What are tenants in common?
Tenants in common each own a distinct share of a property, which can be equal or unequal. Each share can be left by will, sold, or placed in trust. Survivorship does not apply, so the share forms part of the owner's estate on death.
It is the right structure where contributions were unequal, where the owners are not a couple, or where each wants to control where their share goes. Second marriages and sibling co-ownership are the usual cases.
The shares should be recorded in a declaration of trust. Without one, the presumption of equal shares is hard to displace, and disputes turn on recollection years after the event.
Combined with a life interest trust in each will, it lets a survivor stay in the home while fixing where the capital ultimately goes. It is sometimes promoted as care fee protection; local authority deprivation of assets rules make that a much weaker argument than it is usually presented as.