Buying a home through a shared ownership scheme works in the same way as buying a traditional property. The difference is that you will only finance part of the value yourself. We will own the remainder. We then rent this part to you at a subsidised rent.

As per guidelines from Homes England (our regulator), you will be encouraged to buy as much of the property as you can comfortably afford. Some schemes may have a minimum share higher than 10% in place.

Once you’ve signed on the dotted line you will be responsible for repairs and maintenance of your new home just like a home owner. As part of the leasehold agreement you will also be required to pay service charges to cover maintenance of communal areas, depending on the type of property you select.

Can I choose my own house?

Yes, to some extent. If you wish to proceed, you’ll need to choose from our available properties. You will be able to add three to your application and we’ll do everything we can to offer you one of these.

You will never be ‘allocated’ a house. If you don’t feel there is anything that meets your needs, you’ll be added to a register to wait until something appropriate comes along.

After all, different people like different houses. We would never expect you to buy a house you don’t fall in love with.

Does shared ownership make a house purchase cheaper?

Yes and no. Shared ownership is designed to make home ownership more accessible, rather than to discount the value of the home itself.

You buy a share of the property at its open market value, as assessed by an independent valuer. There is no reduction to the price of the share you purchase.

The advantage of shared ownership is that, by buying a share and paying rent on the remainder, the overall monthly cost is often similar to, or lower than, renting a comparable home. This can give you the opportunity to secure a home and start building equity sooner than continuing to rent.

As a shared owner, you benefit from any increase in the value of the share over time. As with all forms of home ownership, property values can go down as well as up, which means the value of your share could also change.

While you could use savings or proceeds from another property sale, taking out a mortgage is by far the most common way to buy a shared ownership property. There are many lenders offering various mortgage products at different interest rates and terms. It’s worth checking up front whether your chosen lender will support you in buying through a shared ownership scheme.

HOW MUCH WILL I BE ABLE TO BORROW?

How much you can borrow will depend on your personal circumstances. Your mortgage adviser will run through your finances and it is important that you give them as much information as possible. They will ask about credit cards, personal accounts, bank loans and any income you have. They may even want to know how much you spend on your weekly shop. The more specific you can be, the quicker the process and the better the outcome, taking you one step closer to getting your hands on those keys.

OTHER COSTS TO CONSIDER

Buying a shared ownership property is no different to a traditional house purchase when it comes to other costs you’ll need to think about.

You may need to pay mortgage valuation fees, solicitor’s fees, including searches and conveyancing, not to mention the costs of packing and moving your possessions. Make sure you factor these into your budget where necessary.

A BRIEF OVERVIEW

Under the terms of your lease, if you decide to sell, we will have four to eight weeks to find an appropriate buyer in need of affordable housing. After this period, if no buyer is found, you will usually be able to sell your home privately through an estate agent in most cases. As you might expect, the sale price of your home will be worked out as a percentage of the current market value of the property, not the price you paid when you first bought it.

HOW DO I SELL IF I ONLY OWN A SHARE?

Where possible, your buyer will simply buy the share of the property that you currently own. However, if you sell privately, it is possible to sell 100% of your property and increase your share to 100% in the same day. We call this ‘back-to-back’ staircasing.

This is only possible if your lease allows, but you are outside of your nomination period (the four-to-eight-week window). You would need to let us know you’re planning to do it as soon as you can.

On the day of the sale you would receive your share, and we would receive our percentage share of the current market value.

HOW LONG WILL IT TAKE?

As with any traditional house sale, it’s not advisable to put in an offer until you have found a buyer for your property. From here, the timescales will be the same as a normal transaction, and we would not usually be involved in your sale once a buyer has been found and we’ve passed on details.

If your property will be vacant for more than three weeks, for example, if you plan to move out before your completion date, please let us know so that we can make the necessary arrangements under the requirements of our building insurance policy