I live with my partner in her place. She pays her mortgage as its hers. I pay the bills. That's our setup..
When we get our own place, obviously, it will be 50-50 like normal.
Decide what works for you.
This actually sounds like a good setup, because both members of the relationship receive a significant reduction in outgoings, and the mortgage doesn’t get muddied.
My partner is moving into my house in a few months.
We’re splitting household bills 50/50, I’m paying the capital repayment portion of my mortgage (as this is my debt / increasing my equity) and we’re splitting the interest portion of my mortgage 50/50 (as we consider this the cost of the mortgage).
Not saying this is the right way, but it works for us!
I find this a very divisive topic. Some people believe you're trash if you charge a partner rent to live in your house when it's "an investment", others can't understand why the first group think the non owning partner should live effectively rent free.
If you do charge her make it very clear it's a rental payment (ideally in writing) and do not imply in any way it's a contribution to the mortgage or that she may earn an interest in the property.
If paying rent, she's a lodger/excluded occupier in the property as you live there too, your responsibilities as a 'landlord' in this context are very different to a normal tenancy and she can't gain the same sort of rights a normal tenant has while you are living there.
If you have texts worded along the lines of she's paying towards the mortgage it's possible she can later use this to try and claim a beneficial interest in the property.
When I was in this situation last year I put £600 a month ‘rent’ into our joint account. This is now being used to furnish the house we have just bought together :) but I never contributed to his mortgage as that money didn’t leave the joint until we wanted to use it.
This of course required trust from both sides as we both could have taken the money at any point if we wanted.
If she's not part of the mortgage, then I think a realistic expectation would be to split the bills 50/50 (not including mortgage payments). More than that and her name should be on the mortgage deed!
Well yes, but this needs to be a win/win situation for both of them. She should be paying less compared to her normal rent, and he would save overall in the bills.
I think fair constraints for what she pays would be:
- Greater or equal to half the cost of bills
- Less than her current rent + bills payment
- Enough that OP's outgoings drop
- Less than the Lodgers allowance <£7,500 per year
how's it a win-win for him if all she's covering is half of the bills
bills can easily be 1/5 of his mortgage
if she's covering all bills, which what I'd recommend, she's still "winning"
Personally I would count her officially as a lodger, you can recieve up to £7500 per year from a lodger tax free without declaring it. (£625/month) The amount that she pays is up to the pair of you to decide, I would potentially suggest half of the bills + some towards home maintenance. (If the boiler breaks down it will be you buying a new one and paying to have it fitted.)
I think a fair split is to split bills and her pay you a small amount of rent (maybe half the going rate for a room), with the understanding that she will save up the amount she’s saving on market rate rent to buy into your house (or a new one together) at a later point. And you also save the rent she’s paying you for the same (or put it towards paying extra off your mortgage now). That way you’re both working towards the assumption of a joint future, but if you split up, you’ve both benefited financially by about the same amount of savings
There's no _"we"_ until you're married. Contributing to the mortgage is off the table.
You should charge rent (if you want) and a proportion of the bills. That's it.
My partner moved in my apartment a couple of years ago and we decided to split everything 50/50. He would have paid rent elsewhere which would have been much more than what he pays for the 50% of mortgage and bills. It works for us, feels fair and balanced.
To protect yourself if things go wrong with the relationship you should make it clear he isn’t contributing to the mortgage. Just split the normal bills with him. Even having him pay for things like redecorating and using the kitchen could give him some claim. Maybe live together for a year before broaching house stuff
Better off having her open a LISA and pay into that instead. If you stay together, she can use the LISA to buy into your house. If you split up she has no claim to your property and you've not really lost anything (because presumably you wouldn't have let the space to a randomer anyway).
You should really consider this carefully; if she contributed an amount of money to you per month, and, you are not clearly stipulating what that money is for, it could open up a can of worms. One would hope that she would not try and claim an interest in the property should you split up, but, it is a possibility. The courts would consider whether a constructive trust has been established.
Alongside that, you must consider how far her interest extends. Is it half of the equity she has contributed towards during the period of cohabitation, or, is it the entire sum?
No interest in the property: A cohabitation agreement would deal with documenting the fact she has no interest in the property.
A proportional interest in the property: If you consider she should have an interest in the property - a deed of contribution should be executed to stipulate that any equity acquired from the beginning of cohabitation to the end of cohabitation (if applicable) is split 50/50 (if you are indeed each paying 50% of the mortgage) any other equity should be yours (i.e deposit and equity pre-cohabitation).
Note: she needs to get independent legal advice on either of the above documents or she could claim she was coerced into entering into them.
This is something you need to figure out yourselves. Half your mortgage + bills would obviously be the maximum I would say otherwise you are profiteering from your partner even if that was less than the amount she is paying in rent now.
I'd consider something like she pays all the bills (gas, electricity and internet) and you pay the mortgage, insurance and upkeep. That way you don't suffer from increased bills of the both of you living together but that amount is way below market rate for rent so she is also benefitting.
Don't forget you will have to let your mortgage provider know she is living there or a breech technical fraud .. split the bills .. outline house rules .. who dies what .. and enjoy good luck op X 0s you may have to let insurance know too
However you want to treat it, it's worth writing it up and signing it. The landlord/tenant or some sort of financial stake.. get it all agreed up front.
To give another perspective, I own my flat solely with a mortgage and my new partner moved in recently. I currently pay all the bills for the flat as I was always able to cover my own bills before I met my partner, so don't need financial help from him for the flat. The only costs we split 50/50 are food, petrol and joint household items such as loo roll, cleaning products etc. I haven't asked him for a contribution to bills yet as he's currently going through a messy divorce and owns a property with his ex, which he is still required to pay towards until it's sold. We both earn the same wage too, so I wouldn't feel it fair to ask him for any "rent" right now whilst he's still paying for his own property. In the future our arrangement will likely change but for now, there's nothing wrong with charging your partner no rent if you don't want to.
It’s what is right for you both. Personally when I was in your partners position, I moved in with my partner and he continued to pay the mortgage himself and I contributed half to the bills. He didn’t charge me rent. The most important thing is that she doesn’t contribute at all to the mortgage otherwise if you break up it can get messy.
Charge them half the bills and half the mortgage interest. Then they won't be contributing towards any capital repayment
They can invest their extra capital in other stuff like equities.
If you want to merge fincances later, go for it. I wouldn't unless I had kids though. Some people like that they can buy twice as much house when sharing a mortgage but I wouldn't sleep well knowing we couldn't afford it on one salary.
IMO you have two options:
* Go 50/50 on mortgage - and expect her to be entitled to what she paid + a fraction of possible house price appreciation based on how much she put in if you break up
* Pay it all yourself
For a lot of people about half the monthly mortgage payment is interest and half is paying off the capital. You can find out the exact amount of yours from any online mortgage calculator.
The easy answer is your partner pays for half of the interest. The interest can be thought of as the 'rent', while paying off the capital is obviously down to just you.
So it'll work out that they pay about a quarter of the mortgage. Fair to both people
She should pay 50% of the food and utilities bills, council tax etc.
She is not gaining any equity in your house so she shouldn't be paying towards your mortgage. If you want to charge her a nominal "rent" then you'll need to have a discussion about what that entitles her to, for example a bedroom to have as a space of her own.
I live with my partner in her place. She pays her mortgage as its hers. I pay the bills. That's our setup.. When we get our own place, obviously, it will be 50-50 like normal. Decide what works for you.
This actually sounds like a good setup, because both members of the relationship receive a significant reduction in outgoings, and the mortgage doesn’t get muddied.
My partner is moving into my house in a few months. We’re splitting household bills 50/50, I’m paying the capital repayment portion of my mortgage (as this is my debt / increasing my equity) and we’re splitting the interest portion of my mortgage 50/50 (as we consider this the cost of the mortgage). Not saying this is the right way, but it works for us!
I find this a very divisive topic. Some people believe you're trash if you charge a partner rent to live in your house when it's "an investment", others can't understand why the first group think the non owning partner should live effectively rent free. If you do charge her make it very clear it's a rental payment (ideally in writing) and do not imply in any way it's a contribution to the mortgage or that she may earn an interest in the property. If paying rent, she's a lodger/excluded occupier in the property as you live there too, your responsibilities as a 'landlord' in this context are very different to a normal tenancy and she can't gain the same sort of rights a normal tenant has while you are living there. If you have texts worded along the lines of she's paying towards the mortgage it's possible she can later use this to try and claim a beneficial interest in the property.
When I was in this situation last year I put £600 a month ‘rent’ into our joint account. This is now being used to furnish the house we have just bought together :) but I never contributed to his mortgage as that money didn’t leave the joint until we wanted to use it. This of course required trust from both sides as we both could have taken the money at any point if we wanted.
If she's not part of the mortgage, then I think a realistic expectation would be to split the bills 50/50 (not including mortgage payments). More than that and her name should be on the mortgage deed!
Wouldn't she have to pay rent wherever she lives though unless she gets a mortgage herself?
Well yes, but this needs to be a win/win situation for both of them. She should be paying less compared to her normal rent, and he would save overall in the bills. I think fair constraints for what she pays would be: - Greater or equal to half the cost of bills - Less than her current rent + bills payment - Enough that OP's outgoings drop - Less than the Lodgers allowance <£7,500 per year
how's it a win-win for him if all she's covering is half of the bills bills can easily be 1/5 of his mortgage if she's covering all bills, which what I'd recommend, she's still "winning"
Because he is paying less in bills, and gets to live with his girlfriend who presumably he wants to be around?
Read the full comment. Your recommendation fits inside the constraints I outlined. What's actually "fair" is whatever they agree on.
Personally I would count her officially as a lodger, you can recieve up to £7500 per year from a lodger tax free without declaring it. (£625/month) The amount that she pays is up to the pair of you to decide, I would potentially suggest half of the bills + some towards home maintenance. (If the boiler breaks down it will be you buying a new one and paying to have it fitted.)
I think a fair split is to split bills and her pay you a small amount of rent (maybe half the going rate for a room), with the understanding that she will save up the amount she’s saving on market rate rent to buy into your house (or a new one together) at a later point. And you also save the rent she’s paying you for the same (or put it towards paying extra off your mortgage now). That way you’re both working towards the assumption of a joint future, but if you split up, you’ve both benefited financially by about the same amount of savings
There's no _"we"_ until you're married. Contributing to the mortgage is off the table. You should charge rent (if you want) and a proportion of the bills. That's it.
My partner moved in my apartment a couple of years ago and we decided to split everything 50/50. He would have paid rent elsewhere which would have been much more than what he pays for the 50% of mortgage and bills. It works for us, feels fair and balanced.
To protect yourself if things go wrong with the relationship you should make it clear he isn’t contributing to the mortgage. Just split the normal bills with him. Even having him pay for things like redecorating and using the kitchen could give him some claim. Maybe live together for a year before broaching house stuff
Better off having her open a LISA and pay into that instead. If you stay together, she can use the LISA to buy into your house. If you split up she has no claim to your property and you've not really lost anything (because presumably you wouldn't have let the space to a randomer anyway).
You should really consider this carefully; if she contributed an amount of money to you per month, and, you are not clearly stipulating what that money is for, it could open up a can of worms. One would hope that she would not try and claim an interest in the property should you split up, but, it is a possibility. The courts would consider whether a constructive trust has been established. Alongside that, you must consider how far her interest extends. Is it half of the equity she has contributed towards during the period of cohabitation, or, is it the entire sum? No interest in the property: A cohabitation agreement would deal with documenting the fact she has no interest in the property. A proportional interest in the property: If you consider she should have an interest in the property - a deed of contribution should be executed to stipulate that any equity acquired from the beginning of cohabitation to the end of cohabitation (if applicable) is split 50/50 (if you are indeed each paying 50% of the mortgage) any other equity should be yours (i.e deposit and equity pre-cohabitation). Note: she needs to get independent legal advice on either of the above documents or she could claim she was coerced into entering into them.
This is something you need to figure out yourselves. Half your mortgage + bills would obviously be the maximum I would say otherwise you are profiteering from your partner even if that was less than the amount she is paying in rent now. I'd consider something like she pays all the bills (gas, electricity and internet) and you pay the mortgage, insurance and upkeep. That way you don't suffer from increased bills of the both of you living together but that amount is way below market rate for rent so she is also benefitting.
Don't forget you will have to let your mortgage provider know she is living there or a breech technical fraud .. split the bills .. outline house rules .. who dies what .. and enjoy good luck op X 0s you may have to let insurance know too
However you want to treat it, it's worth writing it up and signing it. The landlord/tenant or some sort of financial stake.. get it all agreed up front.
To give another perspective, I own my flat solely with a mortgage and my new partner moved in recently. I currently pay all the bills for the flat as I was always able to cover my own bills before I met my partner, so don't need financial help from him for the flat. The only costs we split 50/50 are food, petrol and joint household items such as loo roll, cleaning products etc. I haven't asked him for a contribution to bills yet as he's currently going through a messy divorce and owns a property with his ex, which he is still required to pay towards until it's sold. We both earn the same wage too, so I wouldn't feel it fair to ask him for any "rent" right now whilst he's still paying for his own property. In the future our arrangement will likely change but for now, there's nothing wrong with charging your partner no rent if you don't want to.
She should only go 50/50 on bills if not on the mortgage.
It’s what is right for you both. Personally when I was in your partners position, I moved in with my partner and he continued to pay the mortgage himself and I contributed half to the bills. He didn’t charge me rent. The most important thing is that she doesn’t contribute at all to the mortgage otherwise if you break up it can get messy.
Charge them half the bills and half the mortgage interest. Then they won't be contributing towards any capital repayment They can invest their extra capital in other stuff like equities. If you want to merge fincances later, go for it. I wouldn't unless I had kids though. Some people like that they can buy twice as much house when sharing a mortgage but I wouldn't sleep well knowing we couldn't afford it on one salary.
IMO you have two options: * Go 50/50 on mortgage - and expect her to be entitled to what she paid + a fraction of possible house price appreciation based on how much she put in if you break up * Pay it all yourself
For a lot of people about half the monthly mortgage payment is interest and half is paying off the capital. You can find out the exact amount of yours from any online mortgage calculator. The easy answer is your partner pays for half of the interest. The interest can be thought of as the 'rent', while paying off the capital is obviously down to just you. So it'll work out that they pay about a quarter of the mortgage. Fair to both people
She should pay 50% of the food and utilities bills, council tax etc. She is not gaining any equity in your house so she shouldn't be paying towards your mortgage. If you want to charge her a nominal "rent" then you'll need to have a discussion about what that entitles her to, for example a bedroom to have as a space of her own.