Joint Mortgage & Separation query

cepheuspg

Hi all,

Myself and my wife are separating. We have a joint mortgage. She has moved out and I intend to stay in the house. I have spoken to the mortgage company and applied for a Transfer of Equity to put the mortgage in my sole name. However due to my income they have rejected it.

A few questions around this:

1. I'm on a fixed rate that runs out in September and drops from, 6.7% to 1.99% above base rate so if rates stay the same as now 2.49% meaning a reduction in monthly payment of around £200. Mortgage company have advised that I can re-apply for transfer of equity then when the monthly payments have gone down and they will re-assess the situation. Will this make a difference in their decision?

2. If I do wait until September to do this while still carrying on paying the current mortgage payments, because the mortgage is in joint names, is there anything my ex can do to force me to sell or re-mortgage quicker if she wants her name off the mortgage quickly? I have asked her if she is happy to wait until September, but things aren't very amicable or civil at present so need to know where I stand to protect myself.

3. There is only around £3k equity in the house at present due to house prices falling and us remortgaging 3 years ago to raise some capital. We also have a joint loan that my ex's half of the house equity covers half of the outstanding amount of. If we agree between ourselves to offset the house equity against her bit of the loan, can she come back at a later date and claim any further equity if house prices rise? (we plan on going for a clean break divorce eventually to settle this)

Thanks in advance for any help you can give.

Paul