When can my name go on the deed/mortgage?

My boyfriend recently bought a new house for us to live in when I get to England.

I thought I  read somewhere that I am not allowed to own property until I get my ILR. Now I can't find where I read that and may have misread it completely.

I will be going over on a fiance visa. My BF is an English citizen. We'd like to know when/at what stage my name could also go on the property (deed) and the mortgage.

Thank you!

If he wants to give you half his house he can do so, but if this will involve changing the mortgage into a joint mortgage then you need to talk to the lender and refinance.  Many lenders won't consider lending to someone without ILR and in the current climate this may not be the best idea anyway.

To be honest, I am not sure this is really necessary.  But if you really want to, talk to a broker about a new mortgage deal.

Vicky

Hi Vicky,

Oh no, he's not giving me half of his house. When I settle up in the US and move to England, I'll have a large sum to put towards the mortgage, so it will be fully "our" house.  I'm sorry I didn't include that in my original post.

Since the money he already put down in addition to my money will leave us very little mortgage, perhaps adding my name to the mortgage/refinancing would be unnecessary. Good point. 

However, could my name still go on the deed once we are married (even if my name is not on the mortgage)?

Thank you!

I would doubt it if the mortgage is in his name.  I can't see how a deed can go in a joint name, making you both responsible for the property, but with only him being responsible for mortgage payments.  But I could be wrong.

Vicky

Not having ILR doesn't mean you can't be on a mortgage, etc.  We got a joint mortgage with my only having FLR and I'd only lived here 11 months at that time.  There is nothing that says you can't own property before you have ILR!  Yes, the two of you would have to get a new joint mortgage.

And yeah - your names have to be on both - if you want it on the deed, you have to be on the mortgage too.  Our lender wouldn't have allowed otherwise.  <---'cause you know if you have a mortgage on the property, the lender owns part of that property too until the mortgage is paid off!

Thank you both for the information.

In the states it is possible (at least where I've lived, I should clarify) to have your name on the deed and not on the mortgage. When I started my business, I didn't want my inconsistent salary at the time to be a detriment to the rate we were given. So my name was on the deed, but not the mortgage (even though of course my salary also helped to pay for it).  I guess it is just not done in the UK.

This seems to be more important to my BF. He said if I am giving him a good chunk of money that my name must be on it as well. He also said he wants me to feel that it is fully my house as well, etc.  So I guess we will refinance when the time comes.

Thank you again!