WORRIED - Will the house be repossessed?

wallpapermate

hi all

i live with my partner who bought his house in Dec 2006, with a 115% mortgage. only his name is on the mortgage as it took into account previously existing debts which he doesnt want me to be responsible for.
We are worried that with the depreciation of the value of the house (bought for £170k, mortgage £185k) that we will be in negative equity, and the mortgage is up for renewal in three years and I am wondering whether there is anything i can do to ease the pressure? Currently he is the only person named on the mortgage but do you think it would make a difference if we had joint responsibililty, as £20k extra income should be further assurance to the mortgage company that we can keep up the repayments?

Any advice would be greatly appreciated...i dont know too much about this sort of stuff but what i do know is that this is a really depressing time for him and i want to help him..

Thanks peeps

p.s. anyone got any idea who is going to buy all these houses if they are repossessed?!?!?!

thescouselander

Unfortunately you are almost certainly in negative equity - you probably always were! Anyway, they will only reposess your house if you cannot keep up repayments on the mortgage so as long as you can pay then there is nothing to worry about.

The problem you have is that it could be extreamly difficult to re-arrange a new mortgage deal meaning you will probably go onto the standard rate which is more expensive. Again, as long as you can afford this and you keep up with repayments you will not be repossessed.

beecher

Your house would only be repossessed if you failed to pay the mortgage. If you're in negative equity when your mortgage is up for renewal then you'll be put on the SVR. As long as you are able to pay the rate, it'll be fine.

I'd advise overpaying significantly, or putting money aside to try to safeguard yourself. You could go to the Debt Free Wannabee forum to get advice on how to cut back on your spending in order to do this.

wallpapermate

thanks guys!! this is all very new to me as have not ever had to apply for mortgage and work out even exactly what one is...maybe this is what has perpetuated the problem...seem to be a lot of people out there that have little understanding of what they've let themselves in for!

minimike2

If you have three years before the deal is up then now is not the time to be worrying yourself about it, but you should overpay as much as you can during that time to bring the balance down (something that pretty much most people should do anyway really).

thescouselander

I agree with beecher - if i were you I'd try to pay off as much of the balance of the mortgage as you can in the next 3 years. If you can get yourself out of negative equity it will give you more options when your current deal ends.

Soot2006

p.s. anyone got any idea who is going to buy all these houses if they are repossessed?!?!?!

Lots of people sitting on cash waiting for house prices to become realistic ...

Cash buyers, FTB with good jobs and credit rating, investors & the next generation of professional landlords ...

dimbo61

what you have not told us is the mortgage rate and how much he is paying each month.
If your partner has no other debts except the mortgage and he managed to pay all the mortgage and bills before you met ? then if allowed overpay as much as you can on the mortgage each month.
You dont tell us what kind of deal he is on ( fixed/tracker etc )
If you can earn more in interest by putting money into a cash ISA each month that would also be a good idea.
House prices may have recovered in 3 years so work at reducing your debts and increasing your savings. GOOD LUCK