Most of the legal issues that arise when purchasing a residential investment property are the same as for purchasing a home for private occupation. These include:

What entity you use to complete the purchase - your name, a partnership, a trust, or a Loss Attributing Qualifying Company.

The need for the title to be checked and you to obtain a report from the local authority as to whether or not the property meets with their requirements.

Whether or not the agreement should be conditional on you obtaining finance.

A check of your financing offer and documenting that offer.

If you are purchasing in your own name and there is to be more than one owner, you should consider:

(a) Joint Tenancy - A joint tenancy is the most common way for a husband and wife to own a property.With a joint tenancy each party owns an undivided share of the property, i.e. if there are two owners a half share, for three owners a third share. In the event of one of the registered owners dying then their share automatically passes to the surviving owners and if more than one, in equal shares, regardless of what that person says in their Will.

(b) Tenants in Common in Shares - A tenancy in common arises where friends purchase a property together, or husband and wife who wish to make provision for others in their Wills, such as a child from an earlier relationship.The property can be owned by the registered owners in whatever share on which they agree. In the event of one of the registered owners dying then their share will not pass automatically to the other one but instead pass to whoever the deceased registered owner has left it to in their Will.

It is also timely when you buy a property, to enter into or update your Will and nominate a person who will look after your affairs if you were to lose mental or physical capacity, by entering into enduring powers of attorney.

Next: Taxation issues

The information on this web site is of a general nature only. Readers are advised to establish the applicability of information in relation to specific circumstances and not to rely solely on the information provided here.