Ex won't accept offer on our house - what can I do?

[QueenofWhatever]

I left my ex last year as he was abusive. We lived in a four-bed house in a lovely country village. I own the majority of the house and we had a mortgage of £620 a month. When I was in hospital, he unilaterally decided that we would pay interest only which is £100 a month (we have an all in one mortage so can flex the payments how we want). The split is that I pay £20 and he pays £80.

When we went through our legal separation (we weren't married) it was agreed that we would sell the house and take our respective shares (we are tenants in common and have all the relevant paperwork). This was in September and I argued hard to put the house on the market there and then as the market was relatively buoyant here, but unfortunately my solictor did not really advocate for me and the agreed date was 1st March this year.

The house went on the market for £365k in March, we have had very limited interest and since dropped it to £335 but have not had a single further viewing. The local landowner owns an adjacent vegetable patch at the back and made an offer of £299k, as he could then combine, extend and sell at a profit.

We said no to see if he would come back with more and there is a decreasing chance he will come back with £315k. However, my ex has been adamant that he will not accept less than £325k nor consider moving out so we can rent it if we don't get an offer.

My ex has no motivation to move as he has a four-bed house for £80 a month whilst I spend £700 a month on rent for DD and I. He pays £269 a month maintenance and earns over £50k. His reasoning is that he cannot afford to sell for less than £325k or move out for it to be rented. We own the house roughly 70:30.

So, is there anything I can do? I just want it sold and to move on with my life.

i am not leagal but have been through something simualr!unfortuately you both have to agree or it would have to be refered to the court as i understand it, which was what i was told,.

my ex didnt want to move out either even offered to buy him out! he then trashed the house and a house that was worth £465 now has a buyer 4years on for only £300! as i was the main shareholder.
TBH i would also sell at 299 to be over with it but Bloody men are a pain in the ***.
its called controll!
at least you get maintence more than most!
o do simperthise with you make sure he dont emppty out the property when you are not there as mine did.
youve just got to hang in there im affarid and hope for the best.

Why have you moved out, I think you need to move back in and make him move out - you own the majority of the house, get your solicitor to get him out and then get your solicitor to accept the best offer you receive. Good luck.

she moved out cause he was abusive says op! if she moved back in with her child i can only guess the welcome she would recive!
its not that easy to get him out either it has to be overwhelming evidence at court to do this which she may not have most women being abused put up with it and dont call the police or visit the doctor unless its really bad, i think she did the right thing in moving out to protect herself and her child.

kittycat, you are right - moving back in is not an option. I was advised by the police, WA and my GP to leave without telling him as they thought he was such a high risk. And yes, it is all about control.

He has tried to stymie me in a number of other ways, so I am under no illusion as to his motives.

I had to go there today to pick DD for the first time in a year. He's let the garden get completely overgrown with waist high weeds and inside it looks ramshackle and unloved. I get the sense from the estate agents that they are not at all hopeful at selling it to normal buyers.

If he won't accept the offer, can I make him agree to renting it out or make him pay the market rate (about £1200 a month)? If he was made to do that, I think he would rather accept the offer.

If you owned the majority of your house, did it make a difference or is it all the same in the eyes of the law?

sorry but it dont matter what share you own! was in exactly the saituation as you. he dont have to agree to rent either all you can do is take it back to court but TBH if you agreed to put it on the market 1st march then they probably would say its not enough time. i was advised could only take it back to court if ex refused at least three offers for the court to take him off they agreement about selling price but you cant do this to rent out. if you went back to court though you run the risk that the court will make an order to sell by auction! at least this was what my solicitor said. i really feel for you now into my fourth year with ex and its still controlling my life and the kids its a bloody nightmare you can only hope that he will find someone else and things will ease.

Hi, OP, please don't take this the wrong way, but I have no way of knowing about how much you know/not know about certain things so forgive me if you know this already.

As an unmarried couple, the court has no obligation to take into account your interpersonal relationship with this man, it will ignore it.
They'll just see you and your ex as two unrelated people who formed a business arrangement.
IF- and I do mean IF- you are tenants-in-common with EQUAL ownership then that is it-you will nice and simply be treated as equalt partners.
A few weeks ago, a man who had been separated from his former partner for SEVENTEEN years (!) and had not paid a penny towards mortgage managed to have equal shares in property because that was the agreement made and, crucially, in spite of them splitting up, the agreement still stood.

I think your solicitor is right. And, sorry, no matter how abusive ex is, if you're down as joint owners, that stands.

I only mention the abusive bit because some people have hinted here that somehow it matters.

The above is a bit garbled (sorry!) I guess what I am really trying to say is that it's what on paper agreement that counts more than actual relationship, IYSWIM.

My best mate had same problem .