You can buy a house with a friend, sibling or other family member: lenders assess it as a joint loan, counting both incomes and both debts, and each of you is responsible for the whole loan, not just your share. Most co-buyers who are not a couple own as tenants in common, with set shares.

The 5% Deposit Scheme accepts two joint applicants, including friends and siblings. The step people skip, and should not, is a written co-ownership agreement.

How do lenders assess a joint loan with a friend?

  • Both incomes count, and so do both sets of debts and living costs.
  • Joint and several liability. Each borrower is liable for the entire loan. If your co-owner stops paying, the lender can ask you for all of it.
  • Both credit files matter. One applicant’s default or heavy debts affects the whole application.
  • The deposit can come from both, in unequal amounts, as long as each contribution is documented.

The borrowing power calculator takes two incomes, and the worked example on one applicant’s credit issue shows how lenders treat a mixed file.

Tenants in common or joint tenants?

Two ways to hold the title
Joint tenants Tenants in common
Shares Equal, undivided Set shares, equal or not, such as 60 and 40
If an owner dies Their interest passes to the surviving owner Their share passes under their will
Usual fit Couples Friends, siblings, unequal contributions

Your conveyancer or solicitor sets this up on the transfer. Note that the mortgage is still one joint loan whatever the title shares; the shares affect ownership, not liability to the lender.

Can co-buyers use the first home buyer schemes?

5% Deposit Scheme. Two joint applicants are allowed, including friends, siblings or other family members, if each meets the eligibility rules and the home is within the price cap. The scheme checker confirms the cap.

NSW duty relief. First home buyer duty relief depends on every purchaser’s history. If a co-buyer, or a co-buyer’s spouse, has owned residential property before, the relief can be lost or reduced, and Revenue NSW has specific rules for purchases that mix first home buyers with other owners. Check the rules before you exchange; the stamp duty calculator shows the difference it makes.

What should a co-ownership agreement cover?

  1. Contributions: who put in what towards the deposit and costs, and how that is reflected on sale.
  2. Ongoing costs: who pays what share of repayments, rates, strata, insurance and repairs.
  3. Living arrangements if one of you lives there and the other does not, including rent.
  4. Exit: how one owner can sell their share, how it is valued, and how long the other has to buy them out or refinance.
  5. Default: what happens if one owner cannot pay their share.
  6. Death or illness: wills and insurance that match the agreement.

A solicitor drafts the agreement; it is a small cost against a large shared debt.

What happens if one of you wants out?

A buyout or a sale. In a buyout the remaining owner refinances into their sole name and pays out the leaving owner, which needs them to qualify for the whole loan alone, the step most often underestimated. The guide to home loans after separation covers how lenders assess a buyout, and the same rules apply between friends.

A worked example of contributions and shares

Two friends buy an $800,000 home with the 5% Deposit Scheme. One contributes $30,000 and the other $20,000 towards the deposit and costs. They hold the title as tenants in common, 60 and 40 per cent, to match. The loan is in both names and both are liable for all of it, whatever the title shares say. Their agreement records that repayments are split equally because they share the home equally, and that on a sale the first $50,000 of net proceeds repays the two deposits in their original proportions before the rest is divided. Writing that down at the start avoids the most common argument later.

Do you need insurance and wills?

Because each owner is liable for the whole loan, life and income protection insurance matters more than for a single owner: if one owner dies or cannot work, the other still owes the full repayment. Tenants in common should each have a will that deals with their share, and the co-ownership agreement should say what happens if a share passes to someone else.

How do the numbers work for two buyers?

Two friends each earn $85,000 and have no other debts. On our calculator assumptions their combined income reaches a loan of about $735,000. At the 6 per cent example rate over 30 years, the repayment is about $4,407 a month, about $2,203 each if they split it equally.

The lender assesses the whole repayment against both incomes together, and each of them is liable for all of it. If one loses their job, the other is still responsible for $4,407 a month, not $2,203. Test that before you buy: could either of you carry the loan alone for three months while the other finds work? The borrowing power calculator runs the joint figure.

Which costs should you agree before you sign?

  • The deposit and purchase costs: who paid what, recorded in writing.
  • Ongoing costs: repayments, strata, rates, insurance and repairs, and how they are split.
  • Improvements: whether a renovation paid by one owner changes the shares.
  • Living arrangements: if one owner lives there and the other does not, whether the one in residence pays rent to the other.
  • Selling costs when the time comes, and who pays them.

What if one of you wants to sell first?

Agree the process in advance: a notice period, how the price is set (an independent valuation is common), how long the other owner has to buy out the share, and what happens if they cannot, usually a sale. A buyout is a new loan for the remaining owner, assessed on their income alone, and the transfer of the share can attract stamp duty, so get your conveyancer’s figure before you agree a price.

What about buying with a sibling or a parent?

The same rules apply to family as to friends: a joint loan, joint liability and a written agreement, and the 5% Deposit Scheme accepts two siblings if both are eligible. Buying with a parent brings its own NSW duty and scheme rules, set out in joint mortgages with your parents; if a parent only wants to help, a family guarantee may be simpler.

Questions people ask

Can two friends get a home loan together?

Yes. Lenders assess both incomes, debts and credit files, and both borrowers are liable for the whole loan.

What if my co-owner stops paying?

The lender can pursue either borrower for the whole loan. A co-ownership agreement should set out what happens in that case, including a forced sale or buyout.

Can I buy out a friend later?

Yes, by refinancing into your own name, if you qualify for the whole loan on your own income. Check that before you buy together.

Charles Touma sets up joint loans for co-buyers and checks the exit before you commit: whether either of you could take over the loan alone. A free 30-minute call covers both incomes and the schemes. General information only, not legal or credit advice; have a solicitor draft the co-ownership agreement. Sources: Housing Australia 5% Deposit Scheme joint applicant rules and Revenue NSW First Home Buyers Assistance Scheme guidance, checked 14 October 2026.

General information only, not credit, legal or tax advice. Your situation is assessed properly before any recommendation. Government scheme details change; figures are current at the time of writing.