Unsure what to do? Please help!

jordanna7

Me and my boyfriend split up 8 months ago now and we owned/still own the house together, which we bought in Nov 2006. I moved out of the house straight away and as such have not been living there during these 8 months. I have been paying my half of the mortgage throughout this time, which I did initially agree to.

However me and my ex had discussions around Nov time as to what we would do with the house. I called an estate agent who came and valued the house, it had dropped in price from 149,995 to approx 135,000. The estate agent then valued the house for rent at approx £600 per month. I told my ex about this and we decided that the best option for us both would be to rent out the property as an investment for us both (me and ex are still on speaking terms). We both decided that we would leave this till after xmas and take it from there. I've now sent a number of e-mails to my ex asking what he plans to do? For example I have heard that he is planning to stay in the property which I am happy for him to do, however am not prepared to continue paying for half the mortgage if I am not living there. I have suggested he get a lodger in to pay my half of the rent but he initially said he did not want to do this.

When we bought the house I paid £10,000 of my own money for the deposit and furnishings. I would be happy for my ex to buy me out and am wondering what a reasonable request would be? If he is unable to buy me out what are my options. People are telling me all kinds of options and its all just getting so confusing :mad:

Any suggestions would be much appreciated

dimbo61

How much is the mortgage on the property and is there any equity in it ?
Its a difficult time to sell and not many buyers around.
Could he take on the mortgage by himself ( income ) and equity in property.
Ask him to rent out a room as you cant afford to keep paying your half OR move back in and kick him out and you get a lodger.

jordanna7

There is no equity in the property, the outstanding mortgage is 134,000, so at the least £1000. My ex's income is around £26,000.

Even if there is no equity in the house can I still request a 'buy out' amount given that he will be keeping the property, have the £10,000 I initially paid in and also making a future investment for himself?

Robert_Sterling

How much of your £10,000 was for furniture and how much for deposit. How much did your Ex contribute to each of these two items?
When I know that I will give you an answer.

jordanna7

All the monies put into the porperty were my own. My ex didn't put anything in at all. £7500 was for the deposit plus £7500 from the housebuilder. Then I would estimate that £2500 was for furniture, amounting to my £10000. Then in addition to this I would estimate that a further £3000 of my own money was paid out for extra furniture etc, so in total probably £13,000 of my money was put into the house.

Thanks

supersunshine

Personally I would seek legal advice about this situation as if you ask him to pay your half of the mortgage for a while it will show he has paid the mortgage in full for so many months and may change things in the future if you decide to sell.

jordanna7

I am not going to stop paying for the mortgage until something alternative is in place e.g someone else is lodging and therefore paying half the mortgage or my name is taken off the mortgage and my ex 'buys me out'. I just want to know what I am entitle to and what a reasonable 'buy out' offer would be?
Thanks

ronnyandreggy

Jordanna, have you come to any conclusions on what you will do on this question? I have a friend in a similar situation, and it seems to me that you are unlikely to get any equity out of this situation, and you may be better off walking away, assuming that you can sign the mortgage over too him. I get the impression that this might be difficult to achieve as you need the other persons agreement and the mortgage providers agreement.

Thanks

silvercar

If you are not living there then the partner remaining in the property should be paying you rent for half the property ie half the market rent and you should be paying half the mortgage, so net one off the other and see who needs to make a small contribution to whom.

The person living in the property needs to pay utilities. Obviously if it becomes unaffordable to pay all the utilities for the property plus half the mortgage and the rent on the other half then they need to get a lodger.

As for selling up, if there is no equity then there will be no money recovered to split. It would be fair for the person who paid a deposit to receive some payment in respect of this, but this is morally not legally.

If the person in the property takes over the mortgage and deeds remember that they are taking on a mortgage commitment and could face a further fall in house prices. Remember also that they are saving the both of you from the cost of HIPs, estate agents fee, legal fees and any tidying up prior to sale.