What are our rights? What should our next move be?

Somerset

Thrugelmir wrote: »

After all the rent you are paying is paying the mortgage off.

Have I missed something ? Where does the OP say he is paying rent ?


I appreciate the OP is investing time and some money in refurbishing the flat in the expectation his partner will own it. But I don't get the references to 'landlord' and 'rent'. They do not rent the flat.


They are investing in the expectation of owning, based on a verbal promise. Which is very shaky ground.

Pixie5740

Somerset wrote: »

Have I missed something ? Where does the OP say he is paying rent ?


I appreciate the OP is investing time and some money in refurbishing the flat in the expectation his partner will own it. But I don't get the references to 'landlord' and 'rent'. They do not rent the flat.


They are investing in the expectation of owning, based on a verbal promise. Which is very shaky ground.

Geddesi wrote: »

The original plan was for us to move in together way back in January when we first got the keys and pay rent to the owner in order to clear off the remainder of the mortgage. When this was paid off, the flat would be transferred into my gf's name, as was originally planned.

It's in the very first post. The owner is the girlfriend's mother who is accepting rent from the OP and his girlfriend to pay the mortgage off.

Gigervamp

I didn't think OP was paying rent yet as they haven't moved in due to needing to have extensive work done on the flat. He said it wasn't habitable.

Geddesi

Sorry for the confusion here. Right enough we are not currently paying rent as the flat is not habitable, there is not even any running water as of yet due to the fact the entire kitchen and bathroom needed to be ripped out and replaced. We were paying rent for a few months right at the start, but we stopped when we both came to the realisation that we were effectively paying for a place which wasn't even legally habitable.

Pixie5740

If you've stopped paying rent then how is the owner paying the mortgage? Is the mortgage being paid or is the lender going to end up repossessing the flat?

Geddesi

Pixie5740 wrote: »

If you've stopped paying rent then how is the owner paying the mortgage? Is the mortgage being paid or is the lender going to end up repossessing the flat?

I have recently been told that the mortgage has now been fully paid off and this is why the building insurance has stopped? I do recall seeing a statement of some sort which showed the remaining payments for clearing off the mortgage.

To make things even more confusing for everyone, it turns out that my GF's dads' name is still on the flat as well - even though he has openly said many times he wants nothing to do with it. Apparently it is in the process of being removed so that the only name on it will be my GF's mum and then it will be getting moved over to my GF. This has been ongoing for months now though, and I don't know what to believe anymore. Does anyone know how long it would usually take for someone's name to be removed from a property?

Also, an update. Apparently my girlfriends Mum was at the bank today seeing about getting building insurance - she said something about needing to meet with the foreman at the bank tomorrow to confirm things. I will need to find out more from her later, but I hope this is the case.

Thrugelmir

Have the CGT implications of transferring the property been considered?

Mojisola

Geddesi wrote: »

it turns out that my GF's dads' name is still on the flat as well - even though he has openly said many times he wants nothing to do with it.

Apparently it is in the process of being removed so that the only name on it will be my GF's mum and then it will be getting moved over to my GF.

Why don't her Mum and Dad pass the flat onto their daughter? No point paying twice for two changes of ownership.

Somerset

Geddesi wrote: »

Sorry for the confusion here. Right enough we are not currently paying rent as the flat is not habitable, there is not even any running water as of yet due to the fact the entire kitchen and bathroom needed to be ripped out and replaced. We were paying rent for a few months right at the start, but we stopped when we both came to the realisation that we were effectively paying for a place which wasn't even legally habitable.

Got you. Well you're not a tenant and she's not a landlord ( the few early months is murky so no comment ). I'd feel uncomfortable in your shoes. You can be left high and dry if she reneges on her promise. Or be in the money if she keeps her promise. Who knows ?


But since you're at that point of saying '' what if she doesn't ....'' I'd personally throw no more money at the flat till you/partner own it. I've no idea (and you possibly haven't) of the mortgage, whether you could raise it, whether partner's mum would suddenly look for an extra 'contribution' on top etc etc etc. She's stalling, I'd personally get things legally sorted ie buy/transfer/whatever before I carried on.


Edit : Just saw your update but same applies. Until it's your girlfriend's I'd just ''run out of time and money'' until the ownership is sorted.

Pixie5740

It's not a grey area. Once rent was taken in exchange for living in the property a tenancy agreement was formed. The fact the landlord hasn't done anything about non-payment of rent is neither here nor there. Not that she would get very far in the court system due to the poor condition of the property and not being registered as a landlord.

I agree that the OP should stop spending money on this property until the ownership has been sorted out. Not just that the property is transferred into your girlfriend's name but when it transferred into both your names.