If you’re buying shared ownership, buying with somebody else – whether a partner, a family member or a friend – will let you buy a bigger chunk of your home and, potentially, staircase to 100% sooner than you would have on your own.
Can a group of friends buy a house together?
Yes. Many lenders allow two families to combine their respective incomes in order to jointly purchase a house. Both households will need to meet the minimum qualifying loan requirements, which may vary lender to lender. Lenders may also require both families to hold equal ownership rights of the house.
When do you have joint ownership of a property?
Joint ownership takes place when two people decide to purchase a property together. The most common situation is when married or unmarried couples buy a home together, but joint ownership may also be when friends or family members choose to jointly purchase a property.
Can a family member be a joint owner of a home?
Even if you are financing the property alone, it makes sense to add a close relative, like spouse or children if you are married, or parents in case you are a bachelor. A person, who is added as a joint owner in the agreement, need not contribute towards the purchase of the property.
How can I transfer my property from sole owner to joint owner?
There’s no fee to do this. You can also change from sole ownership to tenants in common or joint tenants, for example, if you want to add your partner as joint owner. This is called transferring ownership. You’ll have to apply to the Court of Protection if you want to sell the property but the other owner has lost ‘mental capacity’.
Is it better to buy property in joint name?
As most of the residential properties purchased nowadays, are apartments in housing societies, it is better to buy in joint names. In case anything happens to one holder, the society will generally transfer the flat in the name of the remaining joint holders, without insisting on a probate or a no-objection certificate from the other legal heirs.
