AIBU - house purchase with partner

[Whatshouldidoinlife]

Hi all
Just wanted thoughts.

Partner and I want to purchase a house together.
purchase price £700,000.

I own a house and my partner rents.
My partner would pay stamp duty in region of £25-£30k.

I would put down my equity in house as deposit and ring fence that percentage of property of price and the remaining percentage would be split 50/50.

I would pay an early exit mortgage fee and the estate agent fees (around £6k).

My partner earns 3 x as I do.

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?

Have I missed something or do I need to consider anything else?
I want to be fair to myself and him.

Doesn't seem fair unless I've missed something - the stamp duty payment doesn't seem balanced out by the rest.

If you're going to own the equity fifty fifty, you should be paying fifty fifty.

So, add up the sunk costs, pay half each of those (stamp duty, etc), ring fence your £xxxx deposit, but then pay the mortgage half each and own half each.

Do the rest of the bills on the salary proportion though as noone is gaining from those.

Sorry should have added the agreement is if we were to split I would pay back my half of stamp duty.

My costs of the early exit charge and solicitor fees should these be split too?

I wouldn’t expect my partner to pay half the estate agent fees for my sale. You need to be paying the mortgage 50:50 really especially if not married.

Ok so the mortgage payments 50:50 but bills proportionate?
My concern is that I would be left with less disposable income as his earning is 3x mine

Seems incredibly unfair to him! If you're going into this trying to be fair, and he's paying 70% of the mortgage he should have 70% of the equity, after whatever's ringfenced.

That's really useful to hear.

Of course you’ll have less disposable income than him as he earns more. Would it leave you with enough? If not, that would suggest you can’t afford a £700k house.

Have you a plan for if you married / had children?

I’d agree. You’re trying to have it both ways: you want to ring fence what you put in (which is the right thing to do) but share what he puts in. You aren’t married, so the fair thing to do is to share equity after your deposit in the same proportions you created that equity: 70/30.

Ringfence your deposit so that is safe. Stamp duty really should be 50/50, it’s half yours. Your sale fees are your own, so you pay those. If you want 50/50 of the remaining equity then you need to be paying 50/50, if that leaves you with less money then you need to buy a cheaper house.

Thankyou everyone this is really useful from different perspectives.

Sounds messy and complicated to me. These things only ever work when they are simple.

If he earns 3x what you do why is he currently renting and why doesn't he have any deposit?

Advice here is sometimes mind-blowing. It seems you're not allowed to not be married on Mumsnet. Of course you shouldn't be worse off from this move, and I assume you both want the 700k house, not just you. Is he happy to pay more towards the mortgage? If so this seems reasonable to me or you'll be moving in together for a poorer standard of life. Whether you have a piece of paper (marriage) or not, you're sharing your lives so why on earth would he want you to struggle to get yourself a takeaway coffee in order to pay the same amount as him towards the mortgage?! You're a team!

Doesn't seem fair that he will pay the majority of the mortgage but gets less than half the equity.

Definitely get married before having kids OP.

If kids aren’t on the cards, 30% is still a good deal for you to pay and keep as presumably equity will increase faster on this house than your previous.

To be fair, he'd have more for a deposit if he wasn't paying the full £30k stamp duty.

OP I think it's fair to ring fence the deposit you put in, but only in excess of your half of the stamp duty.

Are you planning to marry and have children in the future?

That sounds inevitable? Bit different if you're married.

Have you thought about how you would split the cost of maintenance?

Are children on the cards?

Well yes you probably will if he earns 3x the amount?

Is he happy with paying 70% and only getting 50% of the remaining equity in return? Have you checked this arrangement with a solicitor? Will you do a deed of trust outlining the arrangement?

Yes I agree. Otherwise it looks as though you’ve ringfenced your contributions but he is not doing the same. If he has a solicitor then they will point this out to him

I'm presuming the equity amount you're putting in is quite large.

This will affect both the size of the mortgage and the loan rate you'll be able to get.

So if you want to cover all bases, you could throw that in as well, but then it gets super complicated.

If not married then everything to do with the house should either be 50/50 or equity percentage in line with contributions.
You need this properly sorted with a lawyer.

If married or getting married, then joint money and 50/50 equity and contributions to a percentage of your wage so you have equal disposable money.

Things are different if you are married. I would consider that first.

This.
Why has he zero money for a deposit.
Do not rush into anything.
Your deposit never grows which means you are loosing money on a chunk of your assets.

You are also very stuck if everything you have is invested in this.
I think when you own your home it is not something you give up easily.

I would be slowing right down and give him time to save, if he earns so much.

Is there a reason you are not marrying?
How long has he been earning this salary?

I would not be happy that he has zero savings.
What does he do with all his income?

They can split the bills however they want, but the equity split should reflect that. If OP only pays 30% of the mortgage then she only gets 30% of the equity.

They aren’t “a team” because OP is legally protecting her deposit amount (which is the right thing to do), but then wants HIM to share his equity. You can’t only be a team when it suits you 🤣 if they’re a team then no ring fencing and share it all. The financially wise thing for OP to do is protect the deposit, the financially wise thing for him to do is claim 70% equity if paying 70%.

You can’t have it both ways, it’s not “what’s mine is mine and what’s yours is also mine”

I would not be happy that he has zero savings.

He's paying £30k stamp duty though, presumably from savings.