Splitting costs buying a house? Advice please.

helpimcrap · 18 Dec 2023 at 13:03

Hi all, I'm buying a house with my fiancé. She is buying it, then I'm going to 'buy' a percentage of it.

What is the best way for me to buy a percentage of the house once I have sold mine? Who are the best people to advise legally or is there a government template?

I have been advised to change the deeds to show percentage and draw up a co-habitation agreement (edit - tenants in common it should be?) with a conveyancer stating percentage of ownership etc.
It all seems a bit tricky and neither one of us wants to rip the other off as ultimately when we die this will decide who gets what and she has kids but I don't want my family to be without either. It's all gone very clinical and the stress of it is either going to make us or break us.

helpimcrap · 18 Dec 2023 at 14:57

Bobmunkhouse said:
Can you just keep and rent your house? Then you both just have separate assets....

No, because it's about being together and having a life together and being committed. I don't mind that because we want to live together, we'll be mortgage free, we can both work from home but we'll be miles away from our old lives. If things don't work out we just sell up and take our percentage back so we're not trying to trip each other up.
I debated the rental thing but then if I sell I have to live in it for 12 months otherwise I'm subject to second home tax which would cost me about £30k.

helpimcrap · 18 Dec 2023 at 14:59

In time I'll maybe get a chunk of money then I'll see about buying a doer-upper again.

helpimcrap · 18 Dec 2023 at 15:02

We've nearly bought the house. About to exchange and just tying up loose ends.
Power of attorney and wills to sort next.
This house buying thing has nearly broken us at times but it'll be worth it in the end I'm sure.

helpimcrap · 18 Dec 2023 at 16:04

Efour said:
lose (joke)

Damn good luck what a pain in the arse. .. I guess you're going to have to pay some solicitor or legal parasite to formulate a document.

Even the .gov advice says everything has to be confirmed by a conveyancer so stuck paying a £400 hourly rate for someone to fill a form out and sign it. Ah well.
Ps literally just exchanged so all go now....

helpimcrap · 18 Dec 2023 at 23:04

Hades said:
True story of one of my best mates. He wasn't married but bought a house with his girlfriend. She worked part time and he had an excellent job in Financial IT. So about 80% of the house was paid for by him. When they split up 15 years later she ended up living there and he had to move out (they had kids). He has to wait until she sells in the future to get his 50% out (not the 80% that he put into it). She got the car. She also tried (unsuccessfully) to get 50% of a rental property he owned from before they met

Until he could move back into his rental property he was not only paying the mortgage on their shared house but also had to pay rent on a place to live.

I'm sure neither of them expected that scenario and thought at the beginning they would just sell and divide it up fairly. When it ends everyone grabs what they can.

Do it properly through a solicitor.

This is exactly why we're doing it because she has kids and I don't, she's bringing more money in (rich ex-husband) and she wants to leave her kids stuff and I want to make sure my money isn't swallowed up and my family is left with nothing to pass on. It's all very clinical and I don't like it, but better to do it than not.