Legal Q&A: should we buy half a house from our landlord?

My landlord has approached me to buy half the house I already rent from him. Will this cause problems in the future?
Merrily Harper
Fiona McNulty7 April 2018

Question: My landlord has approached me to see if I want to buy half of the house I rent from him. He says if I do that and still live here, I’ll have to pay him 50 per cent of the current rent.

Will this cause issues, such as who will be responsible for any work needed on the property? And what happens if either of us wants to sell?

I can see many other similar issues could arise. Would it be best to rent elsewhere but still try to negotiate a good deal with him to buy 50 per cent?

Answer: There is no reason why either of you would have to live in the property, as you could let it to a third party for a market rent.

Unless you have sufficient savings you would need to borrow the funds required to purchase the property, perhaps from a relative, or if that is not an option, from a commercial lender such as your bank.

Ensure the price your landlord wants is based on a current market valuation, preferably carried out by a chartered surveyor.

Consider your landlord’s proposal, the responsibilities that come with property ownership, and whether you know him well enough to feel comfortable jointly owning the property with him.

There should be a declaration of trust confirming such matters as the procedures to follow if, for example, one of you wishes to sell their share in the property; how maintenance/repairs/improvements are to be funded; responsibility for outgoings, and so on.

Hold the property as tenants in common so that on death, the deceased’s half share passes in accordance with their Will, or if there is no Will, under the rules of intestacy, and therefore does not automatically pass to the surviving joint owner.

These answers can only be a very brief commentary on the issues raised and should not be relied on as legal advice. No liability is accepted for such reliance. If you have similar issues, you should obtain advice from a solicitor.

If you have a question for Fiona McNulty, please email legalsolutions@standard.co.ukor write to Legal Solutions, Homes & Property, London Evening Standard, 2 Derry Street, W8 5EE.

We regret that questions cannot be answered individually, but we will try to feature them here. Fiona McNulty is a solicitor specialising in residential property.

Create a FREE account to continue reading

eros

Registration is a free and easy way to support our journalism.

Join our community where you can: comment on stories; sign up to newsletters; enter competitions and access content on our app.

Your email address

Must be at least 6 characters, include an upper and lower case character and a number

You must be at least 18 years old to create an account

* Required fields

Already have an account? SIGN IN

By clicking Create Account you confirm that your data has been entered correctly and you have read and agree to our Terms of use , Cookie policy and Privacy policy .

This site is protected by reCAPTCHA and the Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply.

Thank you for registering

Please refresh the page or navigate to another page on the site to be automatically logged in