Independent Legal Advice for a Metro Bank JBSP Mortgage

On a joint borrower sole proprietor mortgage the proprietor is the person on the title deeds and the joint borrower is on the mortgage without owning anything. The joint borrower is liable for the full debt and gains no share of the property, which is the imbalance independent legal advice exists to address: someone independent of the transaction explains the liability before the joint borrower signs.

Metro Bank's criteria attach the requirement to every joint borrower rather than to a subset of them. There is no occupancy test to apply and no version of the arrangement that avoids it, so if you are going on the mortgage without going on the deeds, you will need your own appointment and your own certificate. The advice must come from a solicitor independent of the purchase, which means the conveyancer acting on the transaction cannot give it.

Metro Bank allows JB/SP on both residential and non-limited-company buy-to-let lending, and the occupancy rule is the opposite way round in each. On residential, the criteria state that the joint borrowers can reside in the property. On buy-to-let, they state that the joint borrowers cannot reside in the property, and that the person named on the deeds must be an owner occupier or experienced landlord.

That buy-to-let route is worth knowing about, because most lenders that offer JB/SP confine it to residential lending. For a landlord whose rental income does not stretch far enough on its own, a family member joining the mortgage without joining the title is a real option here, and it carries the same advice requirement. Note that limited company buy-to-let is excluded, so a portfolio held in an SPV cannot use it.

Metro Bank allows a maximum of four applicants. Third and fourth applicants must normally be immediate family, but the criteria carve out an exception for JB/SP applications up to 95% LTV, so a joint borrower on a standard JB/SP case does not have to be a relative. Metro Bank defines immediate family as spouse, parents and grandparents, children and grandchildren, brothers and sisters, including adopted, in-law, half and step relationships.

Above 95% LTV the criteria tighten considerably. On that range the joint borrower must be an immediate family member of a proprietor, must be a residential homeowner, and the joint borrowers must collectively have a minimum income of £75,000 with disposable income that could support the mortgage. Lending on that range is capital repayment only, over a maximum term of 35 years, for a purchase or a pound-for-pound remortgage.

Two further limits apply across JB/SP. A maximum of two households can be included in the affordability assessment, and the arrangement is not available for capital raising unless the capital raising is for the benefit of all parties. It is also excluded from Metro Bank's Professional Mortgage Range.

The lender's certificate reaches you through the conveyancer handling the purchase, along with the mortgage offer and the deed. The solicitor giving the advice needs those documents to do the job, so the appointment tends to sit late in the transaction with a completion date already fixed.

Expect the solicitor to meet you without the proprietor or anyone else who benefits from the loan present, check your identity, and take you through what you are signing: the amount you could be held liable for, that the lender can pursue you for the whole debt rather than a share, that the property can be lost if the mortgage is not paid, and the effect on your own borrowing in future. They then sign the lender's certificate confirming the advice was given independently.

Metro Bank's published criteria do not set out a required format for the appointment, so whether it runs by video call or in person is a matter for the advising firm and the wording of the certificate that arrives. Ask when you book, tell the firm it is a Metro Bank JB/SP case, and say whether it is residential or buy-to-let, because that decides which set of criteria applies to you.

Independent legal advice for a JB/SP joint borrower is a fixed-fee service, typically £150 to £250 per person at standard turnaround, and more for 48-hour or 24-hour service. Each joint borrower needs their own advice and pays their own fee, so a case with two joint borrowers means two appointments and two certificates.

The requirement usually surfaces once the offer is issued, which is exactly when the completion date is least flexible. Book as soon as your broker or conveyancer mentions it rather than waiting for the paperwork to arrive, and if the date is already tight, filter the comparison for Fast-Track (48h) or Express (24h) service.