I have been with my bf for 10 months. He owns a largish flat, and I am renting in a houseshare. I have effectively lived with him now for 8 months as I almost never go home other than to get things occasionally. Until now have still been paying rent & bills at mine and so nothing here (other than sharing food costs). I am leaving my houseshare and moving in fully with him in around 1 month.
He earns about 3-4 times more than me and can afford to pay for his place alone. That said, I have no intention or expectation of living with him for free, but want to find a fair solution. My boyfriend is a very fair person, and both of us are reasonable especially when it comes to money – but we dont have any experience in this area!
**Financally, what do you suggest in terms of:**
\- Mortgage payments
\- Household bills
\- Food (currently we alternate who pays at the supermarket)
\- Required house repairs (ie the sink is broken and needs fixing)
\- Structural house improvements (the balcony flooring could do with replacing – not necessary but would look much nicer and improve the value)
\- Furniture & white goods
I want to make sure its fair, but also don’t want to contribute to his mortgage and improving the value of the house if we then split up and I am left with nothing.
A friend of mine in a similar situatuon did the below:
\- He paid the mortgage and any house costs (repairs, improvements etc)
\- They shared all bills and costs for specific items (furniture etc)
\- They shared all food costs
\- She saved whatever she would have paid for rent/mortage to a savings account that they then used to go towards a house they bought together.
The only difference is she already owned her own place and had sold it before moving in with him and so had more savings from that to contribute towards when they bought together (plus she was therefore originally paying her own mortgage, not rent like me). I have some savings (around £10-15k) and would happily save what I would have paid on rent into an account for us both in the future – ie if we buy together, have a baby etc.
She also said they set up a joint account for the bills and food, which I think seems a good idea (and we both have a good credit rating) – any thoughts on this?
Also appreciate any tips for:
**- Sharing space** \- ie me having enough room for my things which means him having to change his storage use
**- Making changes** \- If have an opinion about say furniture layout, or putting things away that are usually out, how to express this and what is acceptable! It is his place at the end of the day, but I also want to feel like its my home.
**- Chores** \- to be honest we’re quite good at this, we are lucky to have a cleaning lady regularly, and we’re both clean and tidy – but still any tips are appreciated
Thanks if you got this far, and appreciate any advice!! 🙂
2 comments
IMO a fair financial agreement would be to split the shared costs (household bills etc) either 50/50 or pro-rata based on income with each of you contributing to a shared household bank account from which everything is paid. You should also have an agreement (written) defining mortgage and repairs to the property and should also include home improvements. It would be wise to also include in the agreement some sort of ‘tenancy definition’ for you which would set out such things as a notice period if things should go wrong and an agreed financial settlement of any money you have contributed to the mortgage or property improvements.
It would be wise to initially consider the moving in as what you already have with your current house share.. I assume you have some written agreement as to what everyone has/can use and pays for in the house share – and it would form a good basis for this new arrangement.
50/50 is the most fair