Separation issues

JAQ23

Hi
My partner and I have recently split up and we have owned a house together as joint owners for about 2years. He put about 4k in to the deposit and I put in 1k. We also had a gift for the deposit that was for the both of us. We are not married and have no children and are halfway through our fixed mortgage contract.

He has said he wants to buy me out and has offered me 5k to leave (after initially offering me slightly more). I've been to a solicitor who has explained about getting valuations and taking the mortgage and fees away from this figure to work out how much I'd get. My ex has said that that is not how it works as "we have no equity in the house".

However I know he has only been to a mortgage advisor to see if he can get a mortgage on his own. He hasn't spoken to a solicitor or our current mortgage provider. I don't think 5k is fair and he has told me I can't sell without him signing it. Feel like we are at stalemate and we are both still living in the house (though he is mainly sleeping at his new gf house nowadays!)

Is this correct information, any advice on how to proceed greatly received?

JAQ23

Meant to also say, that all the bills including the mortgage is paid for jointly in a 50:50 split

MovingForwards

Your solicitor is right.

Did you have a declaration of trust drawn up when purchasing the property to say how it would be split and how the deposit was accounted for in the event of you splitting?

If not then you are looking at 50% back of any equity which might just be the £5k initially put in unless you have been making overpayments and / or there has been a property price rise.

Was it a new build?

Comms69

£5k could be reasonable, or not - there's not enough info.


The fact that any legal battle would eat straight into any money is worth noting. (and forcing a sale is often 5 figures)


At this stage if 5k is yours free and clear - no agent fees, no mortgage fees etc. it sounds like a pretty good deal.

onwards&upwards

Comms69 wrote: »

£5k could be reasonable, or not - there's not enough info.


The fact that any legal battle would eat straight into any money is worth noting. (and forcing a sale is often 5 figures)


At this stage if 5k is yours free and clear - no agent fees, no mortgage fees etc. it sounds like a pretty good deal.

Agreed, if you really don’t have any equity, then take the 5k and run.

Happier_Me

What are these houses selling for now? Not listed for, selling for. Most properties haven't increased in value much these last couple of years, the housing market has been pretty stagnant, but that depends on your area.

What is a sensible sale price for your house? How much would it cost to sell in estate agent and legal fees etc? How much would it cost to buy yourselves out of your current mortgage deal? What's the difference between these costs and the sale price? Now halve it? Is the answer £5k or significantly more or less.

Do some sums before deciding whether the deal is a good one or not. And if it isn't, go through your sums with your ex to see if you can reach a compromise.
Turn this around? Are you in a position to buy him out and what would be a good deal if you were the one staying put?

Don't underestimate the value of being above to move on with your life. This is the easiest option, you can move out quicker, no viewings, no mortgage costs while you wait for a sale.

unholyangel

It sounds like your ex is saying the house is in negative equity. You'd have to follow the steps suggested by your solicitor to find out if thats correct or not - it may well be if you only bought together "about 2 years" ago and only put in 5k + unspecified gift.

Also, did the donor of the gift sign to state it was a gift to you both in equal shares and that they were aware they weren't gaining a beneficial interest? Are they related to your ex?

JAQ23

There was no declaration of trust drawn up. And it wasn't a new build.

JAQ23

The gift was 10k and are related to my ex. There is paperwork to say that it is to the both of us and that they retain no interest in the property. The house is not in negative equity as after doing some sums with the mortgage company and guessing the market value (based on others around us) I believe that we have about 20k equity.
However I will get EA round to value.

Socajam

I would obtain 3 valuations and then go from there.
Just remember the more you get your solicitors involve, the more this eats into your profit - after all they will not be working for free.
When this happened to me and I bought out my ex, I kept the interaction between myself and my solicitor to a minimum. In fact I ended up giving him more than he was entitled to.

Comms69

JAQ23 wrote: »

The gift was 10k and are related to my ex. There is paperwork to say that it is to the both of us and that they retain no interest in the property. The house is not in negative equity as after doing some sums with the mortgage company and guessing the market value (based on others around us) I believe that we have about 20k equity.
However I will get EA round to value.

So whilst it was a gift to both of you, you know in reality it wasn't for you.