First time buying- combined salaries v. my deposit- advice needed

londoner1998

Hello there

I am 34, renting and I am considering buying the house I am currently living in- it is perfect for my and my OH's needs and our landlord is a very nice, honest chap. Now, I have some money from selling my deceased dad's flat in Spain and I would be able to put down a deposit with no problems. However, on my paltry salary and given the size of the flat, it is unlikely that the bank would give me the morgtage. My idea was (and my OH is totally happy with this) that I would buy it and he would pay half the mortgage to me as we are doing it with the rent. But if we had to get our combined salaries assessed for the mortgage purposes, where do I stand? Could I still buy just myself? Because I think it is very unfair that if I put say 30k towards a deposit then the mortgage has to be on both our names....may be it is an issue of trust (he has a daughter and I would like to retain control over my money and finances- I really don't trust his family, there is a history ).
Please help, I have never done this and I had a clear plna laid out to just do this by myslef, given the fact that it is me who has the money...

londoner1998

I forgot to add, I have a pretty good credit history and no debts...

charliee_3

if the mortgage is to be based on both your salaries you will both have to be named and will both have an interest in the house, otherwise he is effectivly a lodger paying you rent to live in your house surely??..
you can have a deed of trust written up, our solicitor offered to do one for £100 at the same time as the house purchase that specifies each parties interest in the property...

Pee

You can't have a property in two names with a mortgage on the property in one name.

You can draw up various legal agreements to protect you. You should do this.

It doesn't sound like you can get a mortgage just in your name, but could you look into this? What would happen if you and OH split up, would you be able to pay the mortgage on your own? Would OH be happy living in a house that belonged to you, especially if he was paying money towards it?

If you trust your OH and it is just his family, then discuss wills. You want to hold as joint tenants so that all goes to you if he dies and when you die 50% goes to his daughter and 50% to your nephews and neices or something similiar. (If you were nice, maybe all to his daughter or divided equally between any children of yours or his depending on how you family is made up.)

Pee

They may take into account your OH as a lodger paying rent as part of your income...

AnnaV

But as your partner paying money towards the mortgage he will be entitled to an interest in the house, even if he is not named on the deeds or the mortgage.

londoner1998

Yes, I discussed this with a very good friend of mine who was very encouraging. What I thought and discussed with my partner was that all being well and in an ideal world where i would be given the mortgage with no problems, I would buy the house and we were planning to get married. My worry being, if anything ever happens to me (touch wood, but you never know, my brother had a horrific accident years ago and he wouldn't have been able to make decisions or sign anything for months) the flat automatically would be his as the next of kin. It is true that I wouldn't want to put him in a situation where he would be a lodger, since while he is paying, why not invest in it? I guess my worry is, if everything goes wrong and we separate, I am concerned I would lose my deposit in the process and also the fact that my credit rate is very good whereas he is not as good with money as I am and is rather reluctant to be more disciplined with it (although to be fair he works extremely hard, is not an big spender and has never failed to pay rent on time). I supposed I am more concerned with spoiling my credit rate and the commitment of doing something so serious together!! Why the worry now, when we have been living together for 6 years now, with university in between, no money at all and all sorts of challenges and hard times, is hard to say...I gues I am worried nothing will be left for me if i die and hi daughter and family will contest it! Thinking too far ahead, I know, but all these things do happen...
Many thanks for the replies, at least now I know I have options if/when I decide to go ahead...

Pee

Whatever your concerns are, there are legal documents that can be agreed and drawn up. You can protect your deposit - provided you don't get married - and you can make arrangements for his share of the house to pass to you on death, and for your share to pass to him.

His daughter is entitled to make a claim against his estate, although it is unlikely to be a successful claim against a house in which you have contributed over half and which both of you are living in.

His family are very unlikely to have a claim against his estate unless he includes them in his Will.

Buying a house with someone else is a very big step and you are right to go into it carefully.