Shared ownership

Shared ownership is ideal for aspiring homeowners who are unable to buy a home outright and would rather buy what they can afford, when they can afford it.

You can get your foot on the property ladder through the Home Group shared ownership scheme. This popular scheme lets you pay for a share of your home and only pay rent and service charges for the share you don’t own at a reduced rate. You start off buying a share (usually between 25 – 75%) in your new home on a leasehold basis.

As times goes on, you can buy more shares when you can afford it, gradually increasing the percentage you own - this is known as staircasing.

A small number of Home Group homes can not be bought outright, but any limitations on the number of shares you can buy will be set out in your lease.

You qualify for shared ownership if:

• you don't currently own a home or have an interest in a home and can't afford to buy one outright
• you have at least a 5% deposit available for the percentage of the home you'd like to purchase
• your combined household income is less that £80,000 or less than £90,000 in London
• you can afford the monthly mortgage, rent and service charge payments

Yes, usually.  If there are no restrictions in your lease and you decide to purchase the remaining share of your home then you will own it outright.

Sometimes there may be restrictions in the lease in designated protected areas, retirement properties or rural areas which means there is a maximum percentage that can be owned, usually 70%, 75% or 80%.  This is to ensure that the homes always remain as affordable housing.

As a shared owner, you will have the same rights and responsibilities as a full owner-occupier. That means you’ll sign a lease that requires you to be fully responsible for all the costs of your property, including repairs, regardless of the percentage of the property that you originally bought.

You can sell your shared ownership home at any time. You can either sell the share you own to someone we nominate or you can buy the remaining share and sell the property if the lease allows. You will benefit from any increase in your home’s value according to your share.