Owning your own home

^cheers. Will get a quote.

.

Bit late but yes, what are you after?

I plugged your numbers into my spreadsheet

Amount of Property £300,000.00
Percent deposit of base property price 5% - £15K
Stamp Duty £5,000.00

Solicitor £1,030.00
Conveyancing £161.27
Broker £0
Bank Valuation Fee -£680.00
Lenders arrangement fee £1,500.00
Mortgage Account Fee £300.00
Land registry £270.00
Searches £300.00
Independent Surveyor £800.00
Insurance £100.00

Total costs £10,141.27
(I added stamp duty as a cost! These were my fees, and some stuff may not be needed for you as I got a house.)

Moving costs (£500-£1000) unless you do it yourself
Buildings Insurance (??? depends)
Home Contents Insurance (??? depends)
A big food shop (you'll throw most of the stuff from the old place away) - £200

IIRC lenders arrangement fee can get added to the borrowed amount.

I had two failed transactions before buying a place. Budget for some real dead deal costs. Also, if you are on the limits of income multiples on affordability or on LTV then you won't be able to capitalise mortgage fees and you might get your loan amount reduced if the property has a service charge.

Also factor in £100 every time you pass a DIY store for the next 6 months

Thanks all for your responses - extremely helpful!

Also do not pay for a survey until after you have had a valuation.

Don't go anywhere near ikea...

Solicitor total: £1,665
Breakdown
Land Registration fee 135.00
Search fee 450.00
Conveyancing 1,020.00
Stamp Duty Land Tax Form 60.00

Moving was around £150 as we self moved, so van + fuel for 2 days (600 miles of driving).
We also didn't bother with a deed of trust (very different deposits for us) which was quoted as £600.

Yep, factor in a few hundred quid for all the stuff that you buy from Ikea with the intention of replacing when you have a bit more cash (6 years on I'm still using my £4 side tables/stools and a whole variety of other stuff).

Im looking for some advice that hopefully some of you have had a similar situation too?

the tl;dr is - GF has a large(ish) deposit (~15%) ready to buy a house in the next 12 months or so. I have basically nothing to contribute towards a deposit (< 5k) but she likely needs me on the mortgage as my salary is more than double hers and hers is relatively low, for the price of housing in London.

We haven't really talked about the gritty details massively but her Dad (who over the years has contributed massively to the deposit) is keen for the house to be 'hers' not 'ours', and wants more of a me 'paying rent' situation.

@rogan
You can own the house as 'Tenants in Common' in which would state the percentage share of the property. Useful if the relationship should go tits up. As it sounds like you would be contributing most to the monthly payments, yet also contributing to the initial deposit, I think it's reasonable for you to jointly own the property with your girlfriend.

At some point in the conveyancing process, your solicitor will ask you both how you want to set up the ownership of the property:
https://www.gov.uk/joint-property-ownership/overview

You being on the mortgage = "ours" so if she needs you, then daddy needs to come to the table.

I'm no legal expert but if your salary is needed for mortgage then you'll be on the deeds. Therefore it would definitely be owned by both and not just her.

If her dad wants to protect the deposit, you can get a simple legal agreement drawn up whereby in the event of a sale, the deposit is returned to her (plus interest if she wants), then the remaining amount can be split.

That's what my dad-in-law did when he lent my wife and me some funds for our first flat. he's an ex-lawyer btw.

Anyone got some prenuptial advice on who to go to, to get one?
Lawyers thread is dead(ish)...

It's not a pre-nup, it's what arcetype said, in the event of sale, deposit is repaid then ownership should be split based on contribution to the mortgage. All needs lawyering up properly first.

Unless you need a pre-nup for you and the mystic beard. You should know that they are only advisory and ignored fully after a few years but any high street solicitor should do one. Try a divorce specialist. Or get your horoscopes done to see if the marriage will last.

hehehe well we went canal boating for a week and the wedding is still on so fingers crossed!
there's a true test of a relationship - canal boating...

If she's renting a room to you then she needs to be able to cover the mortgage herself, without your help - and then you arrange a rent agreement separately.
If she can't do that then you're on the mortgage and it's entirely fair that you end up owning some % of it as a consequence.

I'd assume that she starts off with a % of the house ~= to the deposit. That sounds fairer to me than simply repaying the deposit. Or you agree which way to slice it, in the event of a house price crash and the deposit being worth less.

Then what's remaining of the house (i.e. the mortgaged bit) ends up split in line with what you're paying monthly.

All in writing of course. But hers and rent sounds unfair.

Good advice from all, what I was hoping to hear. Makes sense it was just the London centric 'insane deposit required' that worried me thatd sway it a bit.

If we were to sell up and repay the mortgage in one hit, do we repay the initial amount or initial amount plus projected interest?

Amount remaining on the borrowed amount, but maybe a fee for breaking a fixed term if you have one.

e.g. - We borrowed £230k to buy our old place. We sold our old place two years later. Our payments over two years had reduced the borrowed amount to £220(ish). We paid that back, plus £6k for ending the 3 year fixed mortgage arrangement after 2 years.

The principal balance at the time of closure plus any fees listed in your mortgage. These are likely to be an early repayment charge, admin fees and maybe a % based on an annual overpayment limit.

You can ask for a settlement figure from your mortgage provider at any time. Our provides one online...