Shared Ownership Mortgage

 

Estate agents sell properties on this type of scheme, but the advertisement should state that the price is for a specific percentage share, e.g. 25% or 50%, and what the rent and service charge is for that share.

 

Your affordability will be checked to make sure you can afford the mortgage and the rent payments, and you should be told the maximum share available to you. If the property is a new build you might need to pay a reservation fee of around £500. This will take the property off the market so nobody else can reserve it for a set period. If you ultimately do not buy the house, the developer will not be refund the fee. If you do buy it, they will knock it off the amount you pay on completion.

 

Some properties are subject to restrictions on staircasing, however, and your share can be capped at 80%. This is so housing stock remains available for people who need it.

Depending on the value of the additional share you want to buy, you may need to increase your mortgage amount. You also have to pay for an independent surveyor to value the property and for a solicitor to handle the legal paperwork. You should speak to your housing association to make sure they will allow you to staircase.

If you have not staircased and you wish to sell, you may have to offer the property back to your landlord before you can market it via an estate agent.

Once an estate agent is involved, they will value your home to see what its full market value is. They would then offer it for sale based on the percentage share you own. As an example, if a house is worth £200,000, and you own 50%, they will advertise it for £100,000 with the disclosure that it is for a 50% share. Buyers would need to meet eligibility criteria for the Shared Ownership scheme.

Pros and cons of Shared Ownership

Pros

• You can get a house for less money
• Gets you on the ladder if you can’t afford a property at full market value
• Can buy a bigger share in the future, with the potential to own the house outright eventually
• The share you own will go up in value if house prices increase

• All properties are leasehold so as well as a mortgage and rent, you will have to pay a service charge
• Buying further shares can be expensive
• There may be restrictions within the lease on what you can do to your property, i.e. you may not make structural alterations
• Can be harder to sell if you haven’t staircased to 100% as the pool of people who can buy it the property smaller