AIBU to be unsure about this? (First time buyer problems!)

[DilapidatedGlamourpuss]

My DP and I have been together for 6 years, and have been talking about buying a property for the last couple of years. We are in our mid-twenties and both work in London, so this is where we would be looking to buy.

DP earns £30k a year. His job involves a lot of travel; he has been in the UK for about 3 weeks out of the last 5 months. Once he gets back from his current trip, he will be around quite a bit more, but will still travel often. I have just been offered a 12 month contract at £22k. I know that getting a joint mortgage will probably be difficult, as I don't have a permanent job yet.

He is saying that he will try and get a mortgage on his earnings, but I don't know if that will be possible. If we buy a flat it will probably be fine, but we were hoping to buy a house, make improvements while we are living there and move on in 5 years or so when we will probably be getting married and starting a family. In London, we are unlikely to get a mortgage for a house on £30k!

Also, it means I will be in effect just paying him rent and wont have any stake in the property. He doesn't seem to understand why I might be bothered about this, he says if we split we would split the proceeds 50/50. I want more assurance than this, I think we should do it properly.

He has saved about £15k. My parents have offered us £20k as a deposit, to be repaid to them on the sale of the property (plus a percentage of any extra profit). They are hoping to raise a bit more money for their retirement. I haven't managed to save anything- I am still paying back my MA and have struggled to find long-term work after uni.

I have said to DP that my parents wont give the 20% if my name isn't on the mortgage. AIBU? I think it would be better to rent for a while longer, until we can get a mortgage on equal terms. He doesn't see it like this- he seems to think as soon as he gets back from his work trip we will find a house to buy and move in . He does have the tendency to bury his head in the sand a bit.

I need to move out of my parents' house by mid-April. My sister will be home from travelling and there is not enough room here! I want the independence of living with DP again, and to cut down the commute.

Hope you can help me sort my thoughts out a bit- I can't discuss this properly with DP until he gets back next weekend. He is in India and the electricity keeps cutting out so Skype is challenging to say the least

You need to go and see a mortgage broker. Sounds like you're guessing a lot and making duff assumptions. It's perfectly possibly to have your name on a mortgage even if you don't have a permanent job. There's all kinds of different set-ups you can get that don't mean it's just his name and you're effectively a renter. And you must get your name included - don't rely on his good nature because if things went wrong, it's guaranteed he wouldn't feel so good natured.

I seriously doubt you'll get a house in London though for that money, unless you mean at the very edges in Essex/Croydon/Kent. Even then, you'd more likely get a flat. But that's fine for a FTB and you'll most likely make money on it if you invest wisely.

But first things first, no more guessing and go and get the facts.

Sorry for any repetition - had left this window open and missed some of the later replies!

Dilapidated the trains are expensive but from what I gather all damn train fares are expensive. We're first capital connect - they're not too bad for reliability etc and we still get a seat! I think the key is to have a commute that doesn't include the tube. That means it's cheaper. My dh's unfortunately does include the tube but he has a season ticket loan so doesn't notice it as much. I don't work during rush hour so that makes a massive difference and I have a network railcard to get money off each fare.

Where are you both working? I work on the south bank and most of my friends live west as they can get trains direct from Waterloo. I keep telling my husband to get a job nearer kings cross as we'd be quids in.