Living in a house my partner owns

Starmummy

Hi
I'm looking for some opinions/advice on my living situation.

I have lived with my partner since the end of March 2017. He owns the house, It was only him that contributed to the deposit and the house was bought in November 2015. He put in about £100k deposit and paid £305k...the house is currently worth about £350k.

I have a daughter from a previous relationship but the three of us very much live as a family (we aren't married and that isn't on the cards at the moment, we have been together since June 2015) My daughter does not have overnight visits with her bio dad and hasn't done in about 5/6 years, so this house is her home.

When we moved in it was agreed that I would make a £600pcm contribution to his own account towards 'rent and bills', we then both put £400pcm into our joint account for holidays,food, car expenses, days out, and some of the child related expenses-I pay childcare myself as I get childcare vouchers)
When we moved in this seemed reasonable as I had been renting privately and didn't expect to live for free as we both work full time and earn decent money.
However, I recently read an article in an online newspaper about peoples lack of rights in situations like mine. It pointed out that I am in effect contributing to the equity in the house but if (god forbid) we were to split up only my partner would benefit from that and I would in effect become homeless. I also wouldn't benefit from the rights of a tenant that I had been getting by renting privately.

Now I know these things should have been discussed sensibly before we moved in, but I guess I let my heart rule my head.

I do not want to take anything that he has worked hard for, I am not a money grabber, that is not why I am in the relationship. However, I do want to be able to protect my daughters and my security.

What would you suggest.

PrettyKittyKat

If your relationship is serious maybe now would be the right time to talk about making your financial arrangements more formal as you are in a committed relationship. Have the house valued to determine how much equity he has gained until now, and that proportion of the house value will protected as his but from now on any further equity would be split 50/50. Have you discussed at what point it would become 'your' home rather than his?

Starmummy

We have discussed moving in a couple of years and getting a mortgage together. the equity for this house (being 'his') going as the deposit on the next house...but I can't help feeling that some of that equity, albeit a small proportion, will have been down to my contributions. Is that selfish of me or realistic?

I just want things to be fair, in writing even, so if things should turn sour we have an agreement that we both consciously chose.

Comms69

Starmummy wrote: »

Hi
I'm looking for some opinions/advice on my living situation.

I have lived with my partner since the end of March 2017. He owns the house, It was only him that contributed to the deposit and the house was bought in November 2015. He put in about £100k deposit and paid £305k...the house is currently worth about £350k.

I have a daughter from a previous relationship but the three of us very much live as a family (we aren't married and that isn't on the cards at the moment, we have been together since June 2015) My daughter does not have overnight visits with her bio dad and hasn't done in about 5/6 years, so this house is her home.

When we moved in it was agreed that I would make a £600pcm contribution to his own account towards 'rent and bills', we then both put £400pcm into our joint account for holidays,food, car expenses, days out, and some of the child related expenses-I pay childcare myself as I get childcare vouchers)
When we moved in this seemed reasonable as I had been renting privately and didn't expect to live for free as we both work full time and earn decent money.
However, I recently read an article in an online newspaper about peoples lack of rights in situations like mine. It pointed out that I am in effect contributing to the equity in the house but if (god forbid) we were to split up only my partner would benefit from that and I would in effect become homeless. I also wouldn't benefit from the rights of a tenant that I had been getting by renting privately.

Now I know these things should have been discussed sensibly before we moved in, but I guess I let my heart rule my head.

I do not want to take anything that he has worked hard for, I am not a money grabber, that is not why I am in the relationship. However, I do want to be able to protect my daughters and my security.

What would you suggest.

IF you have been paying off equity, which is appears you have been (though not £600 a month, so you need to work it out) you may have gained a beneficial interest in the property. This DOES NOT provide rights of residence, but does mean you could claim a sum against the value of the property (proportionately)


If you're asking in terms of preventing homelessness - no. Without marriage or formalised ownership you will not gain those rights.

Comms69

Starmummy wrote: »

We have discussed moving in a couple of years and getting a mortgage together. the equity for this house (being 'his') going as the deposit on the next house...but I can't help feeling that some of that equity, albeit a small proportion, will have been down to my contributions. Is that selfish of me or realistic?

I just want things to be fair, in writing even, so if things should turn sour we have an agreement that we both consciously chose.

Unless you've spoken to him, you cannot say what he would choose. He may think that formalising some form of financial interest is a sign you no longer see the relationship as steady.

quantumlobster

The path of least resistance here is to get married. Sends a signal that you are committed to the relationship whilst securing yourself (and your partner) some rights.

sal_III

If you split with your partner in couple of years, in that if you have changed the arrangement between you, you would have accumulated £5-10k equity in a £350k property. Getting these money back will fully depend on your BF good will, although you would have legal claim over them, getting them out without his consent would require costly legal battle, that is likely to cost far more than £5-10k. Not sure it's worth the hassle/risk. Considering that you are likely better off living with him, instead of renting privately elsewhere. Essentially most renters are contributing to their LLs equity buildup, I know it's exactly the same as when your "LL" is your partner but still.

If you stay with your partner and you sell this property to buy a bigger, jointly owned one - at that point it might be a better moment to request that the equity split in the new property reflects your contributions to the old property equity. Or even better try for 50:50.

Starmummy

Comms69 wrote: »

Unless you've spoken to him, you cannot say what he would choose. He may think that formalising some form of financial interest is a sign you no longer see the relationship as steady.

I understand that, we do plan to sit down and discuss this to come to an agreement that we are both happy with hence my wording.

Comms69

Starmummy wrote: »

I understand that, we do plan to sit down and discuss this to come to an agreement that we are both happy with hence my wording.

You may also want to discuss wills (including child guardianship), marriage, children etc. ?


It's a good opportunity to make sure you're on the same page (or even reading the same book! )

getmore4less

Just the numbers.

Starmummy wrote: »

He put in about £100k deposit and paid £305k...the house is currently worth about £350k.


When we moved in it was agreed that I would make a £600pcm contribution to his own account towards 'rent and bills',
What would you suggest.

£205k mortgage say 25 years @ 2.5% £920pm


£600 say £200 for bills £400 "rent" towards the mortgage

(£205*(£400/£920))/£305k= 89/305 ~= 30%


Adjust for the real mortgage and bills

BlackBird75

quantumlobster wrote: »

The path of least resistance here is to get married. Sends a signal that you are committed to the relationship whilst securing yourself (and your partner) some rights.

I don't think there's any need to get married.
I would speak to a solicitor and get a contract drawn up and a will made.
Much easier (and probably much cheaper too).