How to split house maintenance

CDG1987

My partner and I have bought a house. He put £250k deposit in and I put £120k deposit in. 

We spilt the mortgage (£300k) 50/50.

This has meant the split for the ownership has been put at 60/40% despite me technically ‘losing out’ on £2k.

We paid for the solicitors/stamp duty etc 50/50.

All bills are split 50/50.

The house needs work doing to it, do we split all the work, maintenance of the house 60/40 as per the house ownership? 

Or split it all 50/50?

We are in disagreement with how it should be split. 

We do live as a family as have a 2 year old daughter. 

My partner earns £30k a year more than I do but pays for a cleaner and Gardner twice a month which equates to £200. 

Brie

As time goes on you should be acquiring a larger portion of the house until it's essentially 50/50 in my opinion.

But this is a discussion you should have had before buying together.  And  I believe that unless it's all be documented should you split up then the value of the house will be considered to be 50/50 - but that might only be if you are married or otherwise in a legal partnership.  

Hoenir

Operate a joint bills bank account from where all expenditure relating to the property is paid from. 

Niv

In the situation you describe I think a 50/50 split is right on maintenance. This adds nothing to the value of the house so should just be treated like any other bill. If you were to build an extension then I could see that 60/40 would be fairer as this would add value to the house.

You could overcomplicate it and throw in situations where 'you' want the kitchen done, but 'he' thinks its fine as is so what's 'fair' then? But my overarching is as above 50/50 for maintenance / decorating. Conversation if its a big spend.

To go completely against what I say above I earn significantly more than my wife (I know that's slightly different to your situation) so if I want a big job done I just pay for it. She contributes if she wants/can but I don't get into any conflict about that stuff.

FrugaiMacDugal

So, he paid 67.57% of deposit, you only paid 32.43%, and you're getting 40% share.

As the split is 60/40, should be 60/40 on mortgage and running costs.

DullGreyGuy

I'm old fashioned, or maybe just old, and dont like these splits... either your a couple and everything is 50/50 or your friends in which case 60/40 for everything other than the running costs (utilities, council tax etc).

Repainting a tired room, fitting a new kitchen, new carpets all have a value impact so should be split the same as the ownership 

Blocked toilet, broken tap, gardening, cleaner are running costs so 50/50

BikingBud

CDG1987 said:

My partner and I have bought a house. He put £250k deposit in and I put £120k deposit in. 

We spilt the mortgage (£300k) 50/50.

This has meant the split for the ownership has been put at 60/40% despite me technically ‘losing out’ on £2k.

We paid for the solicitors/stamp duty etc 50/50.

All bills are split 50/50.

The house needs work doing to it, do we split all the work, maintenance of the house 60/40 as per the house ownership? 

Or split it all 50/50?

We are in disagreement with how it should be split. 

We do live as a family as have a 2 year old daughter. 

My partner earns £30k a year more than I do but pays for a cleaner and Gardner twice a month which equates to £200. 

I often despair at these queries and excuse me if I am blunt but you've literally shared enough to have a 2 year old daughter and are living together as a family but you quibble about money that sustains the family home.

Obviously there can be an assessment and a mathematical formula established which might give liabilities down to pennies but why?

 
I just don't get it!

Emily_Joy

BikingBud said:

CDG1987 said:

My partner and I have bought a house. He put £250k deposit in and I put £120k deposit in. 

We spilt the mortgage (£300k) 50/50.

This has meant the split for the ownership has been put at 60/40% despite me technically ‘losing out’ on £2k.

We paid for the solicitors/stamp duty etc 50/50.

All bills are split 50/50.

The house needs work doing to it, do we split all the work, maintenance of the house 60/40 as per the house ownership? 

Or split it all 50/50?

We are in disagreement with how it should be split. 

We do live as a family as have a 2 year old daughter. 

My partner earns £30k a year more than I do but pays for a cleaner and Gardner twice a month which equates to £200. 

I often despair at these queries and excuse me if I am blunt but you've literally shared enough to have a 2 year old daughter and are living together as a family but you quibble about money that sustains the family home. Obviously there can be an assessment and a mathematical formula established which might give liabilities down to pennies but why? I just don't get it!

I couldn't agree more.

Bigphil1474

OP, if this was purely a financial issue, then if one person owns 60% of the home they should pay 60% of the costs associated with that home, and the other 40% IMO. But it isn't. One earns more than the other, but presumably the other looks after the 2 year old and the house. Do they pay you to do that? There's no right answer, it's just what you agree. It's definitely not 50/50 though if your earning potential is reduced because of your child care situation.

If it was me - whichever one I was - If one is earning £30k a year more they should put money into a maintenance pot and cover all the maintenance. Any improvements requiring significant cost should be discussed on a case by case basis. For info, I work , my OH is retired, I pay most of the bills, and the mortgage, we share costs of holidays etc. based on what we can afford. 

whizzywoo

You have a two year old child.  You are a family.  Money comes in, money goes out.  It's all joint money surely?  With an agreed amount of spending money each.  It's not a business arrangement.

You are lucky to be able to have enough money to squabble about.  When my children were this age our mortgage was nearly 16% interest.  We both worked all the hours we could, me around childcare and school, my husband did a 60 hour week.  All money was joint and we didn't have any individual spending money.

Tabieth

OP, I don’t know if you’re married / in a civil partnership or not. If not please make sure you’ve had legal advice so in the event the relationship breaks down you and, more importantly, your child are financially protected.