes, handbags etc and as a result does not really have any savings.
I guess the way to go might be quite informal and making sure that I pay for any further improvements to the home and not her. Signing agreements never seems like a great thing to do when you’re in a relationship.
If she wasn’t planning on moving in then I’d rent out the spare room for sure. This would rent for around £400/mth. She’s also currently paying about £400 a month for her place that she shares with a friend. So if I said to her that around £200 per month plus a contribution towards the bills, then does that sound fair?
Then with the extra £200 she saves every month she could buy a few extra handbags and shoes!
totalshellFull Memberlegally if shes your girlfriend/ partner and you live in the same property if/ when you split its even stevens.. ( done it 6 times so far!) so if she moves in shes pays half and divis up for half the deposit you paid on the house then your reeady to split up without any pain.
TandemJeremyFree Membertotalshell – Member
legally if shes your girlfriend/ partner and you live in the same property if/ when you split its even stevens..
Far more complicated than that. Check steves links
Zulu-ElevenFree MemberNo she’s not a bunny boiler so fingers crossed should be okay
Ah, the naiveté of youth… I was young once too 😉
There’s a reason why you find a family law solicitors on every high street!
RichPennyFree MemberThen with the extra £200 she saves every month she could buy you bike bits to show her gratitude!
FTFY
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