Buying house with Girlfriend

M

mickpyrmont

Registered User
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Hi, My girlfriend and I are currently looking to buy an apartment together. We are going to put it into my name as I am a FTB, she is not. Has anyone done this, Is there any legal agreement that you can sign should our relationship work out. Any thoughts or should we just pay the stamp duty
 
Yeah i like it- you are a wise guy ( putting it only your name) Just get her to buy the furniture etc then if/when ye split up the furniture will be worth nothing and you're laughing; with the apartment all yours!
 
There's a sample/draft agreement for buying a house with a friend in the key topics thread.
 
If the mortgage repayments rely in any significant way on your girlfriends salary then the banks are unlikely to allow this anymore.
 
If she is paying into the deposit,

or paying into the mortgage,

then you are not exempt from Stamp Duty,

as she is part owner

and she is not a FTB.
 
If she is paying into the deposit,

or paying into the mortgage,

then you are not exempt from Stamp Duty,

as she is part owner

and she is not a FTB
Click to expand...

Cheers for the advise but who is to know if she is paying part of the deposit and half the monthly repayments, does the bank have to disclose this information, bearing in mind her name would not be on the loan agreement? Could she just not lodge her share of the deposit in my account?
 
You will be liable for the full stamp duty as your girlfriend is contributing towards the mortgage. Also your girlfriend is relying on your good nature ot return here money if you break up.
One alternative is for your girlfriend to gift you part of the deposit (up to €25k tax free) and contribute €833pm to the mortgage via the rent a room scheme.
You'll still need to qualify for the loan on your own and your girlfriend is still in the precarious position of losing all her contributions if things go sour.
 
We did this about 3 years ago, the house was put in my name and both of our names on the mortgage, we signed a bit of paper drawn up by our solicitor to say that the house would be dived in half should the relationship break down............which it did!! so that is exactly what happend, we split the profit in half!! we didnt fall out so it was fine, dunno how it would work out if not as she had said that that bit of paper probabley would not stand up in court, it was more for piece of mind for both of us!!!!
 
We did this about 3 years ago, the house was put in my name and both of our names on the mortgage, we signed a bit of paper drawn up by our solicitor to say that the house would be dived in half should the relationship break down............which it did!! so that is exactly what happend, we split the profit in half!! we didnt fall out so it was fine, dunno how it would work out if not as she had said that that bit of paper probabley would not stand up in court, it was more for piece of mind for both of us!!!!
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With your name on the property and both your names on the mortgage and Revenue being aware of this (through stamp duty & mortgage interest docs) and its only a matter of time before they get around to you.
 
It IS tax evasion.

OP wants to buy property with GF but as she is not FTB he decides to only put his name on documentation so that no stamp duty has to be paid - thus leaving GF in a precarious position should the relationship not work out.

So GF contributes half to deposit, half to mortgage repayments but legally has no ownership over property.

If I was GF I would run a mile from this crazy scheme.
 
PS I didn't mean to sound unsympathetic, from your POV its a real pain as you can only get FTB exemption if you buy totally on your own. Just wanted to tell you the fact that what you are proposing is not legal.
Believe me, you would not be the first person to not benefit from FTB status because of one's partner / spouse having bought before, or because one of the parties had purchased property overseas before (thus never getting the benefit in Ireland). But that's a whole other debate and not for this thread.
 
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I’m being kinda flippant and I’m no expert but wouldn’t getting married allow the OP to buy with his girlfriend / wife and retain his FTB status?
 
OP it is tax evasion, it is illegal. Yes plenty of people do it, and it may seem as if they have gotten away with it. But at any point in the next 5, 10, 20, 40 years you could come home to a letter from the revenue telling them you owe that money, with interest and possibly penalties. And yes the revenue will be able to examine your financial records.

On the otherhand if the property you buy is a new build neither of you will have to pay stamp duty.
 
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