Joint tenants or tenants in common? Buying a home together

If you buy with someone else, you have to choose how you own the property.

Joint tenants: you own the whole property together. When one of you dies, the other automatically gets it all, whatever the will says.

Tenants in common: you each own a share, which can be equal or unequal. Your share passes under your will.

Neither is better in general. The right answer depends on who you're buying with, who is putting in what, and who you want to inherit. A simple split, such as 60/40, can be recorded in the transfer deed. If your shares depend on who paid what, put it in writing in a declaration of trust.

Written by Rebekah Brake Manning, Licensed Conveyancer (CLC) · Last reviewed 26 October 2026

The two ways to own

The names are old and confusing. "Tenant" here has nothing to do with renting.

What you own: Joint tenantsThe whole property, together; Tenants in commonA defined share each: 50/50, 60/40, or any split
When one owner dies: Joint tenantsThe survivor gets it all automatically; Tenants in commonTheir share passes under their will, or the intestacy rules if there's no will
Can you leave your share in a will?: Joint tenantsNo; Tenants in commonYes
Unequal contributions: Joint tenantsNot reflected; Tenants in commonCan be reflected in the shares
Usual fit: Joint tenantsMarried couples or civil partners who want everything to go to each other; Tenants in commonUnmarried couples, friends, family members, unequal deposits, children from earlier relationships

At HM Land Registry the legal title is always held by the owners jointly, and no more than four people can be named as legal owners. What changes between the two options is who owns the value behind the title. That's what matters on a death, a sale or a split.

How the choice is recorded

On a purchase, the choice is made in the transfer deed (form TR1, panel 10). It has three boxes: joint tenants; tenants in common in equal shares; or something else, for example unequal shares, or holding for other people too. A simple split, such as 60/40, can go in the deed itself. If your shares depend on who paid what (deposits, mortgage payments and so on), that needs a separate declaration of trust.

If you own as tenants in common, HM Land Registry adds a restriction to the title. It means a sale needs at least two owners (or trustees) to sign, so a share can't be sold off by accident.

We'll ask you how you want to own at the start and explain the choice in plain terms. When we send you the transfer deed (TR1) to sign, we send a letter of advice on how you're owning the property with it. We need instructions from each of you, not just one of you. Our Buying Together guide, which you can download from our residential property page, covers the same ground in a two-page summary.

When tenants in common is usually the better fit

You're not married or in a civil partnership.
One of you is putting in more of the deposit, or more of the mortgage payments.
Part of the money is a gift from family, and they want it to stay with their side. If the gift really is a gift, see our gifted deposits guide.
Either of you has children from a previous relationship.
You're buying with a friend, sibling or business partner.

Joint tenants usually suits a married couple or civil partners with no children from earlier relationships, putting in roughly equal amounts, who want everything to go to the survivor.

What a declaration of trust does

A declaration of trust is a short deed that records:

who owns what share, or how the shares are worked out (for example, deposits back first, then the rest equally)
who pays the mortgage and the bills, and what happens if one person stops paying
when the property can be sold, and how one of you can buy the other out
what happens if one of you wants to leave

The declaration stays private between you. The title at HM Land Registry shows only that there is a trust, not the shares.

A court will generally hold you to a signed declaration of trust, unless there was fraud or a mistake. Without one, the courts start from the position that a home bought in joint names as a couple is owned equally. If you disagree about that, you have to prove you meant something different, and that's expensive and slow. For friends, relatives or investors buying together, a court may look more closely at what each of you paid in. Disputes between co-owners go to court under the Trusts of Land and Appointment of Trustees Act 1996.

Changing from joint tenants to tenants in common

You can change from joint tenants to tenants in common at any time, without the other owner's agreement. This is called severance. You give the other owner written notice. Once that notice has been properly delivered, it can work even if they never read it.

After severance you will normally own equal shares, whatever you each paid in. If you want unequal shares, you need a declaration of trust as well. The notice is what severs the joint tenancy. We then apply to HM Land Registry to add a restriction to the title, which protects your share. People often do this when:

a relationship ends
they make a new will and want their share to go to their children
one owner is worried about what happens on the other's death

A will on its own doesn't change a joint tenancy. If you own as joint tenants, the property goes to the survivor whatever your will says. Our wills service checks how you own your home as part of the will.

If you're not married

There is no such thing as a "common law marriage" in England and Wales. If an unmarried partner dies without a will, the survivor inherits nothing under the intestacy rules. Owning as joint tenants means the home passes to the survivor anyway. Owning as tenants in common without a will can leave the survivor sharing the house with your relatives.

A surviving partner who lived with you as a couple for the two years before your death can make a claim against your estate, but that means going to court. It's far better to make the choice deliberately and make wills.

Unmarried couples who separate can't rely on the divorce courts to divide the property. Consider a cohabitation agreement as well as the declaration of trust, covering what happens while you live together and if you split up.

Tax points to check

Take advice from an accountant or tax adviser on your own position. Two points catch joint buyers out.

Stamp Duty Land Tax (England). If any one of you owns another home, or part of one, the higher rates can apply to the whole purchase.

First-time buyers' relief. Every buyer must be a first-time buyer, the price must be £500,000 or less, and you must intend to live there as your main home. If one of you has owned a home before, nobody gets the relief.

Wales has Land Transaction Tax, which has its own rules and no first-time buyers' relief.

Your joint-buying checklist

Before you exchange

Decide whether you'll own as joint tenants or tenants in common.
If tenants in common, agree the shares, or how they're worked out.
Write down who is putting in what: deposit, gifts, mortgage payments, other costs.
If any of the money is a gift, check whether the giver expects anything back.
Agree what happens if one of you wants to sell, or stops paying.
Tell your mortgage lender how you plan to own the property.
Decide whether you need a declaration of trust (you do if your shares depend on who paid what, such as deposits or mortgage payments).
Check with a tax adviser whether either of you owns any other property, anywhere.
Think about life cover, so the mortgage can be paid off if one of you dies.
Make or update your wills so they match how you own the home. Marrying or forming a civil partnership usually cancels an earlier will.
If you're not married, consider a cohabitation agreement.

After you move in

Keep records of anything extra you pay, such as an extension or a lump sum off the mortgage.
Review the arrangement if you marry, separate, have children, or one of you pays off more of the mortgage.

What it costs with us

Recording how you own in the transfer deed: joint tenants, equal shares, or a simple split such as 60/40Part of your purchase fee
Declaration of trust as a separate deed, for example recording who paid what deposit or mortgage payments, depending on how complex it is£295 to £595 + VAT
Severance of a joint tenancy, including the notice and the Land Registry application£195 + VAT

HM Land Registry currently charges no fee for registering a severance. Our conveyancing fees list every fee that can apply.

Talk to us about buying togetherRebekah replies personally, usually within one working day.See our conveyancing fees

Sources

Law of Property Act 1925, section 36: severing a joint tenancy by written notice.
HM Land Registry practice guide 24: private trusts of land: legal title held jointly, the four-owner limit and the Form A restriction.
GOV.UK: how to complete form TR1: panel 10, the declaration of trust in the transfer.
Jones v Kernott [2011] UKSC 53: the starting point for a home in joint names with no declaration of trust.
Pankhania v Chandegra [2012] EWCA Civ 1438: a signed declaration of trust is generally conclusive.
Inheritance (Provision for Family and Dependants) Act 1975, section 1: claims by a partner who lived with the deceased for two years.
Finance Act 2003, Schedule 4ZA paragraph 2: higher rates where there is more than one buyer.

Also: Law of Property Act 1925 ss.1(6) and 34; Trustee Act 1925 s.34; Trusts of Land and Appointment of Trustees Act 1996 ss.14 and 15; Administration of Estates Act 1925 s.46; Wills Act 1837 ss.18 to 18C; Finance Act 2003 Schedule 6ZA; HM Land Registry form SEV; GOV.UK guidance on SDLT relief for first-time buyers; Stack v Dowden [2007] UKHL 17; Laskar v Laskar [2008] EWCA Civ 347; Marr v Collie [2017] UKPC 17; Goodman v Gallant [1986] Fam 106; Kinch v Bullard [1999] 1 WLR 423.

The short version: joint ownership explained Residential property

This page is general information about the law of England and Wales, not advice on your circumstances. Last checked 26 October 2026.

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