To break my promise to my landlord?

[privilegeporridge]

NC.

I'm in my early twenties and I live with my husband in a flat we rent from one of his colleagues. We originally had to move somewhere quite quickly back in summer as we had issues with our previous rental, but we spoke to his colleague and he said he'd love for us to move in on a "longterm" basis. A specific amount of time had not been specified and so far, we've been here about 6months.

However, we are due to come into an amount of money in early 2021 that would mean that with a little luck we are not too far off from putting a deposit down on a house. This would also be great as it would mean it we could TTC significantly sooner, as I would feel more secure owning property before having kids and not being dependent on a landlord. (just a personal preference and I feel very fortunate to have the opportunity for that choice).

If we came into the money in February time ish, would it be unreasonable to start looking for a house then? I don't want my landlord to feel that he's been deceived (especially considering he works with my husband) but I simultaneously don't want to rent, as we have cats and the longer we stay here the more deposit gets chipped away along with the wallpaper.

He also asked for notice a few months in advance before we decide to move out, so I don't know how far into the house buying process I should wait before letting him know (if buying a house very soon is the right thing to do).

Thank you!

anyone could be made redundant due to Covid or Brexit and house prices may also be impacted.

My DH is an essential worker, so there's fortunately no risk of redundancy but I take your point! I'm quite near Glasgow but probably too far a commute from DH's work, however we are looking around the South West of Scotland. Preferably for a house not a flat as we always have bad luck with neighbours but I suppose a flat wouldn't be a bad plan! Usually cheaper too.

OP LL needs to put your deposit into a protection scheme now.

The problem with waiting is that he could, at worst, claim you didn’t give him a deposit at all, and therefore he can’t owe you anything (unless you have a signed dated receipt); or just as bad, he could withhold up to the the whole lot on the basis of spurious damages you’ve made or monies you owe. The protection schemes are designed to avoid you being ripped off by unscrupulous landlords in this way.

Of course you might feel that rocking the boat now would jeopardise your (already dubious) tenancy, and I can’t blame you - as things stand, you are completely reliant on your landlord’s goodwill for what would be their normal duties, given the lack of a tenancy agreement and protected deposit. Your second plan might be more prudent under the circumstances - and anything you get back might then be useful for furniture, redecorating etc., at that point.

Okay I'll get my husband to message LL when he's back in the morning. Any idea how to do that diplomatically?

@Calmandmeasured1

I would just tell him now that you are looking at houses to give him the heads up and keep him appraised of progress. As he is your DH's colleague and has been good to you, it wouldn't be a great idea to let him down as it could sour relations between him and your husband. You may be able to both work together on this.

I would do this OP

You could just say you’ve been doing some filing and realised you haven’t got a copy of the tenancy deposit scheme paperwork, so could he send or email it to you for your records.

I guess I could say the filing part, but probably seems a bit fishy as I'm young and have very little to file

But I hear you -- I just don't want to come across as accusatory in case he has actually protected it (or if he hasn't, go on a mad shopping spree).

If you’ve got a tenancy, you need a file! It should have started with your tenancy agreement... 😄

That's the issue though, bit hard to say "I know we have a verbal unwritten agreement but please send me a specific piece of evidence for my filing cabinet!"

I'm so fucked ahahah

Yep. It’s all a bit of a mess, but this part of it is really important for your finances so you’re going to have to tackle it.

Re buying, it’s really worth doing a spreadsheet of all the approx costs, solicitors, mortgage, survey, removal estimates, factor in funds for any appliances, furniture you may need. You’re unlikely to find somewhere that needs nothing doing at all, so have budgets too for paint, carpets, book shelves etc.

3k is not enough to fund a move imo that’s why it’s important you get your deposit back.

I’d play it ditzy and naive. “I know we have a verbal tenancy agreement but obviously you will have put our deposit into a scheme and I realise I don’t have the paperwork for that”

My husband usually texts the LL, but I'll definitely get him to play ditzy and naive

Is there any cohesive reason why you might need to check a deposit scheme casually? E.g. "Oh I need this for x application" or something like that. I'm trying to be as subtle as possible for many reasons (a lot of which you can probably guess!)

Op if you are both first time buyers and can wait till March/April have a look at the First home fund- link housing.
Might just help you get what you want.
DD has just bought a flat this way

That looks excellent, @tableanadchairs, thank you for the recommendation. Do you have to choose a house and then apply, or do you apply first? We could hold off until April, that scheme might help us out quite a lot financially.

Are free mortgage advisors a thing or do you need to pay them? Is that a rolling advice situation or a one-off?

Sorry more stupid questions but this whole process is quite scary!

@SpiderinaWingMirror

Nicely You are way over thinking. This has worked well both ways. It got you out of a hole. He had tenants without any effort for references, deposit scheme etc. Look for a house. Tell him when you are in a complete chain

This. Also nicely.

Sorry, I do overthink but there's a lot of things up in the air and looking for a house in a few months seems very close to me (even if it takes a while). I won't alert him instantly, but I'll make it known when we start properly looking. I'm just aware I don't know much about this area and so I feel I need a bit of prep-time.

@privilegeporridge I’m in the middle of purchasing as a first time buyer in Scotland (offer made mid Nov) and I should be in by mid Jan, so approximately 2 months. I used a mortgage advisor who didn’t cost me anything and is paid a fee by the lender once your mortgage is approved. I believe most work on this basis.

I was advised that lenders won’t accept anything less than a 15% deposit at the moment.

So if I had 20k ish and tried to get help from the First Home Fund, would this put me anywhere near an appropriate place to get a mortgage?

Thank you, @999caffeineplease that's very helpful. I'm concerned about the deposit amount, but maybe in four months it will go back down (?). How did you / are you finding the process? I already feel myself breaking out in hives and it's still a few months away

I don’t know how it works in Scotland but agree with @Nohomemadecandles that you need to check whether the house would be yours if you’re intending to buy when it’s only your DH earning money.

When we bought DH was temporarily not earning and I was in a good job, so the mortgage was taken out in my name only. Not only was it my name only, but the mortgage company made DH sign a whole load of forms saying he had no claim to the house. This was so that if they had to repossess, another adult living there couldn’t prevent it. The mortgage company advised him to get legal advice before signing. He did and the solicitor told him that it was a very risky move on his part.

As a result, mortgage almost paid off (which could not have happened without DH earning and contributing) it’s MY house, not DH’s. I don’t know what he would be entitled to if we divorced - it’s never been an issue and I’m not an arse anyway. But when we wrote wills it was only me who had a say in who the house was left to.

Like I say, this might not be the case in Scotland. But honestly, you can’t afford to be naive over all these things just because you are young. Start doing some research into all these financial matters so you don’t find yourself paying for your youthful ignorance heavily in years to come.

My experience buying/selling new builds, especially flats with a freehold company can be a mare. Buying a 2 up 2 down would probably be simpler and quicker.

That's horrifying, and definitely a cause for concern. I know my DH wouldn't cut me out of the house (we have conversations and odds are I would probably end up staying in the house if we divorced) but I don't want to be solely reliant on that trust in case of emergency.

But if a mortgage company won't lend to both of us, what options do we have?

@privilegeporridge I’m finding the process... alright. It’s definitely stressful, especially as all of my interactions with my solicitor have been through email. I’d definitely recommend finding a solicitor you feel confident with, and one that takes the time/has staff that will take the time to talk you through anything you’re needing. It’s one place I’m glad I didn’t scrimp. It’s costing me around £1500 for a relatively straightforward purchase, and I don’t regret a penny. For reference, I’m in a cheaper part of Scotland and I’m using a smaller firm.

I’m buying on my own so don’t have any advice re mortgages as a couple, but my mortgage advisor was excellent and answered any and all questions I had. It might be worth getting in contact with one for some advice?

I've gone through all the comments and nowhere does anyone seem to have mentioned that you need to budget for the cost of running a house that you own. Mortgage and tax are NOT the only expenses of owning a house. You will have to pay for all the utilities (perhaps there are some that landlord is covering) AND most importantly when something breaks, you will have to pay for that. ie boiler, appliances, water pipe, bathroom sink etc. etc. Please do some googling about the cost of running a home in the area that you are looking in. And make sure that you have included in your budget and emergency fund for just these kinds of things.

I have a small guest house on my property which I rent out. I prefer not to rent for under a year (one tenant stayed for 13 years), but currently am renting to a family for 7-9 months while they renovate their own home. The timing worked and it was great for both them and me. I suspect that this will be the same for your landlord. I would just let him know that you are starting the process of looking for a place to buy. He should know that that can mean 6 months or 2 years. My tenants who stayed for 13 years (on a month to month lease), let me know they were looking to buy....it was 3 more years before they actually moved. The transparency was helpful for all of us.