Selling and buying again together: do your shares carry over?

Do your shares carry over when you’re selling and buying again together?

Not automatically. If you’re selling and buying again together, the shares you recorded for your first home don’t simply move with you. This guide is for unmarried couples in England and Wales, and it’s written for both of you: the partner who put more into the first home and the partner who put in less.

A declaration of trust, whether it’s in panel 10 of the transfer form (the TR1) or in a separate deed, records how you own the value of the home it’s made for. Each purchase has its own transfer form, with its own panel 10 for how the buyers will hold that home. So don’t assume your old declaration carries over: record your shares again for the new home, there or in a new declaration of trust.

That matters because courts treat a clear declaration as firm. In Stack v Dowden, Baroness Hale said an express declaration of trust is conclusive unless it’s changed by a later agreement or affected by proprietary estoppel (a promise someone relied on to their cost). In Pankhania v Chandegra, the Court of Appeal held two owners to “tenants in common in equal shares” on their transfer form, because nothing gave grounds to set the declaration aside. Baroness Hale said such a declaration can be overturned only for something like fraud or mistake. So if the new transfer form records “joint tenants” or “tenants in common in equal shares”, expect that to decide your shares in the new home.

If you record nothing at all for the new home and buy it in joint names, the starting point is equal shares, even if one of you put more of the sale money in. In Jones v Kernott, the Supreme Court said that starting point can change only if there’s evidence you both intended something different, when you bought or later. Living together, however long for, doesn’t change this: there’s no such thing as common-law marriage.

So your shares carry over only if you both decide they should, and record it for the new home.

What happens to the money when you sell?

The sale is when your shares in the old home are worked out. The money left after the mortgage and selling costs is shared under the rules for that home: your declaration of trust if you made one, or the starting point of equal shares if you’re in joint names and recorded nothing.

HM Land Registry’s guidance explains what happens legally. When a home owned by two people is sold and the buyer pays them both, the buyer takes the home free of your shares, and the trust attaches to the money from the sale instead. So your shares don’t vanish when you sell. They move from the bricks to the cash.

The practical risk is in the move itself. If the sale money goes straight into the next purchase, neither of you ever sees “your” part of it, and a few years later nobody remembers whether the new deposit was 65/35 or simply “ours”.

So before the money moves, write down three things:

• What each of you gets from the sale, worked out under your rules for the old home.
• How much of it each of you is putting into the new home, and whether either of you is adding savings, a gift or a loan.
• Who pays the moving costs, such as stamp duty, legal fees and removals, and whether that counts as part of what they put in.

What are your options for the new home?

There are three common ways to handle it. CoHabit’s free conversation asks this as one of its 16 questions, with these three answers. None is right for everyone.

1. Your shares carry over. What each of you would have got from the sale counts as what you each put into the new home. Then the same rules you used before apply again: for example, each of you gets back what you put in first, and anything above that is shared equally. This keeps faith with whatever you agreed the first time. It may feel fairest to whoever put more in at the start, because their extra money isn’t quietly turned into equal shares by the move.

2. Start again equally. You treat the new home as a fresh start and own it half each, whatever each of you put into the first one. You might choose this after years of shared life, especially if the partner who put in less has paid more of the bills, done more of the childcare or taken a career break. Equal shares in the second home might then feel like a fair reflection of everything each of you has put in, not just the first deposit.

3. Decide then. You agree to decide when you buy, rather than now. That’s a reasonable choice if you can’t yet know what your lives will look like. But be clear what it means in practice: “then” is before you exchange contracts on the new home, not after. If you reach completion without deciding and you buy in joint names, the starting point is equal shares.

Whichever you choose, also agree:

• What counts as new money, such as savings or a family gift added to the new deposit, and whether it comes back first.
• What happens if the new home is worth less, so there isn’t enough to give each of you back what you put in.
• How the new mortgage is split, and whether paying more of it changes anything. Our guide to when one partner pays more of the mortgage goes through the choices.

How does it work with real numbers?

Alex and Jordan aren’t married. They bought their first home in joint names with unequal deposits: Alex put in £40,000 and Jordan £10,000. They agreed that each of them gets their deposit back first and the rest is shared equally, and recorded it in a declaration of trust.

They sell, and after the mortgage and selling costs, £100,000 is left:

Selling the first home: £100,000 left

First home	Alex	Jordan
Deposits back first	£40,000	£10,000
The other £50,000, equally	£25,000	£25,000
Share of the £100,000	£65,000	£35,000

They put all £100,000 into a £400,000 home, also in joint names, with a £300,000 joint mortgage that they pay equally. Several years later they sell that home too, and after the mortgage and selling costs £150,000 is left. What each of them gets depends on what they recorded for the second home:

Selling the second home: £150,000 left

What they recorded	Alex gets	Jordan gets
Nothing for the new home	£75,000	£75,000
Start again equally	£75,000	£75,000
Carried over, put-in back first	£90,000	£60,000
Carried over as fixed 65/35	£97,500	£52,500

How the rows work:

• Nothing for the new home: in joint names, the starting point is half each, £75,000 each. Alex’s extra £30,000 from the first sale (£65,000 against Jordan’s £35,000) is shared, unless Alex can show they both intended something different.
• Start again equally: the same £75,000 each. The difference is that they both chose it and wrote it down, so neither is surprised.
• Carried over, put-in back first: this is the “shares carry over” answer. Alex’s £65,000 and Jordan’s £35,000 count as what each put into the new home. Each gets that back first, which leaves £50,000, shared equally at £25,000 each. So Alex gets £90,000 and Jordan £60,000.
• Carried over as fixed 65/35: they turn the first sale into fixed shares for the new home. Alex gets 65% of £150,000, which is £97,500, and Jordan 35%, which is £52,500.

The last two rows share the growth differently. With “put-in back first”, the £50,000 above what they put in is split equally. With fixed 65/35, Alex also gets 65% of the growth. Neither is wrong: it’s a choice about what feels fair to both of you, so look at the numbers before you choose.

It’s also worth agreeing what happens if there’s less. Say the second home sells with only £80,000 left, less than the £100,000 they put in. “Put-in back first” can’t repay both in full. One simple rule is to share what’s left in proportion to what each put in: 65% to Alex, £52,000, and 35% to Jordan, £28,000.

Illustration only: it ignores tax, moving costs and any difference in what they paid towards the mortgage. Try your own figures for the first home in the deposit split calculator.

What if your first home was in one partner’s name?

Then the move is an especially important moment, because the new home may be in joint names for the first time.

That’s what happened in Stack v Dowden, a leading case on joint homes in England and Wales. Ms Dowden bought the couple’s first home in 1983 in her sole name. They sold it in 1993, and the money went into her building society account. They then bought a new home in joint names, but the transfer form contained no declaration of trust. Most of the cash for the new home came from Ms Dowden’s account, and the couple kept their money strictly separate. Years later they separated and went to court.

The House of Lords upheld a 65/35 split in Ms Dowden’s favour, because of her much bigger contribution and the way they’d kept everything else apart. But Baroness Hale said cases like that would be very unusual, and the couple had to go all the way to the House of Lords to settle it. The starting point for a home in joint names is still equal shares.

So if one of you owned the first home, talk about what the owner’s sale money means: a deposit that comes back first, a share that carries over, or a gift to a home you’ll own equally. Any of these can be fair, as long as you both know which and record it before you buy. Our guide to moving in with a partner who owns the house covers the years before the move.

What else changes when you buy again together?

A few things work differently the second time.

Stamp duty (England). You’re no longer first-time buyers. GOV.UK says first-time buyers’ relief only applies if you and everyone you’re buying with are first-time buyers, and HMRC counts a home you owned with someone else, so once you’ve owned a home together you pay the standard rates. On a £400,000 home, as in our example, that’s £10,000 at the rates on GOV.UK on 1 October 2026: nothing on the first £125,000, 2% on the next £125,000 (£2,500) and 5% on the rest (£7,500).

Higher rates for additional homes. GOV.UK says the higher rates don’t apply if the new home replaces your main residence and you’ve sold the old one. If you buy before you sell, you usually pay the higher rates first and can apply for a refund if you sell your previous main home within 3 years. GOV.UK also says that if either of you individually would have to pay the higher rates, the whole purchase is charged at the higher rates.

Wales. Land Transaction Tax replaces stamp duty. The Welsh Revenue Authority says higher rates usually don’t apply if you sold your last main home before you buy the new one, or on the same day, and you can usually claim a refund if you sell within 3 years of buying. Ask your conveyancer about the rates that apply to you.

Capital Gains Tax on the sale. GOV.UK says you get Private Residence Relief automatically, and have no tax to pay, if the home you’re selling was your only home and your main home all the time you owned it, and the other conditions apply, such as not letting part of it out.

Your mortgage. MoneyHelper says most mortgages are now portable, so you may be able to take your deal with you. But moving is treated like a new mortgage application, with affordability checks. If you don’t pass them, you might have to move to another lender and pay an early repayment charge. The mortgage is about what you owe the lender. It doesn’t decide who owns what share of the home.

How do you write it down for the new home?

There are two pieces, and they should say the same thing.

A declaration of trust for the new home. Tell your conveyancer early what you’ve agreed, and ask for it to be recorded in panel 10 of the new transfer form or in a separate declaration of trust. If your shares will be unequal, or follow a formula like “put-in back first”, you’ll usually need to own as tenants in common. Advicenow says tenants in common is likely to suit couples paying different amounts. The law says a declaration of trust over land has to be shown in signed writing. Read it before you sign, because it’s hard to undo. Our guide to the declaration of trust explains the routes, and our guide to joint tenants or tenants in common explains the choice.

An updated couples agreement. A couples agreement (also called a cohabitation agreement or a house buying agreement) covers what a declaration of trust usually doesn’t: how you split the new mortgage, bills, improvements and what happens if you split up. If your agreement was written for the first home, update it or make a new one before you buy, and make sure it matches the new declaration. Courts can take an agreement like this into account, and Advicenow says they will usually follow one if it’s fair and you were both honest about your finances, and even more so if you each had independent legal advice. See how your agreement counts.

Your wills. If you own as tenants in common, each share passes under that person’s will. Citizens Advice says an unmarried partner doesn’t automatically inherit without one, so check your wills still say what you want when you move.

What should you do next?

1. Look at what you recorded for your current home. Find your TR1, any declaration of trust and any couples agreement. If they say what should happen if you move, show them to your conveyancer.
2. Work out each of your shares of the sale, before the money moves. Try the deposit split calculator with your figures.
3. Decide together whether your shares carry over, start again equally, or something in between. The free 10-minute conversation asks this question side by side, along with the deposit, the mortgage and splitting up, and your answers stay on your device.
4. Agree the extras: new savings or gifts in the deposit, who pays moving costs, and what happens if there’s less money than you put in.
5. Tell your conveyancer early how you want to own the new home and in what shares, so the new transfer form or declaration of trust says exactly that.
6. Update your couples agreement and wills so they match the new home.
7. Get legal advice if family money is involved, the first home was in one name, either of you has children from before, or either of you feels under pressure. A solicitor for each of you can help.