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I had a similar position previously. Less extreme salary gap and greater deposit. But we wouldn't have been able to buy the flat we were thinking of without both of us. (if only we had bought it!)
My better half is an excellent negotiator and put forward a strong case as to what her share should be. In the end we didn't buy at that time, but I remember thinking I might feel a bit hard done by.
Basically there are always two sides and I think it really comes down to the detail.
I'm not sure how helpful this is but...
senario 1
Property = £550k (strong property)
Deposit = £80k
Your salary = £80k
Her salary = £40k
Monthy costs = £2.5kHere she'd be fine covering her half you're just enabling her securing the mortgage. It would be fair imo for you to have some skin in the game but you could look at it as you potentially gaining capital on a great investment whist enjoying a likely reduction in living costs.
senario 2
Property = £320k (less strong)
Deposit = £50k
Your salary = £45k
Her salary = £25k
Monthy costs = £2kHere she may struggle to pay half the monthly costs. As well as needing you to purchase she may need you to subsidise her contributions. You are doing more than just facilitating and your total capital gain is likely to be lower.
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hugo7
rogan
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.