Joint tenants vs tenants in common: which is best for an unmarried couple?

What is the difference between joint tenants vs tenants in common?

When two people buy a home together in England and Wales, the conveyancer asks how you want to own it. There are two choices, and the words are confusing because “tenants” here has nothing to do with renting. It just means owners. Joint tenants vs tenants in common comes down to two questions: are your shares always equal, and what happens to your part of the home if one of you dies?

At a glance	Joint tenants	Tenants in common
Who owns what	You both own the whole home	You each own a share
Size of shares	Always equal	Equal or unequal, you choose
If you split up	Half each, as a starting point	Your written shares
If one of you dies	The other owns it all	Their share follows their will
Can a will pass it on?	No	Yes
On the register	No Form A restriction	Form A restriction
Changing later	Either of you can switch alone	Switching back needs both

Either way, you are both on the deeds (the legal title) and you both need to sign to sell or remortgage. The choice is about the “beneficial” ownership: who is entitled to the money the home is worth.

It is also separate from your mortgage. If you are both named on the mortgage, you are both responsible for the payments, however you own the home.

Joint tenants in one sentence

You own the whole home together, with no separate shares, so if you split up you are treated as owning half each, and if one of you dies the other automatically owns all of it.

Tenants in common in one sentence

You each own a share of the home, which can be 50/50, 70/30 or any split you agree, and your share is yours to leave in your will.

Why can joint tenants be a trap if one of you paid more?

Joint tenants works well when you both put in the same and want the same outcome. The trouble starts when one of you put in more, usually the deposit.

As joint tenants there are no shares to write down. If you split up and sell, the starting point is half each. If one of you later severs the joint tenancy (more on that below), you become tenants in common in equal shares, again whatever you each paid in. Advicenow puts it plainly: severing gives you equal shares regardless of contributions.

Courts do look at the whole picture when there is no written declaration of your shares. In the leading case, Stack v Dowden, an unmarried couple owned in joint names without saying what their shares were, and the House of Lords upheld a 65/35 split because Ms Dowden had paid far more and they had kept their finances strictly separate. But the court said such cases would be “very unusual”. The starting point for a couple in joint names is equal shares, and the partner who wants something different has to prove it.

Once you have ticked a box, that usually settles it. In Pankhania v Chandegra the Court of Appeal confirmed that a written declaration of shares is treated as conclusive unless it is set aside for fraud, mistake or undue influence, or you later agree something different. So ticking “joint tenants” when one of you put in four times as much as the other is a real decision, not a formality.

This is not about suspicion. The partner who put in less also gains from clarity: they know exactly where they stand, and neither of you has to argue about it later. Fewer than half of the people we surveyed (18 of 39) knew that living together does not give you the same rights as marriage, so it is easy to assume the law will sort it out fairly. For unmarried couples, it mostly goes by what you wrote down.

What does tenants in common mean for your shares?

As tenants in common, you each own a defined share. You can set it in three main ways:

• Equal shares. 50/50, whatever you each paid in.
• Fixed shares. For example 80/20, matching your deposits.
• A formula. For example, each of you gets your deposit back first and the rest is split equally. Unlike a fixed percentage, the gap between you stays the size of the deposit difference rather than growing with the price of the home.

Watch the wording on the transfer form. Panel 10 of the TR1 (the form that moves the home into your names) offers three options: joint tenants, tenants in common in equal shares, or tenants in common on the terms you write in. “Tenants in common in equal shares” sounds like protection for a bigger deposit, but it fixes your shares at 50/50. If one of you put in more and you want that reflected, you need the third option or a separate declaration of trust.

Where the declaration of trust fits

A declaration of trust (sometimes called a deed of trust) is a document recording who owns what share and how it is worked out. The law says it must be in writing and signed (section 53(1)(b) of the Law of Property Act 1925); a conveyancer or solicitor can draw one up for you. HM Land Registry records who owns the legal title, not your shares, so your shares need to be written down in panel 10 of the transfer or in a declaration of trust.

Where a couples agreement fits

A couples agreement (also called a cohabitation agreement or a house buying agreement) covers the rest of the money picture: who pays the mortgage and bills, what happens if one of you pays for a new kitchen, what happens if one of you earns less for a while, and who stays and how the other is bought out if you split up. Courts can take a clear, signed agreement into account. It works alongside your ownership choice and any declaration of trust, and they should say the same thing. Read how an agreement counts and what makes a couples agreement count.

How much would each of you get? A worked example

Alex and Jordan buy a home together. Alex puts in a £40,000 deposit and Jordan puts in £10,000. A few years later they split up and sell for £330,000, with £230,000 of mortgage left to pay off. That leaves £100,000 to share.

How they owned it	Alex gets	Jordan gets
Joint tenants, or tenants in common in equal shares	£50,000	£50,000
Tenants in common, deposits back first, rest split equally	£65,000	£35,000
Tenants in common, 80/20 like the deposits	£80,000	£20,000

Illustration only. Ignores selling costs, tax and who paid what towards the mortgage.

The gap between the first two rows is £15,000. That is what the tick box on the transfer form is worth to each of them in this example. None of the rows is “right”: the 80/20 split gives Alex 80% of any rise in value as well as the deposit, while “deposits back first” returns each deposit and treats them as equal partners after that. What matters is that they pick one together, before they buy.

Try your own numbers in the deposit split calculator. For more on choosing between these splits, read our guide to a joint mortgage with an unequal deposit.

What happens if one of you dies?

This is where the two options differ most, and where being unmarried matters.

Joint tenants. The home passes to the survivor automatically. This is called survivorship. It happens outside any will: GOV.UK is clear that you cannot pass on your ownership of a jointly tenanted home in your will. If Alex dies, Jordan owns all of it, even if Alex’s will says otherwise.

Tenants in common. Your share does not pass to your partner automatically. It goes to whoever your will names. If you have no will, it goes under the intestacy rules, and an unmarried partner is not on that list. Married couples and civil partners can inherit under those rules; unmarried partners cannot, however long you have lived together.

If Alex dies	Joint tenants	Tenants in common
Alex has a will leaving everything to Jordan	Jordan owns it all	Jordan owns it all
Alex has a will leaving the share to a child	Jordan still owns it all	The child owns Alex's share
Alex has no will	Jordan owns it all	Alex's relatives get Alex's share under the intestacy rules

A surviving partner who lived with the other as a couple for the whole two years before the death can ask a court for “reasonable” provision for their maintenance under the Inheritance (Provision for Family and Dependants) Act 1975. That is a safety net, not a plan: it means a court claim, and it is limited to maintenance, which is less than a husband, wife or civil partner can ask for.

So each choice has its own risk. Joint tenants can leave a bigger deposit with the surviving partner rather than, say, your children. Tenants in common without wills can leave your partner sharing the home with your relatives, and Advicenow warns the home may then have to be sold. Wills fix the second problem, which is why tenants in common and wills usually go together. Read more in unmarried couples’ rights in the UK.

Can you change later?

Yes, in either direction, but the two directions work differently.

From joint tenants to tenants in common (severance)

Changing from joint tenants to tenants in common is called severing the joint tenancy. In England and Wales:

1. You can do it together or alone. Either joint owner can sever by giving the other a notice in writing (section 36(2) of the Law of Property Act 1925). GOV.UK confirms you can do this without the other owner’s agreement. It can also happen by mutual agreement.
2. Serve the notice properly. If your partner has not agreed, hand it to them, leave it at their address, or send it by registered or recorded post, and keep proof.
3. Tell HM Land Registry. Send Form SEV (or Form RX1 if you cannot provide the evidence Form SEV asks for) with the signed notice or proof it was served, to the HM Land Registry Citizen Centre. There is no HM Land Registry fee. A solicitor or conveyancer will charge for their time if you use one.
4. The register changes. HM Land Registry adds a Form A restriction to your title, which shows the home is held as tenants in common.

The effect: survivorship ends once the notice is served, and you each own an equal share. Severing does not create unequal shares. If one of you put in more and you want different shares, you both need to agree them and sign a declaration of trust.

You might want to sever if you separate, so that your share does not pass to your ex if you die, or if you want to leave your share to children.

From tenants in common to joint tenants

This needs all owners to agree. You sign a new declaration of trust (or transfer) saying you now own as joint tenants, and apply to HM Land Registry to remove the Form A restriction using Form RX3. There is no HM Land Registry fee.

How to check which you have now

Get a copy of your title register from HM Land Registry, which costs £7 online. If you see a Form A restriction, which starts “No disposition by a sole proprietor of the registered estate”, you are probably tenants in common. If there is none, you are probably joint tenants. Advicenow says the definite answer is in panel 10 of your TR1 transfer form, so ask your conveyancer for a copy if you don’t have it.

Which is best for an unmarried couple?

There is no single right answer, but your situation usually points one way.

Joint tenants may suit you if:

• you both put in the same, or you both genuinely want equal shares whatever you paid
• you both want the whole home to go to the survivor, simply, without relying on wills

Tenants in common may suit you if:

• one of you is putting in more, for example a bigger deposit or money from family
• either of you has children from a previous relationship, or wants to leave your share to someone other than your partner
• you want your shares, or a formula like “deposits back first”, written down

If you put in different amounts, one option is tenants in common with your shares written down, plus wills leaving your shares to each other. Advicenow notes that wills like this give you much the same protection on death as joint tenants, while your shares still reflect what you each put in.

If you already own your home with your partner not on the deeds, the question is different: first you would need to decide whether to add them to the title.

How do you tell your conveyancer?

Your conveyancer should explain the options and ask you to confirm which you want before you buy. Before you answer:

1. Agree it together first. Sit down and decide your shares and what happens if one of you dies. The free 10-minute conversation walks you both through it side by side, and your answers stay on your device.
2. Tell them which box. Joint tenants, tenants in common in equal shares, or tenants in common on the terms you agreed.
3. Ask for a declaration of trust if your shares are unequal or follow a formula, and check it says what you both agreed.
4. Share your couples agreement so the paperwork matches it. If panel 10 says one thing and your agreement another, you could end up arguing about which counts.
5. Make wills, especially as tenants in common.
6. See a solicitor if either of you has children from before, family money is involved, one of you is not on the mortgage, or you are separating and thinking about severing.

For the whole picture of what to agree before you buy, read our couples agreement guide.