Latest research carried out by Ocean Finance has revealed that 34% of those who own a home along with someone else are unsure of the legal structure of how they own their property. 1 - 4 admitted to having no idea what the legal structure was.

If a home is bought jointly, the owners of that home can either choose to be joint tenants or tenants in common. Distingushing between being joint tenants or tenants in common confirms what legal ownership either persons has of the home in question.

In the UK joint home ownership is the most common form of ownership, 63% of home owners are in a joint home owner partnership. Joint home ownership means each person has equal rights to that property and each own 100% of the property. If one of the owners should die, the ownership of the property goes to the other person.

According to the research only 12% of owners were tenants in common. Where tenants in common are concerned each party owns a fixed stake in the home, this stake doesn't necessarily have to be 50% equally to each party. The stake not being equal could be down to one of the parties putting a larger deposit down for the property, this is usually seen when a parent assists with the deposit for one of the parties, resulting in one party having a larger ownership of the home.

Ian Williams from Ocean Finance, said of the research -

“The benefits of buying a house together as tenants in common are becoming better understood by homebuyers. With more couples getting financial support from families with their deposit, or putting in their own savings, splitting the ownership allows them to preserve their share. And for older borrowers it offers some protection from care costs. The good news is that it isn’t too hard for joint tenants to split their tenancy if they need to – you can either download the forms from the Land Registry and do it yourself, or get help from a solicitor or conveyancer.”

Author: Lauren Angell, Event Manager, CPT Events

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