Buy half the house from my landlord?

msbradley

Hi
At present I rent my home from my landlord, have lived here for six months and quite happy to remain here.
My landlord is quite reasonable and has discussed the possibility of me taking on half the mortgage, as I am single and not on a fantastic income, I would not get a full mortgage for the asking price of this house, but Im sure I could borrow half the value.
My question is this..Would this idea be a huge mistake? I would be renting his half of the house from him and paying my half of the mortgage, but I can see there might be some problems if he decided to sell his half or if I decided to sell my half I guess we could only buy from each other. I dont know if I'd be able to do that. The idea seems attractive, as it would mean an opportunity for me to 'get my foot on the ladder' and perhaps a bit of security for my young daughter, but Im not aware of all the pitfalls of this plan and would just like some advice from those that have a little more experience.
I dont earn enough money to go out and get a mortgage of my own, I know this would be the ideal, but just not possible, and Im already paying 750 pounds a month rent, so would it be better to be paying half of that into my own mortgage?
Any opinions or advice on the matter would be appreciated. Many thanks

Cannon_Fodder

Whoever you obtained the mortgage from would have to be happy at both names being on the deeds - which is unlikely, unless it was a joint mortgage.

Does he own it outright, or also have a mortgage? Same goes for his lender, if there is one.

Tying your credit history to a landlord, doesn't sound like a great idea.

Have you got a deposit? You will need one, even for half a house.

As you say, terribly complicated in terms of who might want to sell, and when, in the future.

Not the best plan, imo.

msbradley

Hi CF

Yes he has an existing mortgage on the house, I have 10k as a deposit.
Thanks

devon123

msbradley - hmmmm...I'd be very sceptical about that. I wonder whether he's in financial difficulty and that's why he's suggested it?

Like another poster said - you'll be tying yourself to his credit rating.

No option of doing a house share or renting somewhere cheaper so you can save some cash?

Personally, I wouldn't go for this!