tenants in common splitting up

hammetstreet

i bought a house with my partner 4 years ago. he put in £74k deposit and i put in £15k. i have paid all the mortgage, repairs, insurance - everything for four years which is now over £80k. he never moved in - long story. we have now split. we are Tenants in Common with two thirds to one third split (i own two thirds). the house has £140k equity in it and i want to stay.
how much is he entitled to? any advice would be great as it is difficult to work out from internet.

TBagpuss

You get 2/3.
Unless there was a subsequent agreement, you go by the trust deed.

Why does the deed provide for you to have 2/3 when your contribution was so much smaller than his?

Are you saying you think you should get more? If so, why.

hammetstreet

hi i am happy with two thirds as i will also take over the debt of 200k mortgage. he is not happy with the one third. and is talking about selling even though he then will only get one third but also less after fees etc. i dont want to sell.

hammetstreet

sorry i didnt answer one of your questions. the two thirds split was his idea. i wanted to go for half but i guessim happy now as to find 70 k would be hard

swingaloo

So its fair that he should walk away with nearly 20 grand less than he put in. Granted you may have paid the mortgage but presumably you have been living in the property.


So what exactly did he get for his £74 grand ?

hammetstreet

well i see it a bit differently. im more practical. if we sell then the loss is even greater for him. i am keen to stick to what is legal in this situation. if i hadnt been responsible and maintained the mortgage payments etc then we could have been looking at major losses both sides. i also get to pay the mortgage for the next 16 years.

pinkshoes

Perhaps try and work it out fairly on paper.

What percentage was the £74k deposit he put in?

How much would his half of the mortgage payments have been over four years?

As you have had the house to yourself, if you rented it out, how much would the monthly rental have been (less rental fees) if you had rented it out?

You need to perhaps work this out as if you had rented the property out, both paid half the mortgage, then shared any equity increase after the deposit percentages as 50/50.

Not sure whose favour this will work out as, but might make him feel better if it was done mathematically.

I don't thing the ratios you worked out seem overly fair given the circumstances.

sterlingstash

Surely better come to an amicable solution. If you want to stick to 'what is legal' in this situation, then recognise that as tenant in common, he has right to apply to the court for 'an order for sale', regardless of what your wishes are.

Annisele

Were you ever married? And do you have any children together?

If no and no, then the starting point is going to be the deed of trust. That does sound like it says he should get £46k - but that does seem very unfair.

Another point to consider is whether the lender will allow you to take the mortgage on in your own name. Unless you have a spare £46k from elsewhere, you'd need to borrow £246k. Depending on your income, that may be a stretch - but if you can't borrow that much, your ex may want to sell purely to come off the mortgage.

FBaby

If you buy him out, it would be fair to give him back his deposit in full.

If you sell, then the 1/3 would apply. He has nothing to gain there though, so can see why he would not want to sale the house. His interest, on which I imagine the agreement was based was that you would be together longer and he would benefit at a later stage.

FatVonD

So, if you, between you, put in £89k as a deposit and took on a mortgage of £200k presumably the value of the house at the time of purchase was £289k.

If you say you now have £140k equity (ie £51k more than you had originally) presumably the house is now worth £340k* so his third would be £113k.

*This is assuming the increase in equity is purely down to an increase in value though some of it may be because the amount borrowed has been paid off. I don't know at what rate the initial amount goes down on a mortgage that large but quite slowly in the first few years. Is it a repayment mortgage?