Thinking about buying (in the next 1 - 2 years) with partner: how best to split it?

[Deleted User]

Hello,

In the next 6 - 18 months (probably towards the end of this year, to be honest), my girlfriend and I would like to move home to somewhere a bit bigger, as our current place is just too small for the both of us.

It's her property at present - she has the mortgage solely in her name and gets a really good deal through A&L. She's on an interest-only tracker mortgage which tracks 0.5% above the base rate.

The two of us have very different financial histories however. She has £20k worth of savings in the bank and could realistically release about £35 - £40k of equity from her existing property, giving her a potential deposit of between £55 - £60k.

I, however, am just at the point where I can clear two loans I have, so as of next month I will be debt-free, but I'll have virtually nothing in savings (perhaps a grand at most).

Other than saving like mad, I'm not sure what I could do in the next year or so to put myself on a more even footing in terms of us getting a place together. She accepts that even if I save a decent amount of money each month, I'm realistically only likely to have saved £15k by the end of the year, which is much less than her £55k she's bringing to the table.

That would give us an £70k deposit between us.

The properties we've casually looked at in our target areas suggest the next step up for us is going to be a property around the £320k - £350k mark, so we'd be scrape in for a 80% mortgage, but - quite understandably - my other half is a little anxious that she is providing the bulk of the deposit and I'm providing very little.

At the same time, she has a great mortgage with A&L. The perfect situation would be if they let her carry her mortgage over and allowed her to increase it, but given it's going to be a joint purchase, I'm guessing that can't happen because there are two of us wanting to buy.

So, my question is this:

From our (joint) perspective, how can we get the best deal and is there any possibility that A&L's mortgage could be 'upgraded' to cover us both?

From her perspective, how can she 'protect' the fact she's providing a much larger chunk of the deposit than I am?

From my perspective, how can I protect my investment too? If I'm putting £15k towards this, but it's more advantageous for her to keep the mortgage in her name, how do I protect my investment?


We're just trying to work out what our options are and - to be honest - they seem quite limited. Between us we earn £110k but it's because I have no savings (having worked hard to pay my debts off) that we are being held back. We really have outgrown her home (not enough room to swing a mouse, let alone a cat) and would welcome thoughts on what options we could be investigating to upgrade.

tegai1

If the boot was on the other foot would you be anxious that you would be providing the bulk of the deposit? Just my opinion but who cares who provides what? If it's a joint effort it's a joint effort, joint does not = 50/50 split!

[Deleted User]

I wouldn't mind so much, but I guess in these days of litigious divorces it's sensible to consider what might happen if we were to separate?

The key issue really is this A&L mortgage, on which she's got a great rate and doesn't really want to leave. It's costing us virtually nothing to live in our current property and we're overpaying quite nicely each month. Affordability isn't an issue, but I'm unsure whether we can simply port the mortgage over to a new property without keeping it in her name alone (which I'm not sure is allowed).

Either we sacrifice a great deal, or else I end up without any 'proof' that I'm contributing to the property (e.g. names on the deeds?)

Does that make sense?

SimbaSimon

Deleted_User wrote: »

I wouldn't mind so much, but I guess in these days of litigious divorces it's sensible to consider what might happen if we were to separate?

The key issue really is this A&L mortgage, on which she's got a great rate and doesn't really want to leave. It's costing us virtually nothing to live in our current property and we're overpaying quite nicely each month. Affordability isn't an issue, but I'm unsure whether we can simply port the mortgage over to a new property without keeping it in her name alone (which I'm not sure is allowed).

Either we sacrifice a great deal, or else I end up without any 'proof' that I'm contributing to the property (e.g. names on the deeds?)

Does that make sense?

I see what your saying. To keep the deal and buy a bigger property you really need your name on the mortgage although she may be reluctant to do that. If your getting a new mortgage perhaps you could get a solicitor to write up an agreement where by should you split up she gets her deposit back and you get yours, any mortgage paid off since having both names on the mortgage would be split between the two of you.