tenants in common, sole mortgage

tracjay

Hi, sorry if this seems like a silly question but I'm a little confused. I have a sole mortgage on my property and have recently moved in with my partner, who I want to add as a tenant in common, to reflect some money he is putting into the house, ie a lump sum payment off my mortgage. Can I change the deeds to a tenants in common arrangement whilst retaining the sole mortgage in my name - or will I also need to change the mortgage to a joint one? Thanks

booksurr

no you can't, you will need the lender's permission to alter the ownership. They will require all owners to be on the mortgage for obvious reasons if they have to repossess since repossession if there is an owner who is not liable for the mortgage would be "rather" complex!

Shahni

You would also need to put his name on the mortgage.

An alternative may be giving him a second charge over the property but again the mortgage company would need to consent to this.

TBagpuss

You can't chanfge the legal ownership without the lender's permsission, which they are very unlikly to give. However, you could get a declaration of trust drawn up which made clear that you hold the property on trust for yourself and your partner - you remain the legal owner but he has a efined beneficial interest.

Then next time you remortgage you can change the deeds (assuming that at that point, you get a joint mortgage)