working with friend - how much rent to pay

[suzy sue]

hi everyone

im new here and was wondering if everyone could help please ....

i will be working with my friend as a childminder once i have qualified. her and her husband have recently moved to a larger house so we would be able to get more children in. The house they have now is a lot larger and nicer, they have 4 bedrooms, a larger living room and kitchen, downstairs toilet and a further room which was used as a seperate dining area and a massive garden.

The problem is that the 'childminding business' is expected to pay the difference in rent for this larger house. This would be approx £500 which split between 2 is £250, plus i would have to pay gas, elec, water and split the food bills. I think that £250 seems a bit too much to pay for rent? At the moment they have 2 rooms dedicated just for the kids and lots of toys in the garden so its a great setup.
My friend has said she cant really afford the extra rent on her own and their argument is that they only moved house so we would be able to get the extra kids and be able to set up our business, otherwise they would have stayed in their old house but we wouldnt have been able to work together as it was quite small.

what do i do?? shall i agree to the £250 or does it seem a bit steep as im paying for them to live in a nice house? plus i would have to account for all the gas, elec and water. i dont want to start work resenting the fact so whatever we decide i need to be 100% sure, so really im just lookiong for advice whether that amount is fine and if not, what can i suggest?

thanks!

[Velleity]

The gas and electric used for childminding purposes would be able to be put through her business expenses so I don't think she should be making you pay anything further towards them really.

Whatever you agree, regardless of what is said on here, don't do anything that you think you may become resentful of later on, otherwise your Childminding business is never going to work out.

Hope it goes well for you

[boxtree7]

None of it makes sense to me !!! Why would pay rent ... why can't the childminder just pay you a wage for the hours you are required to work. It sounds like your friend might have just taken on more then they afford. I like to now how it will work who decides what children are whose .. would your friend take all the fulltimers and leave you with the part timers. Sorry if not much help but I wouldn't be paying £250.00 per month plus bills to child mind in someone else's home. I can't see how you will make a living.

[Bear23]

None of it makes sense to me !!! Why would pay rent ... why can't the childminder just pay you a wage for the hours you are required to work. It sounds like your friend might have just taken on more then they afford. I like to now how it will work who decides what children are whose .. would your friend take all the fulltimers and leave you with the part timers. Sorry if not much help but I wouldn't be paying £250.00 per month plus bills to child mind in someone else's home. I can't see how you will make a living.

yes i agree totally, 250 for someones else rent???

Why don't you childmind from your house???

Can't see this working at all x Childminding is hard enough without falling out with friends etc x

[Bear23]

Sorry forgot to say hello and welcome to the forum xxx

[Loushah]

Welcome to the forum...my best friend of 20 years wants to become a childminder and work with me at my home. I haven't discussed it with her yet but somebody else on here said that they have a 60:40 split which I think is fair as she will be using my house, my resources, my car, I'll do majority of the paperwork and I have got all the children in so far and will get her children in for her too!!!

[rickysmiths]

Gosh I would seek proper legal advise/accountants advise before going anywhere near this one. Why don't you work in your own home? £250 per month is £62.50 per week before you have paid the other bills that is going to approach one full time child fees for the week.


I think you will find that even as a Childminder if you are working full time she has to employ yiu and pay tax and ni for you.

She should add up the total income for the business and regard your wasges as an expense.

I can't imagine ever agreeing to these kind of conditions of work.

Have Ofsted increased numbers because there is no way you can expect that this will happen just because you have moved to a different house.

Personally I would have asked before I committed to the move.

It sounds as if your friend is trying to benefit from living in a bigger and better house by getting you to commit to pay part of her rent.

What would happen if there was a slump in business for a few months would your 'bills' be reduced? or if you were off sick for a prolonged time or when you are on holiday?

[wendywu]

Even if you did decide to pay rent to her there is no way you would pay 50% of the rent increase.

You are paying part of her rent on !00% of her house when she only uses two rooms of it for childminding and you are paying part of her rent for 12 hours per day 7 days a week. Do you get what i mean.

If you did want to pay rent you need to seek advice on percentages. Out of the £250 you need only need pay a two room percent and only for the hours you are minding.

Also you need to deduct 10% of the total as she can claim this back on wear and tear.

Also what about the deductions for heating and electricity. How on earth are you going to work out what part of the bills are yours and if they are fair.

The family could leave their heating and lights on all night and weekends and run up massive bills.
You need to seek legal advice before you do anything.

[flowerpots]

£250 Ludicrous!

Stay away hun.

[wendywu]

What did you decide to do ?

[boxtree7]

I wanna now the outcome as well ......... please update us.

[rickysmiths]

She will have only seen the first reply because she hasn't been back on the forum since that reply yet.

[Laura233]

This does seem a bit crazy... as other people have said you are paying for her to live in a nice house!

I would want a salary and to be employed as an assistant otherwise I think it will lead to endless arguments and resentment... who pays for petrol when you go out? Who pays for the arts and crafts equipment? What if she buys stuff and they expects you to pay half but you cant afford it? Who has which kids etc etc there will be so many questions that you can disagree over.

I think you have to be really good friends to run a business together and it is always difficult when money is involved anyway. I currently have two assistants a friend and my husband but I pay for everything and pay my friend a salary otherwise it would never work.

Also, she really should have spoken to you about the financial implications of moving to a bigger house and what she expected of you...

Money is always the main issue in a relationship.... just make sure you are both 100% happy or it will never work.

Good luck. x

[~Chelle~]

Would NEVER consider this at all.

Would love to know the outcome!

[rickysmiths]

Chelle she hasn't been back on line since the first reply was posted. I do wonder why people ask for advise if they don't come and look at all the wonderful advise on offer?

[EmmaReed84]

Chelle she hasn't been back on line since the first reply was posted. I do wonder why people ask for advise if they don't come and look at all the wonderful advise on offer?

We really need a like button on this forum... *EmmaReed84 likes this quote"

[~Chelle~]

Chelle she hasn't been back on line since the first reply was posted. I do wonder why people ask for advise if they don't come and look at all the wonderful advise on offer?

Oh dear, how frustrating! x

[mamma_mia]

never work with friends or family true colours shine through very much doubt this worked out certainly didnt in my case but i adore where i work now and the fact i can leave work at work and it not spill into personal life