deeds / co-ownerships

browolf

here's the thing, i've been living with my partner and her kid for like 4 years. the flat we live in, i bought and we moved in together to. she is not on the deeds and I pay the mortgage and the bills.

recently we've decided we cannot "be together" anymore. But we still want to live together (as friends). I am a person once settled would never willing give up my own house. I am happy for her to live in my house for ever if necessary. I think I prefer companionship to relationships anyway. for ages before we separated she's been asking to be put on the deeds. TBH I do not like this idea and now even less. for one think if we ever did have to sell i'd be screwed for ever more. have to live with my parents for ever etc

she says she needs some security and i can understand this but I dont want to go as far as deeds. Ideally i need her to be like a sub-tenant, like she pays me £200 a month say and i continue to pay all the bills and for any home improvements and legally she can't be chucked out without notice.

is such a thing plausible/possible? are there alternate ways of doing this?

lisyloo

is such a thing plausible/possible?

Some very possible to me.
Lots of people have lodgers.

I think you can rent out a room for up to £4K per year without paying any tax.

browolf

ah yes. see what you mean.

it'd have to be two rooms cos the kid would need one too. although atm she has her own room and i share a room with the kid. we have a partial loft conversion but it's not suitable to be slept in. and no sign of any money to finish it.

Bossyboots

I think you would be unwise to put her on the deeds.

Have a proper tenancy drawn up. If she needs some security then I'm afraid in my opinion she needs to move out and find it elsewhere. Once she is on the deeds she could ask you to move out and if necessary take proceedings to do so because your relationship has ended or she could even try to force a sale. She may not get a lot out of it but it will certainly mess your life up for some time and you will have the uncertainty of perhaps losing your property.

My thoughts are that maybe she ought to leave anyway so that you can both draw a line under this period of your lives and move on. What will happen when she finds another partner. What happens if you find someone who you care so much for you rethink your feelings about relationships?

jonesMUFCforever

The thing that comes to my mind is what would happen should you start a relationship with someone else? A your ex probably would'nt like it and as for your new partner would they stick it? Looks messy to me and I would suggest a visit to solicitor for proper legal advice.
Eric

browolf

ha ha the lodger think didnt go down well. actually our relationship is more like that of siblings now. For her thats very important as she is estranged from her family. so our house it like the place she can always come back to.

does the mortgage *have* to be changed with other ppl on the deeds?

jonesMUFCforever

Yes it does
Eric

Bossyboots

browolf wrote:

ha ha the lodger think didnt go down well. actually our relationship is more like that of siblings now. For her thats very important as she is estranged from her family. so our house it like the place she can always come back to.

does the mortgage *have* to be changed with other ppl on the deeds?

What happens when she decides to "come back" to your home with a new boyfriend and they decide they want to be together in that house?

I am not sure whether you are too kind hearted or are easily taken in but I fear you are being used/taken advantage of. This lady was grown up enough to have a child and have relationships. She now needs to be grown up enough to realise that your relationship is over and she should move on (and out of your house).

In the very worse case scenario, you are being set up to be screwed over.

garysletters

I have to say I agree with the above. It all sounds dodgy to me. Saying this may hurt you but I think deep down you may know it.

If she wants security, then a tenancy contract is the way to go. If she wants longer term security, then she should look elsewhere.

In the months before you split she was asking to be put on the deeds......does that not say anything to you???
i'm not going to ask about what happened to make you psplit, or over how long the decision was thought about, but it all sounds dodgy.

DO NOT SIGN OVER THE DEEDS.

If you feel you MUST do something, the very most you should do, and only if you really cant live with yourself for not doing anything, is to find a cheap 2 bed flat in the area near to you, and offer to pay the deposit. She can then have her own flat (security) she can still be a friend, she can pay for a mortgage, and it will not get in the way of your lives. you would then not need to do an expensive conversion to create an extra sleeping space, would get your house back totally, would not need to worry about losing your home.

If she doesn't like the idea, I'd say that shows even more what shes after......your house!!!

Get her out!

sorry if this advice hurts.

Debt_Free_Chick

I think the names on the deeds need to tie up with the names on the mortgage. Look at it this way ... the mortgage company lent you money on the basis of 100% value of your property. By putting your friend on the deeds you would only have 50% of the value of the property and the mortgage lender could not pursue your friend, if the mortgage defaulted, as she is not a party to the mortgage agreement.

If she wants a share in the house she will have to have a share in the mortgage.

I can see that she wants to share in your asset, but do you actually want to give it to her?

browolf

no she's been asking for years. i did buy the house for both of us to live in. really she should have been on from the start. And she did pay 6k for the half loft conversion and chances are she'll be paying for the other half which adds up to 32% of the value of the original purchase price. she has said she could live with 60/40 split. is it possible to give someone less than 50%?

so with the mortgage would she have to arrange a separate mortgage for 50% of the property? does the fact the house has gone up in value have any bearing?
does the fact her income is solely DLA and tax credits cause any problem?
ideally it would be best if i paid her half and she paid me. (her income is quite difficult to manage cos she has multiple incoming payments a month and not on the same day each month.) is this possible?