Boyfriend moving in to my mortgaged home... advice needed

loopyloulou_3

Just after some general advice

I have recently asked my boyfriend to move in. I own my own home and have done for 10 years. He lives with his parents.

This may not be relevent but to get the full picture - my house is worth about £200k and I have £176k O/S on my mortgage (my sister is currently on this mortgage - for "paperwork purposes alone. She has no interest in the property and has never made any financial contribution). My parents are in the process of gifting me £40k (£33k of which is going to be paid off my mortgage) which will enable me to take the mortgage on in my own name. We are at the start of this process (they are selling a property and giving me a share of the proceeds).

Back to the boyfriend:-

He will be moving in shortly and I was wondering if there was anything that I would need to consider. He said he is more than happy to sign an agreement to say that he is effectively a lodger and that he has no rights over the property.

I have found this: http://static.advicenow.org.uk/files/livingtogether-agreements-2010-867.pdf
Do you think it is watertight enough to protect my interests?

Also, we are due to sit down and talk about finances this weekend, I have no idea what kind of contribution to the running of the household I can expect from him. I really don't know what to ask him for as a fair and reasonable contribution. Any ideas! My mortgage is currently very low (I have come off my fixed rate and onto a variable) but I am changing mortgages very soon (and going onto a repayment) so it will be going up.

Any advice will be very helpful! I want whatever arrangement we come to to be fair and reasonable for both of us, and protect my interests in the process.

Many thanks

Lou

pyueck

loopyloulou wrote: »

Just after some general advice

I have recently asked my boyfriend to move in. I own my own home and have done for 10 years. He lives with his parents.

This may not be relevent but to get the full picture - my house is worth about £200k and I have £176k O/S on my mortgage (my sister is currently on this mortgage - for "paperwork purposes alone. She has no interest in the property and has never made any financial contribution). My parents are in the process of gifting me £40k (£33k of which is going to be paid off my mortgage) which will enable me to take the mortgage on in my own name. We are at the start of this process (they are selling a property and giving me a share of the proceeds).

Back to the boyfriend:-

He will be moving in shortly and I was wondering if there was anything that I would need to consider. He said he is more than happy to sign an agreement to say that he is effectively a lodger and that he has no rights over the property.

I have found this: http://static.advicenow.org.uk/files/livingtogether-agreements-2010-867.pdf
Do you think it is watertight enough to protect my interests?

Also, we are due to sit down and talk about finances this weekend, I have no idea what kind of contribution to the running of the household I can expect from him. I really don't know what to ask him for as a fair and reasonable contribution. Any ideas! My mortgage is currently very low (I have come off my fixed rate and onto a variable) but I am changing mortgages very soon (and going onto a repayment) so it will be going up.

Any advice will be very helpful! I want whatever arrangement we come to to be fair and reasonable for both of us, and protect my interests in the process.

Many thanks

Lou

Good idea to think of the practicalities well done. There is no way he can end up owning the property, don't worry. You could in theory have a tiny bit of trouble evicting him, but as he is effectively a lodger his rights are very limited (compared with a tenant).

With regards to how much, its really up to you, clearly were not looking at a comercial decision, so I can't really say. Whatever you agree write it down and get it signed by both parties and witnessed, and have clear days when payment will be made. Therefore if you ever break up, you might have a small chance of getting any monies owed.

Personally with things like this really think what sort of person is he, how has he acted in the past? I would say for most people, even if you do break up, most people still act fairly to the other party, and if thats the case you don't need to go over the top with the legalities.