Buying with someone else
Buying together turns personal expectations about money and ownership into decisions that may matter years later. Different deposits, shared mortgage payments, repairs and a future sale all need to fit the way the property is legally owned.
Agreeing how the purchase will work between you
Write down who contributes the deposit and purchase costs, how monthly payments and repairs will be shared, what happens if income changes, and what either person expects if the home is sold or one wants to leave. Do this before choosing a legal structure.
A fifty-fifty mortgage payment does not automatically settle how an unequal deposit, renovation spending or later overpayments should affect the proceeds.
Joint tenants and tenants in common
Joint tenants own the property together without defined shares. On the death of one owner, the property passes to the survivor rather than under a will.
Tenants in common own defined shares, which can be equal or unequal. A share can pass under its owner's will. This structure can support different financial interests, but it does not by itself record every rule for returning a deposit or sharing later gains.
Neither option is universally right for couples, relatives or friends. Ask the conveyancer to explain the consequences for separation, sale and death in your intended arrangement.
A declaration of trust can record the detail
A declaration of trust can do more than record that one person owns 60% and the other owns 40%. It can explain how the proceeds should be divided if one person paid more of the deposit, whether either buyer should receive particular money back first, and how agreed mortgage overpayments or improvements are meant to count.
Talk through what you would want to happen if one person wanted to sell, your contributions changed or the relationship ended. The conveyancer can then draft around situations you have actually considered, rather than recording percentages which may no longer make sense several years later.
Ask about it when instructing the conveyancer. If the arrangement is complex or interests could conflict, each person may need independent advice.
A joint mortgage normally makes each borrower responsible for the whole debt, not only an agreed half. A private arrangement between buyers does not reduce the lender's rights.
One person moving out also does not remove them from the mortgage or title. A lender-approved transfer, sale or refinance is usually needed.
What would happen after a death or loss of income
Review wills alongside the ownership choice. Consider how the mortgage would be paid if one buyer died, became seriously ill or could not work, and whether life or income protection is appropriate. Existing workplace benefits may form part of the answer.
How tax, Lifetime ISA and scheme rules may differ
In England, all joint buyers must meet the first-time-buyer conditions for SDLT relief. Wales has no separate first-time-buyer LTT relief. An eligible Lifetime ISA holder may use their own LISA for a qualifying purchase with somebody who has owned before. Mortgage products and housing schemes can apply further tests.
A parent on a mortgage or title can therefore affect tax and affordability differently. Tell the adviser and conveyancer the proposed structure before making an offer.
If either buyer is receiving money from family
Be clear about whose family is providing the money and what everyone expects in return. It might be an outright gift to one buyer or both buyers, a loan which has to be repaid, or money given on the understanding that the family member will have an interest in the home. Those are different arrangements, even if the same amount arrives in the bank account.
Give the lender and conveyancer the same explanation before the money is moved. The lender will decide whether it accepts the arrangement, and the person providing the money is likely to need identity and source-of-funds evidence. If the contribution is meant to change the ownership shares or be returned when the home is sold, ask the conveyancer how that should be recorded rather than relying on an informal family agreement.
What to check for your purchase
- Before choosing the ownership paperwork, agree how deposits, monthly costs, repairs and a future sale will be handled.
- Ask the conveyancer how joint tenants and tenants in common affect ownership shares and inheritance before choosing between them.
- If deposits or ownership shares differ, ask whether a declaration of trust should record the agreement.
- Remember each joint borrower can be liable for the whole mortgage.
- Make or review wills and decide how the mortgage and essential costs would be paid if one income stopped.
- Check tax, Lifetime ISA, lender and housing-scheme rules separately, because qualifying under one set of rules does not answer the others.