Changing the deeds?

MustangSally

My boyfriend and I are buying a house together. I have sold my house, my credit score seems good, salary is high and I'm about to pay off all my credit cards. My boyfriend's property just won't sell, he works as a contractor and has quite high credit card debts.

With both of us applying for the mortgage we are battling to get a good rate. However, I qualify on my own for a good rate. My new plan therefore is that I buy the house and then once his place is sold he lumps the capital into the house and it becomes "our" house.

My question is - how complicated is the process to change the deeds when he becomes a partner in the house ownership?

david29dpo

Its not complicated but your lender will have to approve. You cant just add a name/s to the title register if there is a mortgage on the property.

MustangSally

Thanks David

The idea is that once his property sells then he clears his debt (cards and mortgage) with the proceeds at which point the lender shouldn't have a problem with him.

If we could clear his cards now we'd be fine but it seems that for every £3k of c/c debt, your borrowing amount reduces by £20k!!

His cards are therefore reducing the amount we can borrow below the 85% LTV we need to port my mortgage deal.

Fire_Fox

If your OH's house won't sell it's overpriced unfortunately. Can't you live in his place until he pays his debts?

MustangSally

When I sold my house the plan was for me to live in his flat until it sold.

However, the house we want to buy, our dream home, has been reduced due to bereavement to a price that is a bargain and we don't want to miss out on it.

My OH's flat has already been reduced twice. It's now the cheapest 2 bed flat in the area. No one is getting any viewings in the price range according to all three local agents.

Fire_Fox

Then all the other two bedroom flats are overpriced too. Anything will sell if it is cheap enough - have you considered an auction? It just worries me that in this financial climate you would stretch yourself so that you own a large house on your own AND your partner owns a flat that is difficult to shift AND has substantial credit card debts. If one of you is made redundant, one of you gets sick, or you fall pregnant by accident can the two of you cope financially?

MustangSally

There's overpriced and then there's charity! We are on an island and so anyone moving onto the island immediately has additional travel time and costs. For younger people and FTBs this probably presents a real problem to them and so they seem to be sacrificing location for value for money.

However, for people like ourselves where we're looking at a "home for life" and want to be on the island, we're taking advantage of a troubled market, and others seem to be doing the same now as the properties in £300k-£450k bracket that have been on the market for a year or so are now selling.

The answer to your last question is yes, we can cope if thrown into a difficult situation. We are currently recovering from one and will be clear (i.e. credit cards) in the not too distant future but unfortunately we need to go through the mortgage process now rather than in six months or so. My job is secure and my salary is high enough to support both households should my partner find himself without a contract.

My question was about the deeds, not whether we're doing the right thing or not financially!

Troubled_Joe

Yes it's a relatively simple transfer of equity process. A few forms to sign and an application to the Land Registry.

Not sure about solicitors in your area but around here the cost is in the region of £400 all in.

MustangSally

Thanks, that's informative and reassuring. And the fee is just a fraction of the thousands of pounds of additional interest we will save in the first year alone!