Joint Bank account with Friend

carlw

Hi,

A friend and i are in the process of buying an investment property,

We need to open a joint bank account for the rental income to be paid into and expenses to go out.

Between us we have accounts with Lloyds, Abbey, Alliance, Hfax, Nationwide, First Direct, Post Office.

Are there fee free bank accounts i can open without having to trasfer a salary into them?

Any advice welcome.

noh

carlw wrote: »

Hi,

...................
Are there fee free bank accounts i can open without having to trasfer a salary into them?

Any advice welcome.

Yes all the banks provide them.

Though you should really be opening a business account rather than a personal one.

Cmdr_Bond

I know for a fact that the Lloyds Classic account (provided you don't go overdrawn) is fee free, open with £1 and no monthly throughput requirement.

can't say for others, but you may wish to make use of comparison sites, they should be able to list this info.

Having done a quick check myself, I would say of the main banks you could pick from Lloyds, Barclays, NatWest, Nationwide, Halifax, and probably many more.

Cmdr_Bond

noh wrote: »

Yes all the banks provide them.

Though you should really be opening a business account rather than a personal one.

Missed the fact that this was an investment property on the first read.

gt94sss2

carlw wrote: »

Are there fee free bank accounts i can open without having to trasfer a salary into them?

All of them (apart from First Direct) will offer fee free bank accounts and its easy to get around FD's fees.

However, if I was you I would not open a joint current account but a business account.

This is because if you open a joint current account your credit file will be associated with that of your friend. This might make it harder for you to access credit/mortgages in future..

Regards
Sunil

carlw

Hi

Thanks for all the quick replies,

Do all business accounts charge fees? To be honest i was looking at regular current accounts to save on any fees, as this would be the first investment property and although it will make a return its not huge. That said based on your responses i think a business account would be better, even though we both have good credit ratings.

Thanks

Carl

Cmdr_Bond

All it takes is for something to go sour, and your credit rating can be screwed - a business account is the way to go, but I can offer no advice on their fees.

gt94sss2

carlw wrote: »

Do all business accounts charge fees? To be honest i was looking at regular current accounts to save on any fees, as this would be the first investment property and although it will make a return its not huge. That said based on your responses i think a business account would be better, even though we both have good credit ratings.

Most banks will offer you 18/24 months of free banking on new business accounts.

If most of your transactions are going to be electronic transfers in/out of the account, you may want to look at the HSBC Business Direct account.

Otherwise, I think Santander offer a free business bank account but I would be tempted to use another bank..

Regards
Sunil

WhiteHorse

It's already been pointed out, but it's worth repeating - a joint account means that you are linked with that person. There's a lot of bad stuff that could come from that.

It's also worth making sure that you are safe with regard to access - 'both to sign' is a must.

PNPSUKNET

If its an investment property, you are going to have to register for tax etc anyway so if you bank detects this they will close it down anyway as they are personal accounts