Girlfriend moving in

Wobblydeb

I think it is rather wrong to expect half from her, but that she then wouldn't be contributing to the mortgagte. That also goes for everybody suggesting matching the rental on a shared place. Rent to a landlord by its definition pays the mortgage!

Me and my fiance reached an agreement which was half of the bills only - whichever house we eventually moved into. Its about £100-£150 per month and clearly not a contribution to the mortgage. It will only become half each once we're both on the deeds AND the mortgage (and proabably married too.... )

In the meantime there's no mixed messages about mortgages, and we're just enjoying living together.

Fire_Fox

Wobblydeb wrote: »

I think it is rather wrong to expect half from her, but that she then wouldn't be contributing to the mortgagte. That also goes for everybody suggesting matching the rental on a shared place. Rent to a landlord by its definition pays the mortgage!

A professional landlord cannot charge according to the size of his mortgage, he sets the rent according to the bouyancy of the local market, supply and demand, quality and price of the competition and how keen he is to get a tenant in place.

boliston

Fire_Fox wrote: »

A professional landlord cannot charge according to the size of his mortgage, he sets the rent according to the bouyancy of the local market, supply and demand, quality and price of the competition and how keen he is to get a tenant in place.

Also a lot of landlords won't necessary have the mortgage on a property anyway. I had a snoop at the land registry records on the block I live in and quite a few units were un-mortgaged, probably over 50%.

Wobblydeb

Fire_Fox wrote: »

A professional landlord cannot charge according to the size of his mortgage, he sets the rent according to the bouyancy of the local market, supply and demand, quality and price of the competition and how keen he is to get a tenant in place.

Yep, and the market will always be aiming to get a decent yield.

If the landlord has a mortgage then they will be aiming to at a minimum cover it and make some return. If the landlord is mortgage free, then they will be aiming to make a return that at least matches what they could get in an alternative investment for the same risk over the same time period. Otherwise what is the point?

BTL is about making money (one would expect certainly for professional landlords) and I would hope that in a relationship that isn't the case. If my partner wanted to charge me market rent, but then say "this isn't contributing to my mortgage or my savings" I would be very upset.

Drodough

vaporate wrote: »

I hate gold diggers.

Lol the poor girl probably has no intentions whatsoever of trying to claim a share of the OP's property. i bet she'd be mortified if she knew of this thread's existence! I agree with being cautious with your finances and avoiding disuptes, but also wondering, after 4.5 years, do you not have a fairly good idea of someone's intentions...?

vaporate

Drodough wrote: »

Lol the poor girl probably has no intentions whatsoever of trying to claim a share of the OP's property. i bet she'd be mortified if she knew of this thread's existence! I agree with being cautious with your finances and avoiding disuptes, but also wondering, after 4.5 years, do you not have a fairly good idea of someone's intentions...?

lol why not tell it like it is? i know a gold digger when i see one.

Dated a few lol

Ulfar

The problem with taking money of her for just bills is she can still claim against your equity.

The logic that goes behind this is that by paying half of the bills she has freed up some of your money which you would then have used to pay the mortgage or contribute towards maintenance.

This is why I would suggest either renting or buying a separate place with her. In this way she doesn't have any claim on your property as she was never a resident and in no way contributed to its costs.

The other option is to get a legal document drawn up by a solicitor in which she agrees to stake no claim.

I know this sounds really mean but you don't know what is going to happen in the future and things can turn very bitter.

Snakeeyes21

If you even have to ask about this then you clearly think shes after your money, no matter how much you protest that she isn't.
Doesn't sound like a keeper to me.

SandC

I think people are taking this contribution issue far to literally.


"If you move in with someone and the house is only in their name, usually you have no right to the proceeds from selling the house. This applies unless you can prove:

• you have contributed to the deposit for the house or the mortgage payments; or
• you have made a financial commitment (for example, paying for major work on the house) because it was agreed you would own a share of the house. "

If you are living with someone and paying your way then of course you are contributing towards the mortgage. That doesn't necessarily mean that there would be some claim to equity.

The OP has already been paying the mortgage for 4.5 years on his own quite successfully. If his girlfriend moves in she would no doubt set up a standing order to pay into his account monthly contribution towards all the living costs including the mortgage (or from her point of view I guess you could call it rent or lodgings). The OP simply has more cash left over to spend on luxuries - she is no more contributing to the mortgage in a legal sense than a lodger.

Realistically, unless the girlfriend moved in as soon as the house was bought and the OP could not have paid the mortgage without her monthly contribution I hardly see any court going in her favour should they split up and she wished to try and claim something.

Remember, the starting point is that he owns the house, she doesn't, she is entitled to nothing. It's up to her then to argue that she does - NOT the other way around.

Put it this way. Say the mortgage is £500 per month. She pays him £250 then another £150 for bills. So she's paying £400. What court would decide that is enough contribution for her to own part of the house when she would pay that and more for rent if she lived elsewhere?

All this common law stuff people seem to insist there is something in it. Well I tell you, if some guy moved in with me and out again a year later and tried to claim entitlement to half my house he would be told to take it court and see how far it got him.

mlz1413

OP get a 'living together agreement' drawn up between you, this will protect you, please your parents and ensure you & g/f have in writing what you both know in your minds.

I would not request a payment for half your bills but for rent, ie an equivlent amount to renting a room in your area, this shows that g/f is paying towards living with you and is not paying half your costs inclusive of mortgage.

After 4.5 years you do know each other but as you have said this is your house and home and your finanical investment.

and good luck for the future.