Do both owners of a house need to be guarantors?

Yes. Everyone on the title of the property being used as security needs to sign as a guarantor, because the bank needs every owner's agreement to take security over it.

What if only one of my parents owns the house?

Then only that parent needs to be the guarantor. It's about whose name is on the title, not who's married to whom.

Do guarantors need legal advice?

Lenders commonly want each guarantor to get independent legal advice before signing, so they understand what they're agreeing to.

How long do guarantors stay on the loan?

Generally until your loan gets down to 80% of your property's value, through repayments, growth or both. Then we can look at releasing them.

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My guarantor's house is owned by two people. Do they both need to be a guarantor?

Bayley Clarke · Mortgage broker on the road · Last checked 11 November 2026 · 2 min read

The short answer

Yes. Whoever is on the title of that house, whoever the owners are, they both need to be guarantors. The bank is taking security over their property, so it needs every owner on board.

If they're both owners, they both need to be guarantors. If only one of them is an owner, only that one needs to be a guarantor. That's how it works in guarantor land.

The 60 second version, filmed from the driver's seat. The rest of this page is the detail underneath it.

Why it's about the title, not the relationship

With a guarantor loan, your guarantor doesn't hand over any cash. What they do is let the bank take security over part of their property to back your loan. The bank can only take a mortgage over a property if every registered owner agrees to it.

So the question is never who's helping you, it's whose names are on the title. Mum and dad who own the house together both sign. If the house is in mum's name only, dad doesn't need to be a guarantor, even if they're married.

What signing involves for each of them

Each guarantor generally signs the guarantee documents, and lenders commonly want each of them to get independent legal advice first, so they understand what they're agreeing to. That's normal, not a sign anything is wrong.

Most family guarantees are limited to a set amount, usually enough to cover the gap that saves you lenders mortgage insurance, rather than your whole loan. Once your loan gets down to 80% of what your property is worth, we can generally look at taking them off.

The honest bit: both owners need to be comfortable

If one owner is keen and the other isn't, it doesn't work. Both people on the title are putting their home behind your loan, so both need to understand it and be happy with it before we go any further.

If you've got questions about how being a guarantor works for your family, let me know and we can talk it through, guarantors included.

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Next question

Can the guarantor's property use an online report as a valuation, or does it need an inspection?

Generally the guarantor's property needs a proper valuation with someone walking through it, not an online report.