Tenants in Common

firsttimebuyerlondon01

Hi All, 
Please can I have your advice? 
Me and my partner are looking to buy a house of £425,000 in London. 
The plan is that he will put down £33,000 and I will put down £9,000 for the deposit. We then have to do renovations of up to £25,000 to the property that he will pay for. By doing the renovations we aim to increase the value of the house to £525,000.
We plan to both split the mortgage repayments 50/50 each month which is £1,600 a month between us and split bills, council tax etc.
My plan would be if we broke up that I could take out my £9,000. He could then take out his £33,000 + £25,000 for renovations and then we would split the rest 50/50. 
He thinks this is unfair as without his money for the renovations, the property would not increase in value and I would make money off the renovations. However I think that only him making money of the renovations is unfair because I would be spending a lot of time liaising with the contractors and builders and making the house nice. Similarly, he couldn't afford the house without my income  but I wouldn't try to penalise him for this! And I am still stretching myself to pay 50/50 a month on mortgage repayments.

Like many people in these circumstances, I find it very upsetting as I work really hard for my money (I have saved the deposit money in 2 years of working full time and finishing my Masters degree). I am not interested in getting any of his money, I just dont want to be left in the lurch if we break up. I am 24 years old and have only been working for 2 years whilst paying large amounts in rents while saving, whereas he is 28 and has saved up his deposit from living at home and being rent free.

If I had my way, we wouldnt be living in London and we wouldn't be buying a house that needs so many renovations done!
Can anyone instruct me about whether I am being unreasonable or not?

Mojisola

firsttimebuyerlondon01 said:

If I had my way, we wouldnt be living in London and we wouldn't be buying a house that needs so many renovations done!

So why are you?

It doesn't sound as if this would be a wise move for you.  Stay independent for a bit longer and see whether this relationship is going to last.

WoozieSioux_tse

Doesn't sound like you're being unreasonable. When you buy a house with someone, aren't you in it together? I bought with my partner before we were married and we just split everything between us. Over the years it probably balances it out anyway with job changes. 
I would probably be questioning more if you should be proceeding at all if this other person is already throwing their weight around regarding money!How long have you been together? By all means, agree about the initial money put down being taken into account if you split, but after that if you're paying in equally, split the proceeds equally.

firsttimebuyerlondon01

Mojisola said:

firsttimebuyerlondon01 said:

If I had my way, we wouldnt be living in London and we wouldn't be buying a house that needs so many renovations done!

So why are you?

It doesn't sound as if this would be a wise move for you.  Stay independent for a bit longer and see whether this relationship is going to last.

 Because we have been living with his parents the last year and I don't want to do that anymore. (I didnt really want to do it in the first place but I wanted to spend more time with him & corona!) 
Also, I would obviously like to stay with him as we have been with each other for three years and don't have any problems in the relationship (apart from the stresses of buying which every couple goes through). 
If we stay together and don't buy we could rent which is hella expense and pretty much chucking it away, or I could rent separately in London (again a room in a house is ridiculously expensive and I'd end up living with strangers again as if I was a student). 

I do believe buying together is the best step and necessary for the time in our relationship. However, I just want to make sure both our backs are covered and it's fair.

Owleyes00

Sounds like you are the one making all the compromises here.

I agree with Mojisola. You are buying a house you don’t really want by the sounds of it, with someone who does not seem to be treating you as an equal partner. Of course you wouldn’t have as much savings at 24 when you have been studying compared with someone who is 28 and been living at home - sounds like you have done really well to save your £9,000.

firsttimebuyerlondon01

WoozieSioux_tse said:

Doesn't sound like you're being unreasonable. When you buy a house with someone, aren't you in it together? I bought with my partner before we were married and we just split everything between us. Over the years it probably balances it out anyway with job changes. 
I would probably be questioning more if you should be proceeding at all if this other person is already throwing their weight around regarding money!How long have you been together? By all means, agree about the initial money put down being taken into account if you split, but after that if you're paying in equally, split the proceeds equally.

Thank you for your comment! 
We've been together around 3 years.

WoozieSioux_tse

How secure do you feel in this relationship? Three years is a pretty long time to still be saying "what if we split up?". To safeguard initial investment, yes, I'd agree to have a document stipulating amounts put in by each party. But after that, you should be equal partners.

I can understand why you'd want to move out from his parents' place- it must be difficult not having a space of your own. But if he's already ignoring your wishes about where to live, why would you want to pursue this? And if you haven't even voiced your concerns, why not?

firsttimebuyerlondon01

WoozieSioux_tse said:

How secure do you feel in this relationship? Three years is a pretty long time to still be saying "what if we split up?". To safeguard initial investment, yes, I'd agree to have a document stipulating amounts put in by each party. But after that, you should be equal partners.

I can understand why you'd want to move out from his parents' place- it must be difficult not having a space of your own. But if he's already ignoring your wishes about where to live, why would you want to pursue this? And if you haven't even voiced your concerns, why not?

I feel secure, we don't really argue a lot but I think it would be silly in this day and age to not plan for this, just in case.  Yes this is what I thought would be the easiest way to safeguard initial investment, but he is just wanting to cover his back too. I just think its unfair to not let me get 50% of the profit just because I didn't have the cash up front to pay for the renovations, but I will put in half towards the mortgage.

It's not really ignoring my wishes...I don't mind living in London (I'm sure nobody would hate that) but him and his family were adamant we had to be here, whereas I wouldn't mind where I go as long as I get my own space. I just think it would feel unfair if I had spent all this time compromising on certain aspects of my life AND for him to make a lot more money on the house just because he had the money at the time for renovations. 

WoozieSioux_tse

Erm. Are his family going to get involved with the house buying as well? (Please say no!) What his family wants shouldn't be the defining factor, it should be what you and your partner both want -in equal measure that is important. And "I don't mind" is certainly not the same as the rush you get with "I absolutely love it and can see us here for years".

Owleyes00

firsttimebuyerlondon01 said:

WoozieSioux_tse said:

How secure do you feel in this relationship? Three years is a pretty long time to still be saying "what if we split up?". To safeguard initial investment, yes, I'd agree to have a document stipulating amounts put in by each party. But after that, you should be equal partners.

I can understand why you'd want to move out from his parents' place- it must be difficult not having a space of your own. But if he's already ignoring your wishes about where to live, why would you want to pursue this? And if you haven't even voiced your concerns, why not?

I feel secure, we don't really argue a lot but I think it would be silly in this day and age to not plan for this, just in case.  Yes this is what I thought would be the easiest way to safeguard initial investment, but he is just wanting to cover his back too. I just think its unfair to not let me get 50% of the profit just because I didn't have the cash up front to pay for the renovations, but I will put in half towards the mortgage.

It's not really ignoring my wishes...I don't mind living in London (I'm sure nobody would hate that) but him and his family were adamant we had to be here, whereas I wouldn't mind where I go as long as I get my own space. I just think it would feel unfair if I had spent all this time compromising on certain aspects of my life AND for him to make a lot more money on the house just because he had the money at the time for renovations. 

 

What sort of property are you buying? You have a healthy budget that would get you something quite substantial in some places outside of London. Have you discussed the compromise you are making here at all? If people decide they want to sacrifice space for convenience and all of the other things that come with living in London together then that’s fine and their choice but again, seems like you are making all the compromises here.

My other question would be, what does he plan to do if you had children in the future and are earning less during mat leave or decide to go part time. Would he want it adjusting again to take account of the fact you are no longer paying 50/50?

pbartlett

He is being unfair. The fair way would be as you describe ie 50/50.

In any case, how are you going to register this agreement? The land registry will only let you register eg that you own 40% and he owns 60% - if that is how it is registered then that is how legally it will be owned, irrespective of how much it does or does not go up in value. You can't register £9000, £25000, £33000 or whatever.

You could have a declaration of trust with other arrangements but you would have to check how that meshes with what is registered at the land registry.

It would be much simpler all round if you agreed a sharing figure eg 60-40 or whatever.