It really depends on the contract/ agreement you had with your relative
What kind of agreement did you have between the two of you when you
decided to take on the purchase of the house
There is a principle in english law that contracts between relatives, unless evidenced by "contracts under seal", are presumed NOT to give rise to legal relations. Therefore if you just made a verbal agreement it will probably not be possible for your overseas relative to challenge in court whatever split you decide should be given when the house is sold or their share liqudated
It would be best to contact your relative and find out amicably what he/she is expecting
The clear difficulty is that the value of the house will have increased hugely over the period - so your relative may be expecting more
As a quick answer I would say - the kind of issues are
Lets assume you both paid 50% of the deposit for the house
You say your relative has not contributed in respect of mortgage payments or other repairs/maintenance
You also indicate that for some of the time you have not lived in the house - does this mean it was rented out?
Has the relative ever come over to visit the house on any kind of regular basis
Has the relative ever asked for their money back
Is there any evidence that your relative was merely "loaning" you the money for the part of the deposit you couldnt afford at the time - or if not what was the purpose of your relative contributing the money in the frist place?
On the basis of the information you have given I would say if your relative has never visited the house or paid anything towards the mortgage etc then maybe the intention was a loan to help you with the deposit. They are obviously entitled to their initial money back probably together with a fair recompense for their investment because:
1) Their initial deposit has reduced your mortgage payments and interest over the period - this reduction is what you in effect owe them
2) A small % of the final value of the house is partly accruing to them - but only very small because you have paid all the mortgage payments and improvements
Remember there is a presumption when it comes to "family" that NO legal consequences are intended unless there is clear evidence to the contrary. This means that the courts will generally not intervene - obviously in depends what exactly you mean by a "relative" overseas
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