Buy to Let Mortgage and Council Tax

RedRoseJM

Hi there,
Just wanting a little feedback on a situation my partner has found himself in with regards to having bought a property with a relative over 25 years ago.
The initial deal was to buy the property, live in it together, which they did, and then sell it after 5 years, each going their own separate way.  It was their first property venture.
This all changed when the sister got married.  She 'evicted' my partner and moved him back to their parents' house whilst he was at work and gave his bedroom to her baby son.  She then had another child, so the third bedroom was occupied by second child.  Locks were changed on the property, so he has no access to the property.  He is a very kind and gentle person, so......
My partner agreed verbally to not sell the house until the children were grown, which now they are. No adults are living at the property other than the sister and her husband, currently.  Quite a few years back, the sister said she wanted to change the mortgage to a buy-to-let and rent it out.  My partner agreed as he felt then at least he would be getting a return on his investment.  She was still refusing to sell at that time, so he thought this was a good option.  He was and still  pays half the mortgage and council tax on this property. 
After the mortgage was changed,  the sister reneged on the agreement to rent the property out to tenants, so he has found himself in a precarious situation.  If they don't sell the property soon, the lender will repossess, within less than 2 years now, and I believe it is illegal for her to reside in a property on a buy-to-let mortgage. 
He feels trapped as her actions  have tarnished his name and his ability to get a mortgage for himself.
Any advise on how to rid himself of this situation, how to move forward?
He feels legally that he is trapped.

lincroft1710

It is not illegal for the owner of a property to reside there if they bought it with a BTL mortgage. However such action may contravene the terms and conditions of the mortgage.


He needs proper legal advice, so he should consult a solicitor, preferably one well versed in property law.

RedRoseJM

Many thanks for your feedback.  He has tried a few housing law solicitors over he years. They can't or won't help. 
He's resigning himself to his situation I'm afraid as forcing the sale will cost up to 10 000 He's been told. 

lincroft1710

Why wouldn't these solicitors help? Was it because they reckoned the work would be so complex that their fees would be too high to make it viable for your partner or was it because they couldn't see a satisfactory outcome for him?

RedRoseJM

They didn't state the reason. We just contacted them. They took the details stating they would allocate a suitable solicitor. Never heard back. 😕 

lincroft1710

RedRoseJM said:

They didn't state the reason. We just contacted them. They took the details stating they would allocate a suitable solicitor. Never heard back. 😕 

Your partner should have contacted them again

RedRoseJM

He did contact them again.  Thanks for all the comments and feedback. 
Our mortgage advisor has scheduled a meeting for this afternoon to try and advise the drawbacks of keeping an interest only mortgage when the full payment is due in less than 2 years. 
Fingers crossed he can help in this situation. 
I wouldn't want to take a heavy hand and force someone out of their home.
Better everyone agrees to sell.

lincroft1710

RedRoseJM said:

I wouldn't want to take a heavy hand and force someone out of their home.

But this is exactly what his sister did to your partner. The sister and husband should have thought about the consequences when they unlawfully evicted your partner  

RedRoseJM

Yes, but we can't sell without the sister's consent as the house is jointly owned.  Will try to readon as no other course of action can be taken without involving solicitors and £££s of pounds. 

RedRoseJM

Update,  meeting was a success in that the mortgage advisor convinced sister to put the property on the market in April. Fingers crossed. Partner recorded the meeting and has a signed agreement.  
Not taking a strong arm, but working with her is beginning to work. 

lincroft1710

If the full payment is due within 2 years and can't be made, then the decision to sell or not could be taken out of partner's and sister's hands. As this house was bought over 25 years ago, would I be correct in assuming that this is a 30 year mortgage for which the payments have been insufficient