What to tell your conveyancer when you buy together

What will your conveyancer ask when you buy together?

Your conveyancer (a solicitor or licensed conveyancer) handles the legal side of buying: checking the home, dealing with the seller’s side, moving the money and registering you as the owners. When two of you buy together, a few of their questions are about you as a couple, not about the house. The answers end up on the forms that say who owns what.

Most of these questions have no wrong answer. What matters is that you agree them together first, rather than deciding in a hurry when an email arrives a week before exchange.

What they ask	Why they ask	Who decides
Whose names go on the title?	To register the right owners	You both
Joint tenants or tenants in common?	It goes in panel 10 of the transfer form	You both
Are your shares unequal?	To record them in panel 10 or a declaration of trust	You both
Is family money involved?	Your lender needs to know, usually on its own form	You, your family and your lender
Who are you, and where is the money from?	Legal checks against fraud and money laundering	Routine for every buyer
Has either of you owned a home before?	It changes Stamp Duty	Facts, not a choice

What is the question on the transfer form about how you’ll hold it?

The transfer form, called the TR1, moves the home from the seller into your names. When there is more than one buyer, panel 10 of the form records how you hold it. HM Land Registry’s guidance gives three boxes:

1. Joint tenants. You own the whole home together, with no separate shares.
2. Tenants in common in equal shares. You each own half, whatever you each paid in.
3. On trust, on the terms written in. This is the box for unequal shares or a formula, written into the panel or set out in a separate declaration of trust.

Two details are worth knowing. First, if panel 10 is filled in, HM Land Registry’s guidance says you both have to sign the transfer as well as the seller, so you should see it before completion. Ask your conveyancer to show you the panel and explain what it says. Second, if panel 10 is left blank, HM Land Registry adds a standard note to the register, called a Form A restriction, by default. That note doesn’t say what your shares are.

The register itself never shows your shares. HM Land Registry’s practice guide 24 explains that trusts are kept off the register, so the place your shares are written down is panel 10 or a declaration of trust, and you keep a copy.

Should you tell them joint tenants or tenants in common?

That’s your decision, not your conveyancer’s, though they should explain the options. In short:

• Joint tenants suits couples who put in the same, want equal shares and want the home to pass to the survivor automatically if one of you dies.
• Tenants in common suits couples who put in different amounts, or who want to leave their share to someone else, such as a child. Your share passes under your will, so wills matter.

As unmarried partners you have no automatic right to inherit from each other, except that a home owned as joint tenants passes to the survivor. That’s why the choice is about more than money. For the full comparison, read joint tenants vs tenants in common.

How do you record unequal shares?

If one of you is putting in more, and you want that reflected, tell your conveyancer the exact split or formula you’ve agreed. They can record it in one of two ways:

• In panel 10 itself, using the third box and writing the terms in, for example “80% to Alex and 20% to Jordan”.
• In a separate declaration of trust, with the third box ticked and referring to it. This suits a formula, such as each of you getting your deposit back first and sharing the rest equally.

A declaration of trust must be in writing and signed (section 53 of the Law of Property Act 1925). Drawing it up is your conveyancer’s or a solicitor’s job. Prices vary between firms, so ask for it to be included in the quote. Read declaration of trust explained for what it does and doesn’t cover.

Without any of this, the starting point for a couple in joint names is equal shares. In Stack v Dowden the House of Lords said a different split would be very unusual, and the partner who wants one has to prove it.

Worked example: what the tick box is worth

Alex and Jordan buy a home for £300,000. Alex puts in a £40,000 deposit and Jordan puts in £10,000, with a £250,000 mortgage for the rest. Some 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.

What panel 10 says	Alex gets	Jordan gets
Box 1: joint tenants	£50,000	£50,000
Box 2: tenants in common in equal shares	£50,000	£50,000
Box 3: deposits back first, rest shared equally	£65,000	£35,000
Box 3: 80/20, like the deposits	£80,000	£20,000
Left blank, nothing else written	£50,000 as a starting point	£50,000 as a starting point

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

None of the rows is “right”. Equal shares can be fair if you see the home as fully joint. Deposits back first returns each deposit and treats you as equal partners after that, which is why the gap is £30,000, the difference between the deposits. 80/20 also gives Alex 80% of any rise in value. What matters is that you choose together and the conveyancer writes down what you chose. Try your own numbers in the deposit split calculator. If one of you is putting in more, see our guide to a joint mortgage with an unequal deposit.

Where a couples agreement fits

A couples agreement (also called a cohabitation agreement, or a house buying agreement) is about the money between the two of you: who pays the mortgage and bills, what happens if one of you pays for a new kitchen, and how the money is shared if you sell. It doesn’t record who owns the home. That’s what panel 10 and a declaration of trust are for, and your conveyancer handles those. CoHabit does not prepare a TR1 or a declaration of trust.

The two should say the same thing about money. If your agreement says deposits come back first and panel 10 says joint tenants, you’ve written down two different answers. Courts can take a clear, signed couples agreement into account. Read how an agreement counts.

What about gifted deposits and the lender’s letter?

If parents or other family are helping, tell your conveyancer early. Your lender will usually want a letter or form from each person giving money, and most lenders have their own wording. Use the lender’s form, not one from elsewhere. Yorkshire Building Society, for example, asks the giver to confirm their name, address, relationship to you, the amount and where the money came from. NatWest asks the giver to confirm whether the money is repayable and that they make no claim to the home. Nationwide’s form has the giver confirm it is an unconditional gift and that they will have no rights or interest in the property.

The giver may also be asked for ID and bank statements, so they can show where the money came from. Legal Choices, the website run by the legal regulators, says family members will need to confirm the money is a gift and that they have no rights over the property.

One thing the lender’s letter doesn’t do: it doesn’t say how the family money is shared between the two of you. If Jordan’s parents give £10,000, is that Jordan’s contribution, or both of yours? Agree it, then tell your conveyancer so panel 10 or the declaration of trust reflects it. For gift or loan, tax and worked numbers, read gifted deposits from parents.

What ID and proof of money will they want?

Every buyer goes through the same checks. Legal Choices explains that conveyancers check you are who you say you are and that the money is coming from a legitimate source, because property is a target for fraud and money laundering. Expect to be asked for:

• photo ID and proof of address for each of you
• bank statements showing where your savings came from
• payslips or a P60, or tax returns if you’re self-employed
• proof from the executors if any of the money is an inheritance

They will also ask whether either of you has owned a home before. In England, first-time buyer relief from Stamp Duty only applies if everyone buying is a first-time buyer. At £300,000 that’s the difference between no Stamp Duty and £5,000 at standard rates. Higher rates usually apply to the whole purchase if either of you will own another home after you buy and isn’t replacing your main home. Wales has its own tax, Land Transaction Tax, and no first-time buyer relief. If one partner’s history changes the tax, agree who pays it.

What should you take to your conveyancer?

What should you do next?

1. Agree the money side together. Start free, together: the free 10-minute conversation takes you both through whose name goes on the home, what each of you puts in and whether the extra comes back first if you sell. Your answers stay on your device.
2. Run your numbers in the deposit split calculator so you both see what each option means in pounds.
3. Print the checklist above and fill it in before your conveyancer asks.
4. Tell your conveyancer in writing how you’ll hold the home and any shares or formula, and ask them to confirm what goes in panel 10.
5. Read the TR1 before you sign it, and keep copies of it and any declaration of trust.
6. Make wills, especially if you’ll be tenants in common.
7. See a solicitor for advice if either of you has children from before, family money comes with conditions, only one of you will be on the title, or you can’t agree. If you already own and want to change how you hold it, read Form A, severance and changing your shares.