Joint mortgage becoming a sole mortgage

boonear

Hello, I dont know if anybody can help, I am unsure how mortgage lenders operate in the circumstances I have found myself in. I have had a joint mortgage with Nationwide for about 7 years, but I have now split up with my partner and she has moved out. The outstanding mortgage is about £80,000, and the value of the house is about £120,000. I have agreed with my ex-partner that we will split the equity, so I can effectively buy her out by giving her £20,000. I have the money to do that (via saving, begging, and various other angles) so can pay her off without needing to borrow any more. But....my question is this...I will now become the sole payer of an £80,000 mortgage. If I was a new applicant, Nationwide would not let me borrow that much on my own on my current salary. So will they let us simply remove her name from the mortgage? Are they likely to cause me a problem and say that I cannot buy her out because I cannot have that mortgage on my own? Or will they just keep quiet as long as I keep up with the payments? If anybody can offer any wisdom it would be greatly appreciated! Thank you!

Senior_Paper_Monitor

If your salary is not sufficient for affordability/multiples they will not let her off the mortgage - end of story I'm afriad.

boonear

Thanks very much for your reply - what will they actually do then, will it basically be that we either have to keep both names on the mortgage or sell the house? No other cunning ways round this?

GMS

If you cannot afford the motgage then they will not allow you to take it on.

Have you tried the affordability calculator on the website to make sure?

boonear

Thanks GMS, I still dont entirely understand the concept of it - she has already gone and set up elsewhere so I am now paying the mortgage on my own and managing fine, just want the paperwork changing really! What happens in situations where one partner dies leaving just one payer, surely they arent forced to sell their house, even if they keep up with payments? (assuming no life insurance of course)

Senior_Paper_Monitor

You don't have to sell it - you can remain on that mortage (two parties responsible in your case / one with a dead partner) but they will not rewrite a replacement mortage (which includes releasing one party from the binding agreement that they have committed to) unless the replacemnt borrower (in this case you) can meet their driteria for such lending.

Incidentally - make sure that your (ex)partner understands that her credit rating etc depend on the current mortgage - however a sale and release of equity seems a likely outcome. If/when she next tries to mortgage (or raise most other loans) the current agreement will almost certainly limit her ability to do so - and again a sale may be forced.

GMS

boonear wrote: »

Thanks GMS, I still dont entirely understand the concept of it - she has already gone and set up elsewhere so I am now paying the mortgage on my own and managing fine, just want the paperwork changing really! What happens in situations where one partner dies leaving just one payer, surely they arent forced to sell their house, even if they keep up with payments? (assuming no life insurance of course)

If you are paying it now and managing fine how do you know they wont let you do it?
Have a look at the affordability calculator.

What is your salary?
How much do you owe on the mortgage?
What is your age?

boonear

Ok....thinking as I type, is there any kind of loophole here, is it possible for me to pay her off and have title deeds changed to my name so that I become the legal owner of the house, but not inform Nationwide of this for a year or two, when my salary has gone up and the mortgage gone down a bit...or doesnt it work like that....excuse my ignorance....

boonear

GMS / Senior Paper Monitor - thanks for all your replies, really helpful stuff. GMS - yes I have looked on the website affordability calculator and I cant quite do it. My salary is £21,000 and mortgage needed is £83000, I am 32 years old.

GMS

boonear wrote: »

GMS / Senior Paper Monitor - thanks for all your replies, really helpful stuff. GMS - yes I have looked on the website affordability calculator and I cant quite do it. My salary is £21,000 and mortgage needed is £83000, I am 32 years old.

Do you have any loans/credit cards?
Any children?

Senior_Paper_Monitor

Pay her in stages ? Remortage elsewhere ? Take a lodger ? Parental assistance package ?

You are close enough to have a number of possibilities - a whole of market broker may well be able to assist