Separating - housing costs, reasonable?

[Favourodds]

Decided over Christmas that our 12 year marriage has run it's course. We earn a similar amount and I could, in principle, take over all the household expenses so not a huge amount of ducks in rows required and everything should be fairly straightforward.

That said, it doesn't seem a particularly good time to sell and get new mortgages. Would it be reasonable for me to say I'll take over the mortgage for the next year so me and the baby can stay in the house, and then in a year or so we will sell and split evenly?

It's probably relevant that he will be out of the country with work for at least 7 months, so if he chose to not rent anywhere and wanted to stay in the house, it wouldn't really be a problem.

Is this reasonable? Or should we just get on and sell the house?

I think if you do want to take on the full mortgage then make sure you get something legally set out to say that you are doing so and then when/if you do sell, those payments will be part of your equity on the house.
If you just take it over then if you sell he will still be entitled to 50% even though you have paid solely for the mortgage for x amount of time.
Always important to get it legally sorted in preparation for a future split.

Legally you paying the mortgage solely does not impact his share due at all- Especially if he has to rent somewhere else

what you’re suggesting is not unreasonable but I think you should have an agreement that’s more specific - no one knows what the housing market will be like in 12 months or 24 months etc

yiu should also seek legal
advice re overall split looks like - might not be 50.50

Thanks, both. I'd still expect to split the house evenly with him, that's fine. Essentially I can't afford to buy him out but don't want to rush in to buying somewhere so taking over the mortgage payments for a bit feels logical.

But it's a good point that we might not then end up selling next year etc.

I’d just sell now prices go up and down but seen as u already on property ladder yours goes up and down as well as the one your buying

What are your plans if you can’t afford to buy him out now? Is that going to change?

@millymollymoomoo No, we'd sell and I'll buy somewhere new. I'm just thinking interest rates should come down in 2024 and I don't really want to rush into buying something new, and this gives me a bit of space.

Mortgage Interest rated aren’t forecast to start coming down until 2026.

just put your house on the market at the end of January with an assumption you probably won’t be moving until the summer anyway.
both continue to pay the mortgage and if he’s going to be abroad for 7 months then he won’t need to rent anyway

Mortgage rates won’t come down significantly for a while yet, sell up and you can draw a line under it all and move on. Good luck!

Ah, ok! My very quick Google made me think they'd settle in 2024 but ok!

I should have mentioned also that I can probably earn about 15 grand more than I do by changing companies (got a bit comfy with a small child) which would obviously be helpful. But you're right @MimiSunshine, if the house goes up soon, I still have a few months to sort that out too.

Ok! I can do this!

You absolutely can. Even if you decide to wait until spring to put the house on the market so the light is better and gardens don’t look so drab. You can still use the time to sort out your plans, clear crap out etc and agree a plan with the soon to be ex.
the market has changed now, it’s unlikely you’ll sell straight away and you do t have to rush to buy somewhere in an instant.

good luck, have faith in yourself