AIBU - house purchase with partner

Just to clarify my deposit would be £300k

To me that is a huge sum of money, I would absolutely not be putting it at risk in any way (even if ringfenced) just to live with a boyfriend. How does it benefit you?

Well she's asking strangers on the internet what is a "fair deal" so my guess is no, she has not seen her own solicitor to draw up a no-nup to protect her assets, just a guess! As the partner is using tripe like "we feel like a family" to leverage his financial requests, I'd guess he hasn't seen one either, or he'd be told that the law does not care how he feels, and that his inflated salary will take decades to measure up to her massive deposit!

Op said she is going to ring fence her deposit so presumably she’s already speaking or planning to speak to her own solicitor to do this. You asked why he doesn’t want anything drawn up but there was no mention of him not wanting anything drawn contracts etc

Ring-fence your contribution, split additional fees 50/50 and split the rest of the house based on the percentage of mortgage you both pay. If DH wants to help out more day to day due to his wage that is his choice, but you should both get out the percentage you put in.

https://www.cplaw.co.uk/insights/no-nups-cohabitation-agreements-for-those-living-together/

Read this OP, it will help.

So of your 300k, you pay 15k stamp and 285k deposit. You then have 41% ring fenced.

Of his 30k, he pays 15k stamp and 15k deposit. He then has 2% ring fenced.

He pays none of the costs associated with selling your home.

The remaining mortgage of 400k is then split 50/50 until you marry at which point it becomes a joint bill from a joint account with mutually agreed identical "personal spends"

Some people will never get married though.

conveyancing Solicitors work for the "couple" who are purchasing the house together. They do not draw up property pre-ups for one individual of the sale, that would be unethical. OP needs to have that contract to protect her assets, so she needs her own lawyer to advise her separately.

You need to see your own solicitor.
You will need to draw up a declaration of trust at the minimum.
Have you sought professional advice, on your own?
Do not proceed without doing this.

£30,000 against a £700,000 is negligible. I would make him pay half of that stamp duty; therefore purchase costs are equal moving forward, and then nail down a percentage for OP that reflects her deposit percentage, which is sounding like it's very high compared to his zero.

This.

Of course, especially with the current market, but in that event it is especially important that her deposit is protected and not levied against his extra payments, etc. That is messy. If she puts in 70%, she walks away with 70%, that's it. If he wants to pay extra mortgage payments, I'd say no to that and buy something cheaper. He will claim down the line that he deserves more of the house and then it will cost a fortune in lawyers to unravel the mess.

I think you should protect the deposit as a percentage, not a fixed sum. That way you benefit from inflation as you should do. Otherwise if you split in, say, ten years, you get £300k back, but it's only "worth" (say) £250k in that financial market due to inflation. Your buying power for a new property is not maintained.

So, you need to do some serious maths! And speak to separate lawyers.

OP doesn’t say he doesn’t want anything drawn up, it’s all being done through a solicitor

If you aren't married and have no shared children then you pay 50/50 and get a house that's affordable to the person on the lowest income.

Once marriage and kids are discussed, and in the picture, it all becomes a family pot.

Exactly, if she protects herself now (just like a pre-nup in a marriage) she will walk away with the exact percentage that she has put in plus market value, enough to buy a really good flat, or a nice smaller house. If he doesn't want something drawn up, ask yourself why?

But without him would you be able to get the mortgage that you need? It’s ok having a large deposit and money for stamp duty but it’s pointless if you can’t get the mortgage you need

why is he paying all the stamp duty? These costs should be 50:50 and then he should put the remainder as a deposit.

"He sees us as family". What do you see ahead. We are hearing a lot about what he sees and wants and needs. Look, I've had so many mates burned by this co-habitation nightmare of buying with men who don't have the financial equality; it is an absolute street fight out the other end. Go and see someone on your own and protect yourself. Buying a house is grown up stuff, and he sounds like is behaving like a bit of a man-child already, with all this, "I see us as a family nonsense," this isn't a fairytale, it's business. It's business! You wouldn't start a company with a person without getting legal advice.

If anything goes wrong you will lose your house as without his income you won’t be able to afford a 700k house. You won’t lose all your money though if your deposit is protected.

This assumes the property goes up in value. There was a post here recently where the property had gone down in value, the couple had split and he lost all of his deposit and the OP was trying to work out if the GF who hadn't put in any money initially should magic up £15k to pay her ex for the fall in value.

If we put in our salary percentage wise -70/30 to my partner and shared the rest of the equity (bar my deposit) 50/50 does that sound like a fair deal?

A fair deal for you but not for him. If he’s paying 70/30 in mortgage payments then he should get 70/30 in equity if you ever decide to sell. Your fees for your sale should just come out of the money from your house sale. Definitely a good idea to ring fence your deposit. Unless he is happy to go 70/30 then 50/50 is the fairest way, you’re not married and no children

Ring fence your deposit.

You then decide what proportion you will pay of the mortgage and the equity is divided the same way eg you pay 50-50 and you share 50-50, or if you feel you can’t afford that then he pays 70% but then gets 70% of the equity if you split. Stamp duty should be split in the same proportions as it’s part of the purchase costs.

The mortgage and estate agent costs relate to your sale and should come out of your equity.

So let him pay half.

I know it isn't what you asked but I would not buy a house together with a partner unless we were married (or going to be VERY soon).

My cousin has done it a couple of times and it's ended really badly - co-owning a flat with an ex boyfriend, who wants to stay in it and not sell, then not being able to buy a place with the current partner becasue all her equity was tied up etc...

My husband and I did buy our house before we got married, but only by 3 months, and I wouldn't have done it otherwise. When you are married, everything is jointly owned, so it's much simpler.