My ex needs £900,000 – can I keep my home?

’m at the age where I should be living the life of Riley,” said Timothy St Ather. He lives in a six-bedroom house in Barnes, a leafy suburb of southwest London, and enjoys a wide variety of social activities such as theatre and cinema trips, fine dining and “celebrity lectures” which he is not quite ready to give up.

However, it could all be at risk. Mr St Ather’s ex-partner has urgently requested her half of the home they bought together in 1981 for £250,000. The property is now worth £1.8m. She needs the money to pay for a home in Australia; she must find it in the next month or risk losing her £120,000 deposit.

Mr St Ather, 75, wants to “do right” by his ex-partner but is reluctant to give up the home he loves. He has considered asking his current girlfriend to move in with him and rent out her property but is not sure if that would solve his problem.

His modest salary of £35,000 a year comes from self-employment as a business psychologist. Four friends share his home and pay a total of £415 a week in rent. He also gets £1,150 a month from his pensions.

Mr St Ather has shares worth £80,000 and cash savings of around £12,000. He also owns a property in Cambridgeshire, which he bought in 1973. He estimated its value at £200,000 and said it was currently “just sat there”. He put it on the market last year but said it needed “quite a bit of work on it”. His only debt is a £200,000 loan he took out with RBS 17 years ago. Would you like a Money Makeover? If you’d like to be considered, please email, with the header “Give me a Money Makeover”, to money@ telegraph.co.uk and provide the following information:

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This reader faces a complex problem. Amelia Murray helps him find a solution

of his other house settle his loan and retain his investments. However, he would probably have stamp duty to pay on his new home.

The friends who share his house may pose a problem for a lender. It may be wise if they sign a disclaimer waiving any claim on the property. A standard residential mortgage would be the cheapest way to raise the money Mr St Ather needs but, although he has a lot of equity in the property, lenders will generally lend only up to 5.5 times a borrower’s income. His £35,000 salary is therefore a problem.

When the RBS loan is taken into consideration, the amount he could borrow would be further restricted. Unfortunately, the figures do not stack up and a residential mortgage is out of the question.

Because his ex-partner needs the funds quickly, a bridging loan is another option. However, the only viable exit would be downsizing once the term was up. Given how expensive his interest payments would be, he would be better off selling now rather than taking out a bridge.

Mr St Ather said he had considered living with his girlfriend. Perhaps he

‘The figures do not stack up and a residential mortgage is out of the question’

could move in with her and let out his current property. This would allow him to secure a buy-to-let mortgage against it. Because the amount you can raise from this type of mortgage is based on rental income, he should be able to secure a loan of around £900,000, which he could then give to his ex-partner.

Given that the rent would more than cover his mortgage payments, Mr St Ather would find himself with some extra income – and because a buy-to-let mortgage relies on rental income rather than salary, terms can stretch well into retirement. A repayment mortgage would allow him to gradually pay off the loan, meaning he never has to sell the property.

Naturally, we would advise Mr St Ather to seek the right tax advice given the recent changes to mortgage interest relief, capital gains tax and stamp duty, especially if his ex-partner’s name is being removed from the property deeds.

With rates starting at less than 2pc, there has never been a cheaper time to explore buy-to-let mortgages. This solution satisfies Mr St Ather’s aim of keeping his home. He would, however, have to move out of the property, and I would not advocate this option unless he was certain about moving in with his girlfriend.

The sale of the property in Cambridgeshire would be one way for Mr St Ather to clear the RBS loan.

Timothy St Ather’s former partner wants her share of their property, but he doesn’t want to sell it

Mr St Ather lives in Barnes, a leafy suburb of south-west London