Rights if you leave a shared property

[Gingerbreadmam]

I was wondering if anyone could help -

i have a friend who recently bought a new home with help to buy with her partner. They have been in less than a year and she recently discovered her partner has been unfaithful.

He will not leave the property. She can afford to take over the mortgage but he wants the house and at the moment doesnt know if he can get a mortgage. She isn't bothered about the house but would like to buy a new one if she moves out so needs her share of the deposit back and to be off the mortgage.

It is becoming difficult for my friend having to share her home with her ex partner. Is there anything she can do?

My thoughts with no legal knowledge is to get a legal document drawn up to say by x date he either has to give her her money and take her off the mortgage or he will vacate the property and she can take the mortgage over. In the meantime she can rent temporarily thus solving the issue of her staying in the house with her ex who wont vacate.

Does anyone know if this is possible or if not any other suggestions?

Why doesn't she just go and see a solicitor? They will be able to advise exactly what her rights are and how she goes about pursuing them.

The bank will not remove your friend from the mortgage unless the guy demonstrates that he can afford it in his own income. To do this he will need to provide proof of income etc

She needs to see a lawyer as soon as possible. She may be entitled to more than she thinks.

ExP needs to apply for a mortgage in his own name to cover the outstanding loan plus any equity the two of them agree your friend has in the property (which is what people mean when they refer to "buying someone out") and then they arrange for a transfer of equity / the property to be transferred into his sole name legally. If he isn't able to obtain a mortgage on his own, this isn't an option for them and they need to come to an agreement about her buying him out using the same process, or selling up. If your friend wants to sell or buy him out and he does not want either, she'll need to obtain a court order to force the sale: a solicitor can explain her legal rights and the process.

Assuming they bought a new build under Help to Buy, then any equity may no longer be the same as what was paid in deposit: new builds tend to drop in price immediately after sale, so they need to get the property valued and then work out from there what equity is available and what a realistic but-our price would be.

thank you everyone this is all really helpful stuff.

I do think he will be difficult as so far, even given what he has done, he is not trying to move forward with the house. He really wants the house. She is happy to stay there if he can't but i wonder if he will be amicable even if it turns out he cant get the mortgage?

This is really stupid but ive had no legal dealings in the past - is a lawyer the same as a solicitor or how would you get one?

This is likely to drag on for a long time. He is waiting on some paperwork to see whether he can get the mortgage but it has already dragged on for well over a month and as you can imagine it is a very difficult living situation.

Solicitors are lawyers. Barristers are also lawyers.

thank you very much, got that bit now

i think the court order thing may be a bit of a break through and spur my friend on to put some groundrules in place.

I know the title is a bit deceiving but in the meantime is there anything she can do about the living situation until the issue with the house is resolved?

The worst scenario would be if she moved out but was still paying the bills.

if she moved out and stopped paying the bills but kept her name on the mortgage until the issue was resolved (hoping ex keeps up to date with all bills) would she have any way or right to make him complete his side of the bargain e.g. get his own mortgage for the house or move out and let her buy him out?

I think as it stands the thinking is that she has to stay in the house until everything is resolved but i know i couldn't do that so im jus wondering if there are other options?

If she moves out and stops paying, he may stop paying too and arrears may build up.

thank you. i will pass the information on.