UK Landlord Forum / Life

Hi everyone,
I have searched the forums here and found a few post which are somewhere in the ball park of the information I'm looking for, but don't quite nail it unfortunately. Apologies if I've missed any though. If so please point me in the right direction. 

I'm looking for some advice regarding my parents house which I live in (rent free, just pay bills etc. and a bit to them towards savings)
My parents purchased this house for me to move into and everything has been great, but now I have a girlfriend who has a child (4 years old, not mine, she is the primary carer and looks after the child the same amount of time per week as the father) and we would like to move in together.

I have the utmost respect for my parents and no matter what happens, I will always do what's best for them, regardless of how it effects me, so I would like to know exactly what I need to do to protect them against any negative effects of having my girlfriend and her child move in with me should things turn sour.

Ideally my parents want to have the option of serving her (or both of us if necessary) notice and removing her from the house in the worst case scenario. They aren't worried about her paying rent or being on the tenancy agreement, she would just be helping with shopping etc.

I understand that no matter what, if someone has been living at an address for any period of time, they can go to court and be forced onto the tenancy agreement, and I would imagine having a child that relies on the home (as well as on me/my parents for that home) can only swing things further in her favour.
Also, I have been told that because I am living there rent free, tax may become an issue, especially so if she attempts to claim some kind of child benefit whilst living with me.

I have read that there are "Separation Deeds" or "Cohabitation Contracts" which can be drawn up by a solicitor for these kind of things, but a lot of these cases will still take the side of the mother and child if it goes to court, meaning my parents will be left with a struggle and I can't bare to think of putting them through that this late on in life.
Is there any way of having something written up and signed by my girlfriend which voids her from being able to use the system to get one over on my parents? I know it's not a nice thing to think about when you're only just starting a life together but I'm a negative bastard. I always assume the worst, and if it was just me it was affecting I wouldn't mind so much, but I won't put my parents retirement at risk for the sake of living with my girlfriend.

Apologies if this seems a bit mixed up, I'm not a Landlord so this is all new to me, and my parents aren't computer people so I've been left to look into this.
Any advice on how we can approach this safely and sensibly would be very much appreciated, and if there's anything else you need to know before advising please feel free to ask.

Thanks in advance for any suggestions!   

What about love?

Where's the love, on so many levels?

Would it not be better for your parents to formalise matters,with an AST for you and your girlfriend ,both on the lease? They can still choose to charge you a nominal rent,though personally if I was your girlfriend I would not feel comfortable if I was not paying them a reasonable sum.This way they can evict either or both of you.With a young child, your girlfriend would be found emergency accommodation if she could not afford a place of her own.You are right to be wary.I would say that you should appear just as housemates,and the private relationship should not get formalised in writing.After a year or so,if things are going well,you can rethink.  If your girlfriend is not prepared to see the dilemma your parents could face,then you may have to think about where your loyalties lie.

Quote from: Hippogriff on January 26, 2018, 03:23:21 PM
What about love?

Where's the love, on so many levels?

Oh I absolutely agree, which makes this whole situation ten times harder, but I have been in love before, and been through the fallout of relationships which have ended bitterly.
Luckily these only ended in me losing my own money. I don't want my mistakes to effect my parents in any way.

I know all of this sounds terribly disconnected toward the woman and child that I love, but things don't always end up as you hope, and I have too many friends that have been through this without asking these (frankly heartless) questions beforehand that are now suffering for it by sleeping on their ex's/parents couch without a penny to their name.
A parent will always care for their child first and foremost, no matter what, which I completely agree with. That's all my parents are trying to do for me, and I wouldn't expect anything less of my girlfriend if things turned bad between us.

I love my parents, more than anything. I love my partner and her child as well, but the clear separation of emotion and reality is too important to ignore in my opinion. I'm being cautious. Overly so.

Quote from: heavykarma on January 26, 2018, 03:36:01 PM
Would it not be better for your parents to formalise matters,with an AST for you and your girlfriend ,both on the lease? They can still choose to charge you a nominal rent,though personally if I was your girlfriend I would not feel comfortable if I was not paying them a reasonable sum.This way they can evict either or both of you.With a young child, your girlfriend would be found emergency accommodation if she could not afford a place of her own.You are right to be wary.I would say that you should appear just as housemates,and the private relationship should not get formalised in writing.After a year or so,if things are going well,you can rethink.  If your girlfriend is not prepared to see the dilemma your parents could face,then you may have to think about where your loyalties lie.

Thank you for your reply heavykarma, very much appreciated.
So if my parents were to put an AST in place and charge us both rent on a 6 month renewal, what would happen if things went horribly wrong and she refused to leave the property later down the line?
Would she have the right to take legal action and stay at the property against the landlords will, or at least legally get the right stay there for long enough to make it uncomfortable for everyone involved?
I'd never want her and her child in emergency accommodation, I have a friend in that position and she may as well be squatting.

Again thank you for your help, and I'm sorry if this all sounds brutal. I'm very aware I must sound like a complete a**hole asking these kind of questions at what should be a happy time for my new family.

After six months they can serve section 21,which does not require "grounds".You don't mention your work circumstances,or if your girlfriend has an income.Would it not be better all round to strike out together in another rented place? If all goes well,you could always move back to your parent's place.If it goes tits up,at least your parents won't get caught up in the drama.I started out in a tiny freezing attic flat,with a young baby and my (ex) beloved.I was an art student,so it was all part of the bohemian life.Now if you tried telling that to young people nowadays......

If it's protection for your parents, then it's a formalised AST you need... but for all parties who've taken on the property as a let. That means you would both (both adults) need to be asked to leave when the time came, hopefully not... but, of course, you could just then move back in.

However, think about this... I take the position that all of the people I meet are generally good... until I am proven to be wrong. I've been proven wrong only a very few times in my entire life... this is because people are - generally - good.

Quote from: heavykarma on January 26, 2018, 10:51:23 PM
After six months they can serve section 21,which does not require "grounds".You don't mention your work circumstances,or if your girlfriend has an income.Would it not be better all round to strike out together in another rented place? If all goes well,you could always move back to your parent's place.If it goes tits up,at least your parents won't get caught up in the drama.I started out in a tiny freezing attic flat,with a young baby and my (ex) beloved.I was an art student,so it was all part of the bohemian life.Now if you tried telling that to young people nowadays......

Apologies for the late reply. Busy weekend.
Okay that's helpful to know, thank you. I work full time and my partner works part time, striking out alone wouldn't really be an option financially unless we moved quite a distance away which isn't really possible at the moment as I'm the only one with transport, but it's definitely something to consider so thank you again.
Couldn't agree more, a tent and a pan would do me happily. My friends confuse WiFi with oxygen. I'm sure of it.

Quote from: Hippogriff on January 29, 2018, 09:03:42 AM
If it's protection for your parents, then it's a formalised AST you need... but for all parties who've taken on the property as a let. That means you would both (both adults) need to be asked to leave when the time came, hopefully not... but, of course, you could just then move back in.

However, think about this... I take the position that all of the people I meet are generally good... until I am proven to be wrong. I've been proven wrong only a very few times in my entire life... this is because people are - generally - good.

Okay thanks Hippogriff, I'll have to sit down with my parents and have a talk through the AST option as well.
I tend to agree with you, but my parents are awfully protective over what they have these days, mostly due to the fact that one of their own parents decided to pull a fast one on them a few years ago so they've lost a lot of faith in the world. I guess that outlook has rubbed off on me a tad.

Thanks for all the advice Heavy/Hippo. You've given me some options to go back to them with. Much appreciated.