Is there anything else I can do?

[Holymoly0]

My husband and I are separating and I want to leave the house as I’ve never been fond of it. I will be taking our 2 children with me. He doesn’t want to sell, mainly so he doesn’t have to move home to his mums but so he has a steady home for the kids to visit that they are familiar with and so he can keep the dog with him. We’ve been in touch with the bank to ask if we can take my name off the mortgage (he’d just give me a lump sum of what I’ve paid in) but they won’t let us as he doesn’t earn enough solely. We said about just keeping my name on it but just letting him pay it by himself as he thinks he can manage it. If he won’t sell I don’t see any other option. Any other suggestions?

I believe you can go to court if you want to force the sale and its a joint asset. Other option, have you tried different banks, someone else might be willing to refinance, though this would have to increase the mortgage to cover your equity payout. You can remain owning the asset together but this does present some risks like the fact if he stops paying that will reflect on your credit rating too, you're still legally liable for the mortgage repayments no matter what you two agree and it would make it very hard for you to get another mortgage if you wanted/could afford to buy again. There may be other legal risks, this is just off the top of my head.

I’d not thought of trying a different bank actually as we only remortgaged last year. It’s stressing me out, one of my friends told me that it might affect benefit claims too and credit checks if I’m renting somewhere? Would this be true? I’m so stuck!

How could you move on if he doesn't buy you out? What if he stops paying the mortgage and the bank repossesses your asset? Don't be soft.

Yes of course it would affect you in terms of credit check etc if your name was on mortgage!

Have a chat with a proper mortgage / finance advisor.
They will know if you could get over and above your 'normal' allowance with certain banks.
Lots don't charge either, so shop around.
I understand wanting to keep the house but it might not be an option.
Look at all options.
Do you have a lot of equity in the house?
You do need your name off of the mortgage though.
You do not know what the future holds and you don't want to be tied to this one and sabotage any chance of getting your own.

@t @hellsbellsmelons there’s about 22k equity in the house. I’m worried it will affect me being able to rent somewhere, I can’t afford to buy on my own my earnings aren’t high enough.

try a mortgage broker - they can usually find you a deal where others fail

Not sure about where you are, Im not UK. But where I live if you move out the family home becomes classed as an asset. The value of that asset is just the value of the equity, I think split 50/50. You can't get housing benefits here if you own and if the equity is over the asset limits you can't get any benefits. I can't afford to move out of our house because of this. If you live in the house its value doesn't matter for benefits where I am. So definitely something to check before you move out.