Changing a name on a joint mortgage?

Maxime_2

Hello,

My partner bought a house with a friend 2 years ago, with an expectation that they would keep it for the term of the fixed mortgage, and then review the situation annually as to whether to sell, rent or buy each other out.

That period is coming up, and there is a possibility of me buying out the friend's share and effectively taking over her share of the equity in the house (50% as detailed in a seperate legal agreement), and hopefully taking on her mortgage payments and committment. The question is, can I be added to an existing mortgage and the friend taken off? Our earnings are similar, and I could afford the payments, but given the current state of the mortgage market, it is unlikely that my partner and I could obtain a remortgage deal due to a current LTV of 90%.

We want the property as a home, so we would be in it for the medium term, so are not too concerned about the current low equity, but realise that it limits/excludes a new/re-mortgage option.

The second option for us, would be to swap the mortgage deal just into my partner's name, is this a better option?

Thanks for any advice.

getmore4less

How big is the mortgage?

what sort of mortgage is it? details needed rate term anu short term deal, repayment or interest only.
What is the value of the house? (guess)
What are your incomes(all 3 of you)

Maxime_2

Sorry, previous post was was a bit light on detail. Basics are:

Original mortgage taken out was £204364 in 2007. Remaining mortgage will be £192958 when we reach the end of our fixed rate deal in a few months.

Property value was £215000 in 2007, and is probably somewhere between that figure and £200000 as a guess now (We are in London and have a major new transport link due for completion in the next year or so, so I'm hoping that we will come out of any -ve equity as a result of that). Identical properties have sold between £249000 and £201000 in the last 6 mths, so it is difficult to know what a remortgage valuation would be.

Salaries are me = £24000, partner £30k, partner's friend £30k now, but £26k at time of taking out mortgage in '07. If we had to remortage, it would be £54k total income.

We are just trying to get a handle on our available options, these seem to have been drastically reduced as a result of the credit crunch. We can afford to service the payments, and once on the SVR will overpay, but the ideal solution would be essentially a straight swap between me and my partner's friend.

Is isn't going to be that simple is it...? :-(

Thanks for any help you can give.