My rights to mortgage now I'm a single parent

Pookie19

Hi,

Firstly I hope I have posted in the appropriate place.

I am desperately seeking advice in regards to my mortgage.

Me and my ex partner (not married) have separated, we have 2 young children and currently we are all living in our house which we own on a joint mortgage.

He works part time + some self employed, and I work part time and I'm a full time college student (university student as of sept).
Originally we planned on staying all together in the house and living separate lives, but this has proved impossible and it is clear one of us will need to move out as it has started to affect our children.

I have never been savvy when it comes to finances and have always allowed my ex partner to have control of them. He has advised me that I will be unable to afford the mortgage, the bank will not allow me to stay here and I will need to move out. I don't know how true this is and I really don't even know where to go for advice. Will Halifax be able to advise? They are who our mortgage is with but my ex partner has told me by speaking to them we risk losing our home if they catch wind of our circumstances. Also, would they take to just me? I have contacted my local CAB and they informed me to apply for Universal Credit and use the online entitledto website but it appears as soon as you declare you are a student it is unable to give you any estimate.

I have begun to look at renting but as I will be needing to apply for Universal Credit I have been unable to find any property that will accept HB.

Any advice on what options I may have would be much appreciated. Or where to go for advice - I have hit a wall. I don't want to lose my home, but I realise it is my ex partners home also and in my situation I assume I would not be entitled to help with housing costs towards the mortgage,and I also can't force him to leave?

Thank you for reading

glosoli

First of all if you speak to your existing lender regarding your current circumstances, you will not be risking your home, as the existing mortgage will continue as it is now. So do not worry about that.

The issue however is that it will be difficult for you to get a new mortgage, or to take the existing mortgage on in your own name without regular income. He cannot force you to leave, and you cannot force him to leave, because the property is jointly owned. The long term remedy is either:

1) For him to take the mortgage on in his own name and potentially raise funds to buy you out.

2) Sell the property and you both go your separate ways and potentially split the equity (depending on the legals of when the property was bought initially)

Has this came up in the conversation?

ACG

Halifax will not kick either of you our or call in the mortgage if your circumstances change providing the payments are met each month - 100%.

Generally speaking you can lend around 4.5x your income, however if you are on a low income, it will probably be 4x or less. So that will give you an idea of whether you are in the realms of being able to get a mortgage for the amount you need.

If neither one of you can get a mortgage for the amount needed, I would strongly suggest selling up. If one of you leaves and the other stays in the property, in a few years time you will be arguing about who gets what from the equity in the property, there are loads of posts like that on here. Sort out what you are going to do now rather than in a few years time.

Bermonia

As already stated biggest issue for you getting lending would be ‘affordability’ - given your low income and dependants you would have little to no chance of passing lenders requirements.

dimbo61

You do not have any " Rights " to a mortgage.
What you need to do is speak to a solicitor asap to talk about the break up of your relationship and providing a home for your 2 children and yourself.
How much equity you have in the property, age, income, savings, benefits once you are a single parent, local housing costs, etc

Pookie19

Thank you for your replies.

I am reluctant to sell the house as it is our children's home, so it appears the option I am left with is for my ex partner to take the mortgage over alone and buy me out. I would rather one of us has it than neither of us, and he is in a better position than me financially.

I will continue to seek somewhere to rent and hopefully once we aren't living together and things become less tense, we can figure out together what is best for the children in regards to the house.

Thanks again for clearing some things up - had been very helpful

downhillfast

Are you planning on the children staying with you? (your thread title indicates you are, but it's not clear) If so then it would make much better sense for you to remain in the family home? Your ex-partner surely cannot expect you and the children to move out into rented housing when he then has a 'family home' all to himself? With children and a mortgage involved these splits are never going to be easy or suit everyone 100%.

Pookie19

Sorry i should have stated, we will be having shared custody of the children.

My issue now, and has been for months, is finding somewhere to rent that accepts HB!