Partners living together when one owns the property

blondie85

Hi there,

I have a dilemma that I'm sure must be fairly common but I'm not sure what to do about it.

I bought a house two years ago when I was single. It's a small family home so I could stay there for the foreseeable future - 'grow into it', if you will.

Not long after I bought the house, I met my partner. Now we have started to tentatively discuss moving in together. But what do you do when one owns a property and the other doesn't?

I would be reluctant to put my partner's name on the deeds as my parents helped with the deposit etc. But charging rent (as some of my friends do with their partners) doesn't feel right either. I know someone who charges her partner 'rent' but it goes into a separate account - the idea being if they stay together that money forms the deposit for their next home, but if they split up they each take half and go their separate ways.


Have any of you come across this before and how have you dealt with it?

Many thanks in advance.

Pixie5740

If you have a mortgage it would probably be against the T&C of your mortgage to add someone else to the deeds without applying for a joint mortgage.

If your partner contributes financially to the property i.e. deposit, monthly mortgage repayments or capital due on the outstanding mortgage, he/she would have a beneficial interest in the property regardless of not being on the deeds. I'm not sure if you would be able to charge your partner rent as your partner unless you can have a lodger with benefits.

You can also get a co-habitation agreement drawn up so that each of you know where you stand in case your relationship goes down the pooper.

arbrighton

I moved into the house that OH had bought, after we got together but when we were still long distance/ not sure how serious etc. He paid mortgage/ bills, I sorted food and helped pay for new bathroom, sorting garden, furniture etc.

Never put onto deeds/ mortgage and did feel that it was 'his house'. We both own current one 50/50

CP26

My boyfriend owns his own home and I recently moved in.

I pay half of the bills and my share of the food shopping. However I don't contribute to his mortgage or any big home improvements / purchases.

The idea is that I save the money that I'm not paying in rent / on home maintenance and in a couple of years I'll have a nice chunk to contribute to a home we buy together. Or I will be able to 'buy into' his house instead.

We don't have a formal agreement but this works for us.

If you did want your partner to pay a little more towards the property as 'rent' then it would be a good idea to get some formal agreement in place to be clear on what this means in terms of your home if you split.

blondie85

Thanks for all the replies so far - very useful. It's particularly interesting to hear it from the perspective of arbrighton and CP26, who have been in the same position as my partner would be if we moved in together. I'm keen to be fair to my partner - not just myself - if that makes sense. I would hate for them to feel vulnerable as a result of moving in - but obviously I also have to protect what's legally mine.

Mojisola

CP26 wrote: »

My boyfriend owns his own home and I recently moved in.

I pay half of the bills and my share of the food shopping. However I don't contribute to his mortgage or any big home improvements / purchases.

The idea is that I save the money that I'm not paying in rent / on home maintenance and in a couple of years I'll have a nice chunk to contribute to a home we buy together. Or I will be able to 'buy into' his house instead.

We don't have a formal agreement but this works for us.

If you did want your partner to pay a little more towards the property as 'rent' then it would be a good idea to get some formal agreement in place to be clear on what this means in terms of your home if you split.

I agree with everything in this post except the bold bit - 'rent' from a partner will be seen as a contribution to the mortgage and result in her/him having a beneficial interest in the property.

jenny54321

A financial contribution towards the upkeep of the house is all that is required at this stage - if you have children and get married in the future you may wish to think of other options as you will be thinking of the future and who the house should go to in the event of death ect -
you may wish to look at life insurance and to whom you would wish the property to pass onto in the unfortunate event of death

Summer-Sunshine_2

Could a solicitor help?

Mojisola

Advice Now has a lot of information about living together that's worth reading -
http://www.advicenow.org.uk/living-together/

tea-bag

CP26 Has it spot on, once you live together you might not get on! Just share the food and bills for now.

quidsy

The other option is you remortgage with your partner adding the same amount of deposit as you to the property. If you ever split it gets sold 50/50 & you pay back the amount your parents contributed.