Shared Ownership

Shared ownership is a part buy/part rent scheme, which enables you to get on the first rung of the housing ladder through buying a share in a home. Shares are usually on a 50/50 basis. You pay a subsidised rent to a Housing Association on the share, which is retained in its ownership. The combined monthly costs of the rent and mortgage will work out cheaper than the cost of a mortgage on the whole property. If you wish, you can buy further shares until you own the property outright. There are some cases where you can only buy up to 80% of the property, you will need to contact your Landlord for this information.

There are new Shared Ownership properties being built all the time and Housing Associations such as Festival Housing, Rooftop Housing Group,Bromford Housing Association and West Mercia Housing Group will have a list of all the ‘new build’ opportunities that they own. There will also be ‘second hand’ Shared Ownership opportunities and these will go on the open market via estate agents or on Wychavon Home Choice scheme the Housing Associations will not hold a list for these.

There are number of Housing Associations who are building ‘New Build’ Shared Ownership, at any one time. You will need to contact us to find out which Housing Association this may be, or if you have any questions about our housing services.

How do I qualify for Shared Ownership?

You must be able to:

• Afford the mortgage, rent and running costs on the proposed share.
• Raise a mortgage or have a lump sum to buy a share outright.
• Building Societies will require you to provide 5% deposit towards the cost of purchase of your share of the property.
• Cover the purchase costs (such as stamp duty and solicitors fees) out of your savings – £2,000 is an estimated figure, but this can vary.

Each application is assessed individually, so even if you do not meet income levels you can still apply. Remember to include all income, not just wages.