How to buy two properties from one

[Pollysoftheworld]

Split was around two years ago. We weren’t married.
It’s got to the point where we need to sell the family home, it’s worth around £350K.
I don’t understand how anyone does this, our house sale alone will not buy even two one bed flats.
Can one of us get shared ownership? The criteria is vague. Both of us work full time.
Neither of us have had a chance to save as he’s been renting and I’ve been paying the full mortgage and all the bills (with some CMS).
Our relationship is good and I think this is the right thing to do, but it’s so difficult and disruptive.

Are the kids same sex, boy & boy or girl & girl? Then they can share & so then what does a 2 bedrm flat cost somewhere that is close enough to their school? Friends in similar situations had one kid sleep in lounge if kids were different sexes.

Give us first half of your postcode if you want MNers to property hunt for you.

Renting isn't ideal but obviously gives you huge number of other options.

Get yourself a decent mortgage broker ; they are excellent at finding options for people where non traditional bank mortgages don’t work. I am unsure why you ( as primary carer) aren’t getting more than 50% has this already been agreed , I got almost 75% on the equity on my divorce.

But if you sell the house for 350k the 50k gets paid off and you get 150k each plus you'll need a new mortgage to top up your 150k.

In an ideal world at 31k you could easily get a mortgage for 100k giving you 250k in total.

As pp said you are best seeing a broker to gauge what you actually afford and what you are likely to be offered

I really appreciate how tough these things are but having the financial facts in front of you will give a clearer picture of where you are

Op if you’re in the uk make an appointment with first mortgage, doesn’t matter that’s it’s not your actual first mortgage.
they will be able to tell you what you can borrow and give you a better idea of where you stand, no outright costs

when I split I thought I’d be in a one bed flat in the worst area.
I earn a bit more than you but I’m now in a three bed house in a lovely area. Only 4miles from my old place.
shared equity properties usually have criteria to meet so I wasn’t eligible as no children but you might meet the criteria.
you need advice from someone in the know

Absolute rubbish. Where are you getting your information from?

My sister earns £35k and she's just bought a £150k house with £30k deposit and £120k mortgage.

On a salary of £31k you could easily obtain a mortgage of £100k plus if you had decent enough credit.

I don't understand your post. When you say your relationship is good do you mean the partner you've split with?

I think you would both individually have to look into shared ownership or would you be entitled to help from the council?

Them you won't be buying a two bed house will you, you'll be buying a two bed flat. Or moving to a cheaper area. There's no magic options where you can live a champagne lifestyle on a lemonade budget. You have to live within your budget like everyone else, however much it sucks. Sort out housing as the priority, if DC have to move schools then that's just how it is. Don't tie yourself up in financial knots just to keep them in the same school.

...would you be entitled to help from the council?

No she wouldn't. She doesn't need it, she's not homeless. She has a home that she can continue living in, until her ex legally forces a sale to obtain his share of the equity, if necessary. At which point she'll have £150k deposit on her next home FFS.

So it sounds like your options are:

• nice one bed flat for the 3 of you. Sofa bed in the living room, you and daughter in bedroom, son in the living room (or vice versa.

• terrible 2 bed flat. Sofabed in the living room for you, bedroom each for daughter and son.

• terrible 2 bed flat. One bedroom for you. Bunk beds and creative use of space for son and daughter - using the bunk beds in the middle of the room as the room divider to give each personal space (the top bed has one side of the room, board it in for privacy, he bottom bunk has the other side of the room, again board it in/box it in for privacy.

• move to an affordable area.

Have you spoken to a 'whole of market' mortgage broker? Do that!

@AlstromeriaI haven’t asked for help from the council…. I simply ask how others have managed to split and both buy again. I asked about shared ownership and other options. At no point did I say ‘give me a magic solution’

I am unsure why you ( as primary carer) aren’t getting more than 50% has this already been agreed , I got almost 75% on the equity on my divorce.

Probably because they're not married so she has no rights to anything other than her half of a jointly owned property.

As you can see from the bit I quoted, I was responding to another poster regards her comment about the council, not to you.

No you didn't specifically ask for a magic solution, but TBH your apparent lack of understanding that you can't necessarily have what you want if you can't afford it implies you'd like one. Hence my comment to you that there isn't one, because the sooner you face that reality the sooner you'll take practical steps to move forward with your life. No amount of thinking along the lines of: its impossible, it isn't fair, I don't want to change XYZ, is going to get you progress. Being realistic will.

I agree with previous posters saying you need to talk to a good broker. My DPs bank refused to mortgage him at all during Covid. We went to the broker I’d used previously, and he found several options for us. Also the option we went with, was offering a higher loan than my own bank would. It’s really REALLY worth talking to a good broker. Many are free too.

Is your ex amenable to you having more equity seeing as you are expecting to have to house your children and look after them while working? Would be a bit unfair for him to get half although I know that’s the legal position.

Possible option. You both house one child each in a one bed flat? Buy in same block.

Agreeing with PP about a decent mortgage broker. i’ve recently bought a house. Managed to get a mortgage of 140k on 29k salary!

@Alstromeriashared ownership isn’t magical thinking, it’s an actual scheme that exists. As are mortgage brokers. And other suggestions which have come from this thread.

Assuming you will get 50% of the equity, speak to a mortgage broker to find out how much of a mortgage you can obtain, you will then know what your budget is for a new purchase.
you may want to ask about mortgaging your current property to buy your partner out, if that’s not enough. Don’t just speak to one lender ie your bank or current lender, a broker has access to all sorts of deals that you won’t, and you could ask about the possibility of spreading your mortgage over 30-35 years to make payments more affordable rather than the standard 20-25.
If your kids will be spending the majority of their time with you, it’s important that your house is suitable for them.

Yes - get a mortgage broker!

My own bank refused me when I divorced - broker found me a better mortgage with Halifax who took none court awarded maintenance and CTC into account - £40k deposit, £150k mortgage- this is 16 years ago

used the same broker 3 times now - oddly current mortgage is with the bank that originally refused me

Get a broker. We got one and we got a mortgage that takes benefits into account. We had terrible credit and got 100,000 mortgage