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Swapping Houses

We cannot afford to buy a bigger house in Chelmsford so we were thinking of swapping houses with my brother. He has no mortgage and we have 7 years on ours. We are just going to live in each others houses with us paying our mortgages but I need to know where we would stand legally. Which includes mortgage , house insurance .council tax etc..
No money will change hands..
Many Thanks.

Comments

  • davidmcn
    davidmcn Posts: 23,596
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    Unless there's a good reason for not swapping ownership which you haven't told us about, it's not really going to work. Your lender won't like it, the insurers won't like it, and what happens when e.g. somebody inherits the "wrong" house, or one of you becomes bankrupt?

    What ought to happen is: you buy his house, he buys yours. No money needs to change hands but you'll need a new mortgage for the other house.
  • Yes, legally all of the above. In the REAL world, however, you'll most likely be fine for many years! You'll want to sort it out properly eventually though, think about old age, inheritance, paying for care etc.
  • getmore4less
    getmore4less Posts: 46,882
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    eggha wrote: »
    5. Council tax liability rests with the physical occupier, not the legal owner. You will have to pay the tax due on "brother's house" and he that due on "your house" given who lives where

    Anyone can pay the council tax on a property.
  • trailingspouse
    trailingspouse Posts: 4,035
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    Some 'what if' questions you need to ask -

    What if one of you dies.

    What if one of you needs to sell (to relocate for work, or because of divorce, or for any of the other reasons people need to sell)

    What if the roof needs repairing - who will pay for it?

    What if the 'resident' wants to alter something and the 'owner' doesn't like what they're planning to do? (eg new kitchen, or even just fresh paint!)

    Just do it properly, and all these questions will magically disappear.
    No longer a spouse, or trailing, but MSE won't allow me to change my username...
  • getmore4less
    getmore4less Posts: 46,882
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    eggha wrote: »
    and if the wrong person pays it then legally the council must refund the payment to the payee and then chase the legally liable person for the outstanding payment

    go read some posts from CIS when they used to work in council tax themselves and did this several times in real life

    love to see that Law that says the ONLY persons(s) that can pay the bill are those that hold the liability.

    I can see the need to pay back someone that paid in error or overpaid and moved on.
  • macman
    macman Posts: 53,008
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    Anyone can pay the CT. But if it isn't paid, it's the occupier, not the legal owner, who is liable.
    No free lunch, and no free laptop ;)
  • Thank you for your replies. I have a better idea of what I need to do. Many thanks
This discussion has been closed.
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