Joint to sole ownership and remortgage advice, please

Nearlythere17

Hi, first ever post, so will aim to be clear and brief (and grateful!)

Nearly 20 years ago, I bought a house in joint names with a then partner because we had a baby together. Soon after purchase we separated, he actually never lived in house, never paid a mortgage and my parents paid the deposit

Mainly through naivety and a bit of stupidity, I never applied to have him taken off the mortgage/house, he never paid any maintenance and now fast forward 19 years when he can't be held liable for maintenance, he then tried to take me to court for half the equity.

After a great deal of to-ing and froi-ng, he has agreed that I pay him £5k and he gets released from mortgage and off house.

House bought for £53k, now worth approx £120k, outstanding mortgage of £45k

Sounds simple enough, but ...

Bradford and Bingley won't sign such an old mortgage over to lone name, so I need to remortgage, but I have really poor credit (one CCJ and a debt repayment plan)

I earning £70k per annum until Nov 16, but have recently set up my own company, I paid myself £12k Jan-April 17, then this year £12k so far, I have £10k in my personal bank account, there's around £10k in my Company account now and it has no debts, I am not taking a fixed wage at present, so cannot show earnings.

What can I do? I am so confused and a bit scared

If I can't transfer to lone name he is going to take me to court and go for half the equity

Is a remortgage the best (only) option, or should I look to a loan or somehow can I buy it through the company?

I am now married, my husband has good credit, but a large mortgage on our family home (in just his name, I am on no other mortgages), he knows everything and might be prepared to join me on mortgage/take over mortgage, as he knows there is loads of equity and I am planning to sell, but I'd rather not inconvenience him by having to get him involved in having to make applications and all the paperwork etc unless it is the clear best option

I just want to put it for sale straight after Christmas, so the equity will be released virtually immediately, it is a short term fix I am after.

Thank you so much

YHM

Evening.

Thanks for the detail. Guessing from your note about family home, that the property in question is either rented out or unoccupied?

Nearlythere17

Hello, there's a family member living there, but she'll move out whenever I need her too, I'd give a month's notice for courtesy

Nearlythere17

*need her TO :mad:

YHM

If the property isn't occupied by yourself, you would struggle to remortgage it on to a standard residential rate, so the easiest thing would be to convert it to a BTL and release the 5k capital for your ex that way. The property can then either be formerly rented to your family member (not ideal) or rented to mainstream. This would also solve the issue of you only recently changed employment style, as the assessment would more be based on rental income then your personal income and outgoings.