Buying Together: How joint bonds can unlock property

• Joint bond applications rose 9.13% as buyers increasingly pool incomes to overcome higher house prices and deposit requirements.
• Multiple incomes can increase borrowing power, but every applicant can be held responsible for the entire outstanding home loan.
• A written co-ownership agreement should cover contributions, ownership shares, expenses, decision-making and what happens when someone wants out.

South Africa's affordability squeeze is changing how people get onto the property ladder.

‍With the average home price for first-time buyers now just above R1.4 million, buying alone is becoming increasingly difficult for many households. Higher property prices, larger deposits and everyday living costs are encouraging buyers to combine their financial firepower.

Young professionals are buying with friends or siblings. Couples are combining incomes. Parents and adult children are pooling resources. For some investors, co-ownership can also provide a route into a property they could not comfortably finance individually.

The result is growing interest in joint bonds, home loans taken out by two or more applicants who collectively qualify for the finance.

BetterBond data shows joint bond applications increased 9.13% between 2024 and 2025, while the average loan amount requested on joint applications has climbed from R1.47 million in 2024 to R1.63 million in 2026.

The average purchase price attached to joint bond submissions in 2026 is now just under R2 million. Bradd Bendall, National Head of Sales at BetterBond, says affordability pressures are helping drive the trend.

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“House price inflation coupled with more stringent deposit requirements have prompted more buyers to look at applying for a bond with co-applicants.”

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BetterBond's July data shows the average deposit increased 9.5% over the past year, adding another hurdle for buyers trying to enter the market. A joint bond can help overcome that hurdle. But the ability to buy more property comes with an important trade-off: you are not only sharing the opportunity, you are sharing the debt.

Lower deposit burden, higher buying power

‍The basic attraction of a joint bond is straightforward. Two or more applicants, whether spouses, partners, family members or friends:  apply for the same home loan. The bank considers their combined incomes, expenses, debts and credit profiles when determining affordability.

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“As all the applicants' incomes and credit profiles are considered as part of the application, the approved bond amount is usually higher than if one person applied alone,” says Bendall.

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Pooling resources can therefore provide buyers with several advantages:

• A larger combined income for affordability purposes.
• Greater potential borrowing capacity.
• The ability to share the deposit and transaction costs.
• Access to properties that may be unaffordable individually.
• Shared monthly bond and property-related expenses.

But combining finances does not automatically improve an application. A co-applicant with excessive debt, poor credit behaviour or an impaired credit record can weaken the group's application and potentially affect the interest rate offered. This makes choosing who you buy property with almost as important as choosing the property itself.

The legal reality: you could be liable for everything

‍This is where buyers need to understand the difference between sharing repayments and being legally responsible for the debt. A bank does not necessarily regard a R2 million joint bond between two people as two separate R1 million obligations. All applicants are responsible for ensuring the home loan is repaid.

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“Banks do not split the debt into portions according to the number of people whose names are on the bond. Instead, the group is viewed as a single entity and each person is wholly responsible for settling the remaining balance,” Bendall explains.

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If one co-borrower loses their income, stops contributing or otherwise defaults on their agreed share, the other borrowers cannot simply tell the bank that their portion has already been paid. The loan still needs to be serviced.

That makes a joint bond fundamentally different from simply splitting household expenses with another person.

BetterBond says up to 12 people can apply for a bond together, but increasing the number of applicants also increases the importance of clearly defining everyone's responsibilities.

Structuring the co-ownership agreement

‍One of the most important distinctions for buyers to understand is that bond liability and property ownership are not the same thing. Two people might jointly be liable for a home loan, for example, while owning different percentages of the underlying property.

If one person contributes substantially more towards the deposit, transfer costs or purchase price, the parties may agree that their ownership shares should reflect those contributions. Those ownership percentages should be properly structured and reflected in the title deed.

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“Ownership should not be confused with liability. The parties buying together remain collectively responsible for repaying the bond,” says Bendall.

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Before purchasing, co-buyers should have a written agreement dealing with issues including:

• Each person's ownership percentage.
• Deposit and upfront contributions.
• Monthly bond repayment responsibilities.
• Rates, levies, insurance, maintenance and other costs.
• Improvements or renovations to the property.
• How major property decisions will be made.
• What happens if one owner fails to contribute.
• How rental income or other proceeds will be divided.
• How eventual sale profits or losses will be shared.
• The process if one party wants to exit.

This is especially important where the buyers are friends, siblings, unmarried partners or investment partners and cannot rely on matrimonial-property arrangements to determine what happens if the relationship changes. Bendall recommends having the agreement professionally drawn up by an attorney or conveyancer.

Determine an exit strategy before you buy‍

The easiest time to agree on an exit is before anyone wants one.
Co-buyers should discuss what happens if circumstances change.

One person may want to relocate. A relationship could end. Someone could lose their job, get married, emigrate or need to release capital. An investor might simply want to sell while the other owners want to retain the property.

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“Although it can be an uncomfortable conversation, parties also need to discuss their exit strategy and agree upfront what will happen if someone wants out.”

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The agreement should determine whether the remaining owner or owners have the first option to buy the departing party's share, how that share will be valued and what happens if nobody can afford the buyout. In some circumstances, selling the entire property may ultimately be necessary.

And simply transferring an ownership share does not automatically remove someone from the mortgage debt. Where a departing owner needs to be released from the bond, following circumstances such as divorce or death, the remaining owner may apply to the bank for a substitution of debtor.

The bank will reassess whether the remaining borrower can afford the outstanding home loan independently before agreeing to release the departing borrower from liability.

Navigating the joint bond application

‍Financial transparency should start before buyers begin scrolling through property listings. Bendall recommends that prospective co-buyers obtain joint pre-approval so that everyone understands the group's realistic borrowing capacity.

The process also forces prospective buyers to disclose their income, debts, expenses and credit position before making a commitment to each other.

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“The best time to address these issues is before the group even starts house hunting,” says Bendall. BetterBond says its clients who first obtain pre-approval have an approval rate of around 95%.

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Co-buyers should also consider establishing a dedicated joint bank account for property expenses. This can create a transparent record of bond repayments, levies, rates, insurance, maintenance and other shared costs.

Joint bond checklist - 5 Things before signing

‍Before committing to a property together, buyers should be able to answer five fundamental questions:

1. Can we genuinely afford it together?
 Test affordability against higher interest rates and the possibility that one person's income could fall.

2. Who owns what percentage?
 Agree on ownership before transfer and ensure the legal documentation reflects it.

3. Who pays for what?
 Document the deposit, bond instalments, levies, rates, insurance, maintenance and unexpected expenses.

4. What happens if someone stops paying?
 Do not wait for financial difficulty before establishing a process.

5. How does someone get out?
 Agree on valuation, buyout and sale mechanisms before purchasing.

Shared buying power, but shared risk‍

Joint bonds offer a practical response to one of the biggest challenges facing South African property buyers: affordability.Combining incomes can unlock greater borrowing capacity, reduce each buyer's upfront financial burden and potentially bring property ownership within reach sooner.

But the arrangement should never be treated as an informal agreement between people who trust one another. The bank sees borrowers through the lens of the debt obligation, while the title deed determines ownership. The private agreement between the co-owners then needs to establish how the relationship will work in practice.

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As Bendall concludes: “By being transparent about their finances, formalising their agreement and planning for the possibility that circumstances may change, joint buyers can help ensure that the shared risk of a joint bond becomes a shared reward.”

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For buyers considering this route, the investment principle is simple: combine your buying power if it makes financial sense, but agree on the rules before you share the debt.

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