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Joint Borrower Sole Proprietor (Part 1)
What is a Joint Borrower Sole Proprietor (JBSP) mortgage and how do they work?
It’s a mortgage where multiple people are liable for the loan, and potentially contributing towards the monthly payments. Sole proprietor means that only selected people on the mortgage actually own the property.
As an example, mum goes on the mortgage with her son and their partner. Mum is liable for the loan with the son and his partner, but only the son and partner own the property. They’re the ones going on the deeds, who will benefit from the sale of the house. They can reap the rewards of the equity in the property. It’s what people often think a guarantor mortgage is.
What responsibilities do the joint borrower and sole proprietor have in a JBSP mortgage?
If it was mum, son and his partner, all three of those people are liable for the mortgage payments. But being a borrower doesn’t guarantee you any rights over the property.
So if mum is only a joint borrower, and not a proprietor like the son and partner, she can’t make any decision to sell the house. She can’t reap the rewards of the equity in the property. She is liable for the loan, but not gaining any benefits from the house.
Who is eligible for a JBSP mortgage? Can I get a JBSP mortgage as a First Time Buyer?
Yes, and with clients at the moment JBSP is becoming much more widely used. It’s for people who want to buy a house, but their income isn’t sufficient to get a mortgage of the size they want.
So mum, dad or another family member can come onto the mortgage and use their income to bump up the figures and get where they need to be. Regular mortgage criteria do come into play, and credit score and affordability are important. The lender will still take into account mum’s income and expenditure.
Most of the time, a family member joins the mortgage, but some lenders do offer JBSP mortgages to non-family members. That limits our lender pool, but otherwise there aren’t any criteria that are different from usual.
What criteria do you need to meet for a JBSP mortgage?
Affordability and credit assessments will still be part of the overall process. All the other factors are pretty much as you’d expect in a non-JBSP scenario.
Do JBSP mortgages require a larger deposit compared to standard mortgages?
Not necessarily. It depends on which lender we’re going to. Many lenders offer 5% to 10% deposits as standard with First Time Buyers.
Some lenders take into account the parent’s age, assuming that they are older, but others won’t be concerned about the oldest applicant’s age. They may require a slightly larger deposit.
It’s always worth picking up the phone and having a chat about the deposit you’ve got and what kind of proposition is going to best fit you. Deposit-wise, it could be a range, with a minimum of 5%. We could definitely work something out for you.
Do you pay stamp duty on a JBSP mortgage?
The usual rules apply. At the time of recording in June 2025, First Time Buyers have an exemption up to £300,000. If you buy a property worth more than £300,000, you’ll pay 5% of the excess. So on a property at £400,000, that’s £100,000 over the limit, so you’ll pay £5,000 stamp duty.
Potentially mum, who’s coming on the mortgage, already owns a property. People often worry that there will be additional rate stamp duty charged because of that, but while she’s liable for the loan, she doesn’t actually own this new property – she’s not on the deeds. So she won’t be factored in when it comes to stamp duty.
If the son and partner are First Time Buyers, the stamp duty will only be calculated on them and they can use that exemption up to £300,000. That’s why people use the JBSP scenario – to pay regular stamp duty and not the additional rate.
Can you have a sole mortgage on a joint property?
No – most lenders want all property owners named on the mortgage. They typically insist on aligning whoever’s on the mortgage to those on the deeds.
That’s why JBSP comes in. In a standard proposition, you can’t have two borrowers that aren’t named on the deeds. That’s the helpful nature of JBSP. With JBSP, the people named on the mortgage and liable for the loan don’t have to be named on the deeds.
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What’s the difference between a joint mortgage and a JBSP mortgage?
Again, if mum is joining her son and his partner on a regular joint mortgage, everyone named on the mortgage would have to be on the property. Everyone legally liable for the loan would own that house.
With JBSP, whoever is named as legally liable for the loan or the mortgage won’t necessarily have ownership of the property. That’s the fundamental difference.
What’s the difference between a guarantor mortgage and a JBSP mortgage?
A guarantor is not necessarily liable for the monthly payments, as long as the main borrowers are paying for the loan. They’re not really getting involved. It’s only if the son and daughter can’t pay the loan or default on the loan that the lender would turn to mum to pay back the loan monthly or as a lump sum.
With JBSP, because mum’s on the actual mortgage from the start, she is liable for the monthly payments. How that transpires to reality, and who contributes on a monthly basis, isn’t something the banks are too concerned about.
But essentially, because mum is named on the loan, it’s still her responsibility to make those monthly payments. Guarantor mortgages are secondary liability, whereas JBSP is a primary responsibility.
JBSP is more commonplace at the moment and usually easy to obtain. Guarantor mortgages are quite rare and quite strict. When people are thinking of guarantor mortgages, I usually steer them to the JBSP route, because more lenders are offering these.
What are the pros and cons of a JBSP mortgage?
The big pro is higher affordability and borrowing potential. Perhaps the son and partner both earn £20,000 and affordability would be based on £40,000, but mum earns another £20,000 – so if she gets involved, affordability is based on £60,000.
Lenders will take into account mum’s expenditure, but nine times out of ten, it gives you better affordability and better borrowing potential. It’s very good for First Time Buyers trying to get onto the property ladder.
Affordability can be a challenge sometimes, so adding parents or family members to the mortgage is really beneficial.
As mum’s not named as on the deeds, she won’t have to worry about stamp duty. If she buys somewhere else, they’re not going to take this property into account and charge her additional rate stamp duty.
Something to consider is that mum will be responsible for maintaining a loan that she has no benefit from. If her son and his partner don’t pay the mortgage back, mum is liable to cover that. Even if she pays off the mortgage in its entirety, whether that be in a lump sum or over 20 years, she will never see any equity from that property.
That’s why one caveat of a JBSP mortgage is that the joint borrower has to get independent legal advice. It’s nothing too intense, but involves a solicitor explaining the process to you. It costs a couple of hundred pounds, and needs a signature to confirm that you understand.
But in JBSP scenarios you trust the people you’re going on the mortgage with – that’s why it is usually assumed it’s within the family. I’ve never seen any of them go sour, but it is just something to bear in mind.
Have you got anything to add? Is there anything else we need to know?
Usually JBSP is a stopgap. People use this format for the first couple of years of their mortgage and once they get a promotion at work or the equity increases, the loan is brought down, and the son and partner take over the full responsibility of the mortgage. Mum will come off the mortgage at this point.
It’s just to get people on the ladder. With JBSP, and any kind of mortgage proposition with us, you always get a regular review. I would always suggest people check in every couple of years, when their current deal is coming to an end. We’ll just see where you stand, and explore your plans and options at that time.
YOUR HOME MAY BE REPOSSESSED IF YOU DO NOT KEEP UP REPAYMENTS ON YOUR MORTGAGE.