Manage your property

If you own a property, it’s important that you manage it properly. This is the case whether you live in the property yourself or rent it out to someone else. By formalising things with the right documents you protect your property and yourself.

This only applies in England and Wales. 

A Declaration of trust - beneficial interest is a legal document that declares the beneficial interests which non-legal owners may hold in a property. This is useful if another party (normally a parent) is contributing some capital for the purchase of a property. In this case, a declaration of trust will ensure that all the relevant formal details are in place. It is designed to protect the interests of the third party as an owner of the property. It should generally only be used where the agreement is straightforward and is limited to the contribution to the purchase price. For further information, read Declarations of trust and Co-ownership of property.

Read Co-ownership of property in Scotland for information on Scotland.

If you are considering a house extension or planning to do any building work on or close to the boundary of a neighbouring property, under the law you're obliged to give notice of the proposals to the owners of the adjoining property (as well as gaining any necessary planning permission and building regulation approval). A properly worded Party wall agreement provides a record of the particulars of what has been agreed and by whom in relation to building work. It can help to protect you from future disputes by making sure that everything is known and agreed to in advance. This agreement also applies to flats but, instead of being called 'party walls' the separation between flats on different levels of a building the floors are known as 'party structures'. For further information, read Party wall matters and Party wall matters in Scotland.

If you need to carry out works to your property and these works will affect walls or other structures (eg pipes or chimneys) that you share with a neighbour, you should formally record an agreement in writing. You can use a Party wall agreement for repairs for this. For more information, read Party wall matters and Party wall matters in Scotland.

If you’re a landlord your tenant (also known as a ‘contract holder’ in Wales) may ask to make changes to the rental property. If you agree to such changes being made, use a Landlord consent to alterations letter to grant permission to make the alterations.