Joint Mortgage / Partner Left

markyuleuk

My daughter currently has a joint mortgage but she has broken up with her partner, they have a 1 year old child. He wants out of the mortgage but she can afford to take over the mortgage. If they sell the house will she be counted as making herself homeless as she cant get mortgage to continue buying the house. She is currently furloughed and has to look after they child.

p00hsticks

markyuleuk said:

My daughter currently has a joint mortgage but she has broken up with her partner, they have a 1 year old child. He wants out of the mortgage but she can afford to take over the mortgage. If they sell the house will she be counted as making herself homeless as she cant get mortgage to continue buying the house. She is currently furloughed and has to look after they child.

I presume you mean that she can't afford to take over the mortgage ?

If she is looking towards getting social housing, I suspect that in order to be considered homelss she would probably have to default on the mortgage and wait until the mortgage company repossessed it - I don;t think voluntarily selling it would be sufficient. But  I'm not an expert, and it will depend on the particular local authority in question. 

hazyjo

She needs legal advice. He will have to pay maintenance, she may be entitled to stay put, and, if no to all that, why can't they sell and she downsizes? Okay, so it might be an issue with being furloughed, but hopefully that won't be for too much longer. You say it's a house, so surely she could find something smaller and cheaper.

Were they married? If so, for how long? If not, how did they buy the house? Joint tenants or tenants in common? How long have they owned it? Are they tied into a mortgage deal? How long to run on that?

davilown

Selling may be the simplest way to sever ties with the ex if neither can afford to buy.

Gycraig

markyuleuk said:

My daughter currently has a joint mortgage but she has broken up with her partner, they have a 1 year old child. He wants out of the mortgage but she can afford to take over the mortgage. If they sell the house will she be counted as making herself homeless as she cant get mortgage to continue buying the house. She is currently furloughed and has to look after they child.

Won’t she have a fair bit of equity to live off until furlough ends ? 

dimbo61

" Won’t she have a fair bit of equity to live off until furlough ends ? "

How do you live off the equity in a property ?
Your daughter needs advice from Shelter, CAB or a local family solicitor.I
Can she afford the mortgage and living expenses ?

HampshireH

Also she won't be making herself homeless because surely she would go into rented if she couldn't afford to buy?

How much longer does she think she will be furloughed? Things are going back to normal over the next few weeks. Does her new normal see her with a job or will she not be able to work due to childcare costs?

Thrugelmir

markyuleuk said:

If they sell the house will she be counted as making herself homeless as she cant get mortgage to continue buying the house. 

Then she'll need to find a suitable rental property. The ex partner will be liable for child maintenance. 

teachfast

"her new normal" - surely one of the most insidious phrases known to man...

markyuleuk

She would prefer not to have house repossossed (effecting her credit score), It`s only a 1 bedroom house so downsizing not a real option. I admit the Hailfax have been very helpful with offers of support and putting current payments on hold whilst we try to get our heads around all the details.

They are joint tenants, her job is at a hotel at Gatwick airport which is currently closed, although her employer has said she can return to another hotel in the chain at Heathrow which entails leaving home 4am getting back about 7pm 4 days a week which then brings problems with child care and as the father has already failed to collect our granddaaughter when he said he was.

The mortgage is 2 1/2 years in and not fixed (so rates have gone up)

Her grandad is helping with solictors as he`s closer than us and it not easy to get back to UK due to covid at moment. I believe she should speak to council to see what they say also.

hazyjo

What about maintenance from her ex?