How can this be sorted?

CG77

Hi there,

Been away from MSE for a long time but need some advice please. Not sure if I'm posting in the correct place but hope someone can help.

My partner and I live together with my children. He has been separated from his ex for 7 years but never got round to divorcing. She lives in their house with their children. His name is still on the mortgage to allow her to continue living there. He only lived there for 3 years. We would like to buy somewhere of our own and she is in the position whereby she could afford the mortgage but it's a shared ownership scheme and there is some issue with 25% that I don't understand which is stopping her from being able to ( I hope this might make some sense to someone!). The house is in negative equity.

Anything that can be done? Both want his name off the mortgage now.

Savvy_Sue

It might be something about whoever the shared owner is: you've got two separate things to cover. First is will the mortgage company grant her a mortgage in her sole name (never mind whether she can afford to pay it, does she pass the affordability checks which say she can afford to pay it?)

But the second is the 25% owned by the - housing association? Are there restrictions on who can have such homes - key workers etc? Does it restrict who will mortgage such homes? Or is it even something as basic as the HA will not alter the ownership of the 25% unless a larger share is bought?

You're going to have to get something in writing about what the problem is and start searching from there, or post it back here.

TBagpuss

It's unlikely that the lender will consent to release your partner if the property is in negative equity, as from their perspective having two borrowers reduces the risk of them losing out if there are arrears.

In terms of the 25% - where a property is shared ownership, this will reduce the options for remortgaging, as not all lenders or products are available. I addition, it is likely that you partner and his ex would need to get the consent of the landlord/HA as well as from the lender, if they want his name to be removed.

How are they still in negative equity after 7 years? Is the mortgage interest only?

Until they can get it out of negative equity it is unlikely that they will be able to get your partner's name removed.