How shared ownership works
Shared ownership schemes allow you to buy a share of the property – between 25 per cent and 75 per cent. This is calculated on the full open market value. You can usually buy extra shares and in some cases you may be able to ‘staircase’ to 100% ownership. Some rural schemes do not allow full ownership, this is to make sure that there is always a stock of affordable housing in rural locations.
A housing provider owns the remaining share and you pay rent on that share. The annual rent paid is typically 2.5% of the share’s value.
Shared ownership properties are always leasehold homes. This means you own them for a fixed period of time.
When you buy your home, you become the owner of the lease. The housing provider will grant you a lease for the fixed period, which also sets out your rights and responsibilities, and those of the landlord.
One of the requirements of the lease is usually to give the housing association first refusal to buy it back if you want to sell.
Where to find shared ownership properties
The Council works in partnership with a number of housing providers to build affordable housing to buy. This includes providing grant funding to invest in new homes each year.
View contact details of the Sales Team of each Registered Provider
In addition to speaking to the housing providers, you can find shared ownership new build sales and re-sales listed on www.sharetobuy.com or on Rightmove or Zoopla.
If you have a long-term disability you could be eligible for home ownership under the Government HOLD scheme.
Are you eligible for shared ownership?
You can check to see if you are eligible for shared ownership and find a list of providers on the gov.uk site