Help me find the fairest way please!

MildredW

Hi All,
Would like a bit of advice with my current situation please.

I'm currently living in a house I own with my best friend as a lodger (she has been living there for 18 months). She currently pays €400 a month including all bills. This has always worked well for us, sometimes the utilities would be higher but I don't want the hassle of asking for bill money so I would rather have a set rate, which also makes it easier for me to budget a set amount every month.

My friend is going to be moving out in a couple of months to her own apartment and it just so happens that my boyfriends lease is up so he will be coming to live with me.

My situation is as the three of us will be living together until she is ready to move out what is the fairest way to charge them rent & utilities at a flat rate? I do not want in any way to profit from either of them, I just want to cover the bills as fairly as possible between the three of us? any ideas?

I had been thinking of charging them both €250 a month which for me will include an extra €100 a month to cover the cost of one extra person living there. Looking at the rates on Daft though this seems very cheap?? As I said I do not want to make money from them! Thanks if you made it this far...

Zulu

If you don't want profit, but want to split the bills 3 ways, then:
(Total of bills)/3=(Amount to charge).

Explain this is what you are doing. Be open, show them the bills. That's utterly fair.

ck83

If you don't want to profit, then it's of no consequence what the going rates on daft are. The people renting those room out probably DO want to profit, or need help covering their mortgage. Charge what you need to charge if you want to cover your costs. The third person living there is unlikely to make much difference in summer when you've no heat on, can dry clothes outside on the line etc, unless the third person is, for example at home all day (studying, unemployed), watching tv, using laptop etc etc (and even then I doubt it would make a crazy difference to esb).

Coopaloop

That is amazingly cheap for both of them.

I think the fairest thing for all involved (especially you as you dont want to be out of pocket) is to total up what your mortgage is + your monthly bills and divide by 3, so that way everyone is paying equally, remember to take a bill for electricty and heating from a colder month like october/november so that you get a better average cost, as its not going to be as much during the summer and you will have enough money to pay, also let your boyfriend know that when your flat mate moves out he will have to pay more i.e half and half.

Hope this helps!

D3PO

OP don't flat rate the bills split them 3 ways.

Also if you don't know about it make sure you read up and understand the civil partnerships act and potential consequences for you down the line if your boyfriend is moving into a house you own.

djimi

Do you intend on your bf paying the same as your lodger is now? Tbh I dont really see why the lodger should be paying significantly less on rent even with a third person in the house, but if you dont want to look like you are profiting from them then the fairest way would be to split the €400 two ways (as it seems that €400 is the figure you feel you need to make ends meet). Its only for a couple of months anyway, so its not like you need to worry about extra wear and tear or anything like that. Bills are obviously going to be split three ways now also, so any extra cost on things like utilities will be covered.

MildredW

OP here, thank you for all your replies. They have made things a lot clearer for me, sometimes its great to get objective advice.

@D3PO Thanks so much for pointing this out, I had already researched the legal side of things but may be a very important point for other people who may come across this thread in a similar position.

@djimi I had intended on my boyfriend paying the same as lodger when she does move out. Do you think this is fair? I am along the lines of thinking that because I will not be putting his name on the deeds and eventually it will be my asset it is unfair for him to pay 50:50. Our plan for the next year or two will be to rent my home out and then rent a bigger place which then all bills would be split 50:50.

Victor

Realise that the proposed rent has implications down the line, when your friend moves out.

Month Rent each Income
1 €400 €400
2 €400 €400
3 €250 €500
4 €250 €500
5 €250 €500
6 €250 €250
7 €250 €250
8 €250 €250

You need to agree with your boyfriend that his rent will increase if the friend isn't replaced.