This content applies to England only.

Housing laws vary between England and Scotland. Get advice relating to Scotland

How much can we borrow?

Some lenders will give buyers who are both earning a mortgage up to 2½ or 3 times the higher income, plus 1 times the lower income. Other lenders will make an affordability assessment. First-time buyers will usually be offered less.

Rights and responsibilities for joint mortgages

When you get a joint mortgage both of you will both have important responsibilities and decisions to make as joint owners.

This includes:

• paying the loan,
• deciding how the property will be owned, and
• thinking about what happens if the relationship breaks down.

Paying the loan

With a joint mortgage all the borrowers will be equally responsible for keeping up the repayments, even if someone moves out. The lender can chase any one of you for the money if someone fails to pay. In practice the person who stays will often end up paying.

Consider getting mortgage protection insurance to help you repay the loan if one of you loses your job, becomes ill, or dies.

If you have a joint mortgage, you can both be:

• told if the mortgage has not been paid
• allowed to pay the whole mortgage
• involved in any repossession proceedings.

Contact a mortgage adviser before entering into a joint mortgage, or letting a new partner move in and make contributions to the mortgage. A solicitor can advise you on joint mortgages before you buy.

How will the property be owned?

When you buy a property as joint owners, you will need to decide how the shares in the property will be owned. There are two different ways in which the shares can be held, either as joint tenants, or tenants in common.

Joint tenants

Generally married couples or people in relationships own the property as joint tenants. This means that they own the property equally and if one person dies then their share will automatically go the remaining joint tenant.

Both joint tenants will need to give permission for any sale – but if you’re getting divorced or dissolving a civil partnership a court can order a sale.

All joint tenants are responsible for making mortgage payments. If one joint tenant leaves and stops paying the mortgage, the other(s) should do their best to pay the whole of the mortgage and tackle any arrears – otherwise you can lose your home.

Tenants in common

If joint owners are not married or in a relationship and/or have unequal shares in the property then it may be more appropriate to hold the property as tenants in common, where each owner will have their own separate share.

If one person dies, then their share will pass under their will, or (if there is no will) to their next of kin. It will not pass automatically to the other owner.

What happens if your relationship breaks down?

Before you buy, think about what happens to the property if one person leaves because your relationship ends. Mediation can be helpful if couples want to avoid going to court to get an order deciding what should happen.

The court can make an order for sale, or to allow one partner to occupy the property. Their decision depends on whether you:

• are married or in a civil partnership
• have any children, and
• what other options might be available.

It‘s important to continue making the mortgage payments – if you can – even if you have left the home. This should help to ensure that you do not lose out financially when it is eventually sold – and otherwise your home could be repossessed.

Cohabitation contracts

To avoid any problems if a joint owner wants to sell, you and your partner can draw up a cohabitation contract setting out the rights and responsibilities you both have, and this should cover details such as:

• how you will divide up and pay the mortgage and household bills
• when the property should be sold
• extending the mortgage term, or increasing borrowing
• what rights you each will have to stay in the home if you split up

A cohabitation contract may help to avoid disagreements and provide proof of your original intentions when you moved in together.

The contract may not be legally binding if it isn’t:

• drawn up or witnessed correctly, or
• in the best interests of any children you may have.

So get advice before entering into a cohabitation agreement, and to get it drawn up by an expert – preferably a solicitor.

Occupation orders

You can go to the court to get an occupation order if you need to exclude one partner from the property, or part of the property. This is only a short-term solution, and you will still need agree on how to divide the assets – or get the court to do so if you can’t.

Selling the home

In some cases if only one joint owners wants to sell, they will need to apply to the court for an order for sale. The court may decide that the property should not be sold, at least for a period of time – for example because there are children living in the property.

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