First time buyer - Questions

mrs_money_2

A bit of background information first, I am a first time buyer, separated from my husband officially in December 2019, with a credit file I am in the process of repairing.
My questions are (and please excuse my ignorance);
1) Should I wait until I am divorced before purchasing a property of my own? 

2) I have a satisfied default which will be 6 years old in September this year, it doesn’t appear on my Equifax credit file but does on Experian. Is it best to wait until the full 6 years has past before speaking to a mortgage broker / the bank about an AIP?
3) I have a car on PCP, current remaining balance is circa £19k, will this affect my mortgage application hugely?
4) I feel like my only real options are to either buy through the shared ownership scheme or buy on the open market but may have to compromise on location or somewhere that may need work. What would you recommend?

Thank you in advance for your help 🙂

Thrugelmir

PCP is a monthly commitment which will impact affordability. 

Slithery

Did your husband own a house when you were still married? If so then you're not a first time buyer as you have previously owned a share in a property.

mrs_money_2

Slithery said:

Did your husband own a house when you were still married? If so then you're not a first time buyer as you have previously owned a share in a property.

My husband has a property but I was not on the mortgage?

Cheese1990

How long were you married for? As although your husband is the one on the mortgage etc if you where married for anything more than about 3/4 years you would be entitled to at least 50% of your shared assets maybe more if you've been together for a very long time as the principle is that after divorce you should both be able to live the same sort of lifestyle.

mrs_money_2

Cheese1990 said:

How long were you married for? As although your husband is the one on the mortgage etc if you where married for anything more than about 3/4 years you would be entitled to at least 50% of your shared assets maybe more if you've been together for a very long time as the principle is that after divorce you should both be able to live the same sort of lifestyle.

We married in Feb 2017 and separated Dec 2019. 

Sunsaru

Personally, I would wait till your divorce was done and dusted before buying. Just in case.

Irishpearce26

I think its best to give it at least 6 months before you look to apply for a mortgage, if anything the default will be the killer and you'll need 3 months behind that for your file to balance out.

Cheese1990

How are you splitting the marital assets? As you've been married for over 4 years! Just because the mortgage is in your soon to be ex partners name doesn't mean you have zero entitlement.

mrs_money_2

Cheese1990 said:

How are you splitting the marital assets? As you've been married for over 4 years! Just because the mortgage is in your soon to be ex partners name doesn't mean you have zero entitlement.

Thank you but I don’t need advice in relation to marital assets etc, simply the questions I have asked 

SDLT_Geek

For SDLT purposes you can still be a first time buyer even though your husband owned a property so long as:
(a) you did not own a share of the property 
(b) you are not “living together” with him on the date of completion of your purchase.
It is not the case that (for these SDLT purposes) one spouse is treated as owning a share in the other’s property.