Divorce - Will my house go to auction?

[NewBeginnings2025]

Hi all,
I’m after some advice on my current situation. Myself and my soon to be ex-husband own a property, with a reasonably low mortgage left for house prices in London and our ages.
Mh ex-husband (I’ll refer to him as H) is builder. Our marriage began showing cracks 4 years ago however he went ahead and began pulling our home apart to build a single storey wrap around extension. Over the last 3 years our marriage has broken down beyond repair and I applied for divorce 3 weeks ago. The building work is not complete. I’ve been living in a building site since he walked out 3 years ago. I have not been in the position financially (as he was the primary earner) to be able to finish off any work, to be honest, I wouldn’t even have any idea where to start or who I would need to call first.
I’m really worried that inevitably, when the divorce is finalised, the house will be split but will have to go to auction due to the downstairs being block work, roof and windows with wires hanging between the roof rafters! I don’t think they given the unfinished works that my house someone could get a mortgage on it.
Can anyone please give some advice or guidance on the above and also if anyone knows what is the minimum work I would have to try to complete to avoid auction? I’ve taken on a second job and if I have to, I’ll try to pay for the work myself. H is refusing to touch the property and would rather we both lose. It’s a really horrible situation which is causing me so much stress, I have a 17 year old and 13 year old with me at home and it’s not nice for them either.
Thank you so much for any help x

Thank you, this is really helpful

This is a good idea, thank you. I’ll definitely give this is try.

What you need for a property to be mortgageable

https://www.landc.co.uk/mortgage-guides/11-reasons-you-might-not-be-able-to-get-a-mortgage-for-your-home

Thank you, this is really helpful! So exterior building work is complete, floor is concreted etc. New windows, doors, sky lights, it is just internal works now and a kitchen of course. I’m going to try my best to avoid auction as I don’t really want that. I’ve had some really helpful suggestions on what steps to take. I think my first step is to contact an estate agent for a price on selling with/without works complete and what is the minimum works needed to avoid auction.

Thank you. It looks like I’ll need to at least get the kitchen in…

Most lenders require certain things in place to agree to lend. I think ( but not sure) that includes a working kitchen, bathroom and toilet, maybe a boiler too. If these things are not in place they will sometimes put a retention on the mortgage, that is, hold back some of the money until those things are installed . Sometimes a buyer will agree to do those works between exchange and completion, but they will need access to do so, and might want a longstop date ( eg completion on 2 weeks notice once a surveyor has confirmed that xyz has been done to a certain standard.
Speak to a few estate agents , they might be able to advise, or have contacts with developers who might be interested.

Thank you, this is really helpful. I think my next steps are going to be contacting the estate agents in the first instance before I decide to go ahead with any work myself. We do have a bathroom and a new boiler. The main concern is the downstairs of the house which is currently totally gutted with a makeshift kitchen that you would expect in a building site.

We are selling a house half way through a renovation - no kitchen, no bathrooms, no roof! Officially derelict. But auction not needed it’s on Rightmove with a price.
my understanding is houses need a functioning kitchen / bathroom to be eligible for regular mortgage. But other options available if not.

Thank you so much! I no longer feel alone in the derelict house club! 🤣 best of luck with the sale of your home. I am going to reach out to some estate agents to get some advice because I think I may not meet the marks for a functioning kitchen!

Does the extension have planning permission?
Which I ask, as if so, there would be architectural drawings for the extension.
This could be useful, if you want to have quotes for finishing the work, before deciding to sell. This may depend on the state of the house, and what work is outstanding to get the barest minimum completed.
Obviously if you spend money on doing any work, then this needs to be taken out before the proceeds are split, though this could depend on whether there is an outstanding mortgage and whether there was extra borrowing for the extension. This is where there would be a problem with a non cooperating ex H.
The trouble with trying to complete work, is that it is possible that local builders will know you H, as he was a builder himself.
So, I would ask an estate agent first about whether anything can or should be done prior to selling.
Otherwise, you'll have to accept the loss that the state of the house dictates.

I’m thinking that a functional kitchen means a plumbed in sink and maybe a cooker,although that can be freestanding so maybe not even that. It wouldn’t require fitted units etc.

Thank you. Yes we do have planning permission for the extension. In terms of external building work, this has all been finished. Outstanding works are now all internal, such as electrical, plumbing, plaster boarding, plastering, flooring and decorating etc. No walls to be knocked out, this has already been done. There is an outstanding mortgage around about 1/3 of the average price of the property completed and we did not borrow to build the extension, the only cost was materials and some manual labour here and there. I think from the majority of advice, my best next step would be to contact estate agents to get some idea of the bare minimum of work that should be completed. I know I’m on a timeline to get this sorted before the divorce finalises which I know can take some time. It’s just going to be a loss which would affect me potentially having enough funds to put a deposit down on another home for me and my children. Thanks again 🙏🏼

Interesting! This is have! Although it’s a makeshift kitchen with few units, a plumbed in sink and a plumbed in oven. It is currently in the smaller utility room whilst we were doing the kitchen extension.

Is buying him out an option?

Unfortunately I don’t think this is an option. I checked online mortgage calculators and I don’t think I would be able to borrow enough based on my wage alone although I do have a second job now so might be worth re-visiting.

It’s likely taken a hit because of the work needed, plus prices have stagnated a bit lately.
you may not want to stay in it and have to find the money for the work, but you’ll save some in moving fees etc.

that all said. I’ve a feeling he will be a knob about accepting the lower value of the property

FWIW I think your house sounds a really attractive proposition! All the difficult work is done - the planning and the external works - and now it's a blank canvas for the buyer to make their own. Obviously it won't be right for everyone, but at the right price I think you might be surprised at the interest you get.

Thank you so much for the positive feedback. You’re right, the hard work is definitely done, I just really want to avoid auction. I’ve had some lovely feedback on here, I feel better for posting. I’m going to contact an estate agent this week to get some more advice. Hopefully the extra work needing doing won’t put too many people off!

Kitchen can literally be a sink, a bit of worktop and a microwave. We got a mortgage with that although I think they were happy to consider it a kitchen as we were clearly living there and using it as a kitchen.