Cohabiting and Selling Your Home: Your Complete Guide

Breaking up with a partner is always difficult, and if you’re cohabiting but aren’t married or in a civil partnership can often come with many complications.

However, it doesn’t need to be and if you are looking to sell, there are steps that can be made to protect your rights.

What you firstly need to know is how your home is owned. This information is on the title deeds and is key in how your home can be sold while cohabiting. Your home may be:

• Owned by only one of you.
• Owned jointly.

These instances will mean you have different rights when it comes to selling your home. We’ve broken down this information below so you know exactly where you stand when it comes to selling while cohabiting…

Property Owned by One Person

If the title deeds only have one person on them, this can cause complications as the person who doesn’t own the home does not have legal rights to remain there.

A homeowner in this instance can evict the other person, as well as rent or sell without the agreement of the other person. They are also entitled to take out a loan against the property without any consent required by anyone else.

However, there are ways in which you can protect your rights if you aren’t the homeowner. IF you have contributed towards mortgage payments or improvements of the property, a court will recognise your right to continue to live in the property and earn a share of the value if it is to be sold.

In order to do this, you are required to either get an Occupation Order, in England, Wales and Northern Ireland, or in Scotland apply to the court to receive Occupancy Rights.

Property Owned by Both Cohabitants

If you are both owners of the property then you will both have a right to a share when selling. There are two ways a property can be jointly owned, which are:

• Joint Tenants: This is where both cohabitants own the property equally. If one person dies, the other person will inherit their share regardless of what is stated in a will.
• Tenants in Common: This is where each person owns a share in the property. This doesn’t have to be 50:50, and the share will then be passed on to whoever it’s left to in a will. Often this is the most common type of ownership between cohabiting couples.

If you are joint owners, then you will both have to make the decision to sell. This can often be stressful, during what can be a difficult time. Here at Fast Cash Property we have successfully helped with the transactions of hundreds of homes from people cohabiting or going through a divorce.

Our team are completely understanding and always work at a pace to suit you, whether it be a quick sale, with the option to make an offer in just 24 hours, or a longer process as you both look to re-find your feet.

Ultimately, we appreciate everyone’s circumstances are different and provide support on the sale every step of the way, from making an offer, to seeking solicitors, to exchanging contracts and completing the process. There’s no chain and we make a cash offer with the option to make payments to both owners separately.

If you’re looking to sell your property, get in touch with us today and we’re more than happy to answer any potential questions you may have.