Joint tenants or tenants in common: owning a home with someone else

The short answer

When two or more people buy a home together, they decide how they own it between them. As joint tenants, you own the whole of it together, and when one of you dies the others automatically own it all, whatever a will says. As tenants in common, you each own a share, which need not be equal, and your share passes under your will, or under the rules that apply when there is no will.

The choice is recorded when you buy, so tell your conveyancer early which you want. You can change it later. This guide describes England and Wales; the position in Northern Ireland is broadly similar, and a solicitor there can tell you how it applies.

Joint tenants

Joint tenants own the whole property together, rather than a share each. Its main feature is survivorship: when one owner dies, the property passes automatically to the surviving owner or owners, outside any will.

Many married couples and civil partners choose this, because it is simple and the survivor keeps the home without waiting for the estate to be dealt with. If you sell, the starting point is that you share the money equally.

Tenants in common

Tenants in common each own a share of the property. The shares can be equal or unequal, for example 70% and 30% where one of you puts in more of the deposit, and each owner can leave their share by will, so it does not pass automatically to the others.

This often suits unmarried couples, friends or relatives buying together, people with children from an earlier relationship, and anyone putting in different amounts. Each owner should make a will, so their share goes where they want it to.

Recording who owns what

If you own as tenants in common in unequal shares, or want to set out what happens if you sell or separate, ask your conveyancer about a declaration of trust. It records each owner's share and can say, for example, that a deposit is repaid to whoever paid it before the rest is divided, who pays the mortgage and what happens if one of you wants to sell.

It is especially worth considering if you are not married or in a civil partnership, because the rules that share out property on divorce do not apply to you. A declaration of trust can be signed when you buy or at any time afterwards; see declaration of trust.

Changing your choice later

Joint tenants can become tenants in common by severing the joint tenancy. One way is for one owner to give the others notice in writing, which does not need their agreement. Your conveyancer can then ask HM Land Registry to add a restriction to the register, so that a surviving owner cannot sell without the other shares being dealt with. People often do this when they separate, or when they want to leave their share to someone else.

Tenants in common can become joint tenants too, but every owner must agree. Your conveyancer can advise on either change, and it is a good time to review your wills.

Next steps

Decide how you want to own your new home before contracts are exchanged, and if your shares are unequal, ask about a declaration of trust. Get an instant conveyancing quote to see your costs in full; if you are adding someone to, or removing someone from, the ownership of a home you already own, see transfer of equity explained.