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Original poster

Can you check if you've been a home owner previously?

31 replies

Tattiespuds · 17/05/2021 13:21

I'm wondering if there is such a thing as a register to find out if you've been named as a home owner before.

Backstory - if relevant DH and I both mid 30's are stuck renting and desperate to get on housing ladder with our kids.
There is lots of schemes for helping first time buyers which I am, however my husband had a previous marriage when very young. They bought a house which he says with lots of help from ex wife's parents only had house a few months if that when they split. He remembers signing something to sign away the house. And is sure he was on mortgage. We met a few years after their split and I encouraged him to check his credit score to improve so we could eventually but the mortgage wasn't there.
I'm under the impression even though he was off it by then if he has had a mortgage so should be able to see on score for 6 yrs (this was maybe 3-4 yes later).
He also can't remember if the house was bought just before they wed or just after as I asked if he maybe was signing away any claim to house if bought by her after marriage. He was also new to UK maybe a year or two prior to them buying.

I can't help feel he maybe wasn't on the mortgage but he thinks he was and we need to be sure

He's the main earner and without access to help to buy options and with rising house prices well never buy.

OP posts:

24GinDrinkingOnceTheKidsInBed · 17/05/2021 13:25

If you enter a mortgage with him, even if he has been a previous home owner; as you have not you are still eligible for the help to buy schemes.

Also we are about to start the process of selling our house and buying a new build. My credit score if too poor to get on the mortgage with DP, so the mortgage is in his name only. To get our new build we need to sell and complete the sale of our current house to purchase the new build as shared ownership.

They may want a letter from the council to verify why your current property is not suitable for your needs, but given you don’t currently own, I would think this not apply to you.

Get in contact with the help to buy scheme and talk to someone about your options. It seems as though it’s not as black and white as ‘if you owned before we can’t help you’ there are loopholes!

Original poster

Tattiespuds · 17/05/2021 14:12

Oh really, I thought we wouldn't be classed as first time because he's (maybe) bought before even if I haven't.
If that's the case we could actually buy somewhere 🥳

OP posts:

24GinDrinkingOnceTheKidsInBed · 17/05/2021 14:58

@Tattiespuds
Where there’s a will there’s a way. Like I mentioned above. I’m currently sat in our home that DP has a mortgage on, but we’ve been given the OK to sell and be eligible for shared ownership in his name.

You’ll get your house!

Tippexy · 17/05/2021 15:26

@24GinDrinkingOnceTheKidsInBed

If you enter a mortgage with him, even if he has been a previous home owner; as you have not you are still eligible for the help to buy schemes.

They may want a letter from the council to verify why your current property is not suitable for your needs, but given you don’t currently own, I would think this not apply to you.

There’s some very dodgy advice in this!

If you were buying together but not married then you would still be classed as a FTB. However, you are married and so this means you are tainted with his brush!

Goldendinoroar · 17/05/2021 15:30

Does this apply in the same way that stamp duty is for first time buyers? A similar situation happened with us when we bought in 2017, but we paid stamp duty of about £5k I recall but didn’t really know at the time of I’d been on mortgage previously

3cats4poniesandababy · 17/05/2021 15:39

I have checked this put as I am a FTB but husband owns our current house. Tippexy is completely correct. Some avenues may be closed to you but some are not.

It depends you may still be able to access some of the help.
Stamp duty relief- no you couldn't if he has previously owned a property. You could if you purchased it without putting him on the mortgage/deeds.
Help to buy ISA/Lifetime ISA- you could have one and put it towards the deposit. He wouldn't be eligible if he had already owned a property. Help to buy ISA is now closed tp new applications but lifetime isa may be an option. Worth doing some research.

I think you would be eligible for the 5% mortgage guarantee scheme. Have a look at the own your home goverment website as that lists all the schemes and their requirements.

24GinDrinkingOnceTheKidsInBed · 17/05/2021 15:43

@Tippexy it’s not dodgey advice though is it? it’s exactly what’s written in the help to buy website if you actually read the small print/details of what makes you eligible 😐

Even if they’ve owned before, if you sell your property and no longer own a house you can still buy a shared ownership house. Might be area dependant though, I’m not 100% whether it’s across the board as obviously we’ve only looked in the area we want to move. But after speaking to the estate agents.. and the property developers today about the situation I can assure you it’s very much acceptable 😐

Dodgy advice 😭🥲

Spickle · 17/05/2021 16:05

24Gin - You are talking only about the shared ownership scheme, for which you do not have to be first time buyers, but need to be selling your current home in order to buy a shared ownership home. There are also limits on earnings to be eligible. There are other government schemes for which the OP would not be eligible.

The OP hasn't specified which scheme they are interested in.

The Help to Buy schemes (equity loan) is only available to First Time Buyers. Your DH is not a first time buyer since he was previously married and had a marital asset, whether or not he was actually on the mortgage. If you are purchasing a property with another person, you must both meet the definition of a first time buyer to benefit from the scheme.

For obtaining a mortgage, you can both be classed as first time buyers.

For SDLT purposes, you are not first time buyers, if you have owned a property at any time, anywhere in the world.

If you have a LISA, this can be put towards the purchase, but only the first time buyer, not OP's DH.

SpindleWhorl · 17/05/2021 16:10

Does he not keep any paperwork, OP? I'd be wanting to look at his divorce paperwork, the financial settlement, etc.

Paddingtonthebear · 17/05/2021 16:10

I owned a house once in 1999. Split with ex and signed it over to him, name off mortgage etc. I’m buying again now for the first time since then and I’m not classes as a first time buyer or eligible for any FTB stamp duty relief. If you have ever owned a property anywhere, you do not qualify, even if you no longer own anything. There is no trace of my previous mortgage history but apparently there is a trace of being on house deeds or something like that.

TakeYourFinalPosition · 17/05/2021 16:11

There’s a lot of confused advice in this thread.

If you enter a mortgage with him, even if he has been a previous home owner; as you have not you are still eligible for the help to buy schemes.

That’s only true for shared ownership.

For help to buy, and some 95% mortgages, you can’t have owned a home before. If he was on the deeds, he’ll count as having owned it even if he wasn’t on the mortgage, I believe. That’s what I’ve been told - I’m a FTB but DH was on the deeds at a previous home.

You won’t get the stamp duty saving now and you can’t use help to buy; but you might be eligible for some FTB mortgage offers, you’d need to see what each bank defines as a FTB. Some will consider you a FTB again if you’ve not owned for a period, some never consider you a FTB again.

Shared ownership might well be an option but has significant downsides, but it is an option to get on the ladder if you can accept those, or if you don’t think they’ll affect you.

It’s a minefield. Best of luck.

24GinDrinkingOnceTheKidsInBed · 17/05/2021 16:25

Ah so in my original comment I didn’t specify the shared ownership (apologies was speaking from my experience with shared ownership so didn’t think to include that bit?) I did however specify on my next comment that it was on shared ownership. The OP is looking for options which I’ve given, and the information I’ve given is correct.

thetigerthatcamefortea · 17/05/2021 16:26

Some not very clear advice above I'm afraid.
You could still be eligible for shared ownership (as in part rent part buy)
But help to buy will not be an option at all.
It is incredibly tightly controlled in this new phase (as of the beginning of April) with additional checks done and it is now only applicable to real first time buyers (with the added regional price cap)
Even if he wasn't on the mortgage it sounds like he was on the deeds. Which is what counts unfortunately

CausingChaos2 · 17/05/2021 16:32

Not doubting what you say Tiger but is there a register of people who have been on the deeds of a property previously? How would anyone actually know if it wasn’t declared?

Note: this is not applicable to me I’m purely speculating based on what the OP has said.

Original poster

Tattiespuds · 17/05/2021 16:40

I'm on Scotland, we don't have the part own, part rent scheme.

Thanks to everyone taking the time to reply.

Think the major issue I'm having is I'm not 100% certain of he did own it. There is no mention in the divorce. For his divorce he just signed paperwork and posted off as if no dependents or assets (there was no dependents). We're now taking over 10yrs ago and he doesn't seem to remember.

I wish there was a way to find out if your names been on deeds before. if he has and we can't access any help to buy schemes then fair dos but I don't want there to be a realisation when we're given up or eventually bought "any" property to get on the ladder we could have got help for a proper family home. Gah

OP posts:

TakeYourFinalPosition · 17/05/2021 16:40

@thetigerthatcamefortea I suppose there will be, as home ownership is recorded.

But the bigger issue is that it’d be fraud to declare that you hadn’t owned or had a beneficial interest in a property when you had, and the risks of being caught out could be pretty horrendous. I used to work in finance and my understanding is that mortgage fraud makes getting any type of credit pretty unlikely in the future.

You’d definitely be guilty of obtaining a benefit through misrepresentation, there’s no way that most people could argue that they had no idea they had property.

Original poster

Tattiespuds · 17/05/2021 16:53

@thetigerthatcamefortea I have desire to proceed with and scheme we may use claiming he hasn't. I made this post to find out if there is a way to know for certain if he was named owner at any time. Then we can play our future from there

OP posts:

thecapitalsunited · 17/05/2021 17:09

I don’t think there’s a public register but HMRC will know if you’ve owned a home before because the SDLT return includes your NI number. Are you sure you want to own a property with someone so flakey as to ‘forget’ whether they part owned a house?

Spickle · 17/05/2021 17:16

Agree with thecapitalsunited.

You do not want to risk HMRC looking into this.

It might be a long time ago, but if your DH was previously married, then he had an interest in the property (i.e. the property was a marital asset) and therefore is not a first time buyer. Does he not have some old paperwork, such as an out of date copy of the title register?

Original poster

Tattiespuds · 17/05/2021 17:37

He has no paperwork. It's not that he's flakey and he's forgotten or that we would proceed with anything other than a standard mortgage with no help without having been told officially otherwise. I'm just simply trying to reassure myself before I give up on home ownership for the foreseeable that help definitely isn't available to us.

My dh is sure he was on the mortgage its just hearing things/stories from him/his friends/family over the years and without going into it too much as this isn't what this thread is about he was young and she was a bit older and not that he'd admit ot he might have been abused by her. She was controlling and manipulative and he was young and naive.

But again I want to stress I'm not asking for what help I can apply for it's me asking is anyone knows of a way we can find out 100% if he was named on the deeds.

OP posts:

TakeYourFinalPosition · 17/05/2021 20:03

He can ask her, but I’m guessing if that was an option, you’d have done it.

Otherwise he’d need paperwork.

Potentially a forensic accountant might be able to find out for him by tracing back paperwork but it sounds like that might be fairly distressing for him... and it’s not cheap. To dig back over 10 years is likely to come with a substantial four figure price tag, based on my albeit limited experience with them.

If the marriage had a property, it’s very likely that he’ll be classed as having had a beneficial interest in it. That is the case for me. I was not on the deeds or the mortgage but I am not a FTB, because I married someone who did. Combined with the fact that he’s sure that he did have a mortgage, I’d accept that those schemes aren’t an option for you now. You risk throwing away good money to chase bad, as they say.

I’m sorry though; it does feel a bit harsh. I’d probably have bought something before I married DH if I’d known!

ComtesseDeSpair · 17/05/2021 20:11

He can search for historical title information by contacting the Land Registry. Considering it will have been relatively recent he shouldn’t need to provide much more information than his name and the dates he knows the property may have been his. I believe it’s the same records that a solicitor would search to confirm that somebody is a first time buyer for SDLT purposes.

Original poster

Tattiespuds · 17/05/2021 22:10

Thanks @TakeYourFinalPosition thanks for your take on it. Yeh asking her isnt an option. I think deep down I can't use any of the schemes but thought I'd try get further info all the same. But alas not to be.

@ComtesseDeSpair I tried land registry but can only request current owners not previous ones.

OP posts:

ComtesseDeSpair · 17/05/2021 22:36

If England and Wales, if he (believes he) owned the property after 1993 then he can apply for historical title information: www.gov.uk/government/publications/historical-registertitle-plan-registration-hc1

In Scotland, the historical title information is likely to be on the Sasine Register: www.ros.gov.uk/services/search-property-information/property-help-service

He’ll be able to get advice if he calls either service.

Original poster

Tattiespuds · 17/05/2021 22:49

@ComtesseDeSpair the number of times I have looked at that website and didn't even see that. Thank you very much.

OP posts:

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