Some advice on a co-habition separation please

billybob8111

Hopefully someone could provide me with a bit of advice please.

I bought a house five years ago with my then partner and we are tenants in common based on a 50% equal share. We took out a mortgage and paid a deposit of £50k, equally shared between us, £25k each

We then spent about £5-6k each on the property to make it habitable. She paid some of the bills and I paid the rest and the mortgage

She had an affair and we split after two years. I decided to stay in house and pay the bills and mortgage on my own as I could just afford it.

I agreed that I’d pay her £30k as this was approximately what we’d both put in. Despite numerous requests from me to progress this it has drifted with me continuing to live in the property. After three years I finally pushed to get it sorted and she has now asked for £35k, on the basis that she put more in at the beginning than I accounted for, which I’m unsure of (her parents did buy a few appliances and put a bit towards decorating and plumbing, but doubt it anywhere near that much).

I had the house valued by an agent and naturally it has dropped. However as I’ve continued to pay the mortgage the equity in the property is about £60k, and when split 50/50 is coincidentally what we originally agreed - £30k.

I’m also not sure if the fact that I paid the mortgage on my own (especially over the last three years – totalling about £20k) makes any difference or not?

I’d be happy to give her half of the furniture as well.

I'm concerned how to progress if we can't agree on a figure. Any suggestions would be helpful as I am soon to engage a solicitor but want to keep costs to a minimum as I’m already being stung with fees for changing the mortgage / deeds etc.


Thanks