Tenancy in common - selling my part

Shimla999

Hi,

I own 50% of a flat in London with my ex-partner. We are tenants in common. The house is currently rented out and we do not live in the UK - we live in Spain. We have a young daughter and joint custody after separating in December 2017.

I now want to sell my share of the property in order to buy a new house. However, I am pretty sure he will not want to sell his share. He does not need the money as he owns the property I am living in (I am now paying him rent). I own a flat in a city 2 hours away from here but cannot live there as our daughter goes to school in this area. I have read that I would probably need a court order to be able to sell my part. Is that true? If so, how expensive would that be and how likely would it be that a judge would grant me the right to sell my part of the flat? I don't think he has enough money to buy me out.

I'm a bit confused about how this works!

Many thanks in advance!

Shimla

seashore22

You can't sell half a property. Who would buy? Would they move in with your partner? I don't think so.

He either buys you out or you both sell up.

Shimla999

OK - sorry, I'm very confused about all this. My ex-partner does not live there - the flat is rented out through an agency. So, if, as I said, he cannot buy me out, how do I sell my part? Would a court order work? I am not sure what it entails.

Many thanks!

00ec25

Shimla999 wrote: »

OK - sorry, I'm very confused about all this. My ex-partner does not live there - the flat is rented out through an agency. So, if, as I said, he cannot buy me out, how do I sell my part? Would a court order work? I am not sure what it entails.

Many thanks!

stop focusing on the how to sell and think instead of who is going to buy half a flat????

OK, so it is let and has a tenant. Where are you going to find an investor willing to come into a partnership with your ex so that the investor gets a share of the rental income? That is a very, very narrow market. Yes there are undoubtedly a handful of investors who would buy in such a situation, but do you know where to contact them or do you know where to find an agency who has such contacts themselves??

No one in their right mind is going to buy half a flat and try to live in it themselves. It would be impossible as they would need your ex to agree to to evicting the current tenant to start with.


you own half the property. A court order is only relevant where you need to force him to sell his half so that the whole property can be sold as a single item.
the fact the property is let would make it less hard to persuade a court that selling will not mean someone becomes homeless. But it will be very expensive to get to court

Shimla999

Thank you for your advice. I agree it would be very hard to find someone to buy half a house. So, I am not sure what I can do. I need the money - I need to sell my part of the house, otherwise I cannot buy another place to live with my daughter. If my ex-partner can't or won't buy me out, the only option would appear to be a court order to force the sale of the property. But if that is too expensive (I'm not sure how much) or it if were not going to work, what options have I got? None it would appear! I am very worried now.

00ec25

Shimla999 wrote: »

the only option would appear to be a court order to force the sale of the property.

it is your most likely option

a court would look kindly on your case in view of the fact you have custody of the child and need to house her whereas the ex merely has the property as a source of rental income.

if you win then the legal costs you have incurred would come out of his share of the sales, but depending on your lawyer you may need to pay legal costs up front.


if you cannot get your ex to be reasonable, then going to court seems your end option, but if you have to resort to a no win, no fee lawyer you may still end up with no money to show for it anyway. You need real concrete facts so you must talk to real lawyers, not try to find answers from internet forums

getmore4less

Any mortgages on the 3 properties.

How will you counter the argument if you want to buy sell your other property first?

Shimla999

Thanks for all the advice. Yes, I will contact a lawyer to get more detailed advice. We have joint custody by the way - 50% each. So, she spends equal time with each parent. I am renting the house we used to live in together and paying him the rent, but he will only let me stay here until December. So, I need to find another place to go and I can't go to live in the flat I own (it's too far away and I'm going to have to rent it out to pay the rent here). He is now going to live with his new girlfriend near here. I was the sole breadwinner here but the house is in his name, despite the fact he owes me over 42,000 euros (which he has 3 years to pay me according to the custody agreement, since he says he doesn't have the cash - he does have the house I'm living in and half the flat in London). It's a real mess and very confusing!

Sorry, I don't understand the question about countering the argument, getmore4le.

There are no mortgages on any of the properties.

Many thanks!

G_M

1) are you receiving half the rent from the UK property?

2) are you declaring it to HMRC?

3) is there a mortgage on the property? If so, des thenlender know it is rented out?

4) how much equity is involved (ie after paying off the mortgage)?

5) the best solution is to pursuade him to buy you out - give you 50% of the current msrket value ( less 50% of costs)

6) an alternative (if he can't afford to pay you) is for you both to agree to sell, and split the equity

7) failing this, the only way you can sell is via a court order forcing him to sell his half as well. This will cost you both in the long run. That fact might help pursuade him to do 5) or 6) above

8) I assume you are receiving income from both your properties - 50% of the UK one, + the 'flat in a city 2 hours away'?

9) but the best solution is divorce! As part of the divorce, the courts will award a settlement on you both, determing who will receive which assets from the marriage. Oh! Or are you not marrrid? Why do people link themselves together so firmly through property and financial arrangements, not to mention children, yet not marry....?

Tiglet2

Could you not sell the flat in a city 2 hours away, in order to buy something for you and your daughter to live in near the school?

Shimla999

Hi G_M, Thanks for your answer. I'll reply below:

1) Yes
2) Yes
3) No - no mortgage
4) The flat is worth around 400,000 GBP
5) Yes, I agree - but he says he doesn't have the money (in cash) right now (if he 87-year-old mother dies, he stands to inherit a lot though) and this house in Spain is worth around 300, 000 euros
6) I doubt he will want to as the rent from this flat is his source of income - he doesn't work (because he doesn't want to - he is very lazy and has lived off of my income for years). Plus, this was his dad's flat before and I think he is emotionally attached to it - but who knows?
7) Yes, it looks like it, unfortunately
8) I am receiving income from the UK property (50%) but have not yet rented out my Spanish flat - I am in the process of organising that right now
9) We can't get divorced because we never got married. In fact, it is just as well because under Catalan law, I'd be much worse off financially right now if we had been married (he would be entitled to a lot of my money). I don't believe that signing a piece of paper makes you any happier or feel any closer to a person - it is no guarantee the relationship will last. But that is my personal opinion. In terms of property and finance, perhaps it is better to get married - at least in some cases.