A pathway to owning your own home
What is Shared Ownership?
Shared Ownership is a part-buy, part-rent scheme that helps people get on the property ladder.
Read the Shared Ownership Policy
How does it work?
You can buy up to 75% of your home in the first instance. Some exceptions apply.
Four benefits
- Smaller deposit needed compared to buying outright.
- Potential to buy more shares over time (increasing ownership and decreasing rent).
- May be cheaper than renting privately in some areas.
- Security, with long term lease agreements.
Four things to consider
- You pay rent on the share you don’t own.
- You’ll also typically pay service charges.
- You may have restrictions on selling or making improvements.
- Rents may go up and the property value could change.
Can you apply?
Yes, if your household income is below £80,000 and you’d struggle to afford a mortgage for a whole property.
Shared ownership in more detail
Shared ownership lets you buy a share of your home, usually between 10% and 75%, to make it more affordable for you to get onto the property ladder.
This means you will pay a mortgage on the share that you've bought and rent on the percentage you haven’t bought.
How much deposit will I pay?
Usually, you only need to raise a deposit on the share of the home you’re buying.
For example, if you’re buying a 25% share of a home, the deposit you’ll need to pay will be a percentage of the 25%, not the full price.
An example: If the full price of the home you’re buying is £200,000, and you are buying 25% of the home, you’ll be paying £50,000 for the 25%. If your bank or lender asks you to pay a 5% deposit, this will be £2,500, which is 5% of £50,000.
How much rent will I pay?
All shared ownership homes are sold as leasehold for a specified length of time, which is set out in the lease. Don’t worry, you can still sell your home and our team will help you do that if that’s what you want.
This means you will pay a below-market rent on the % of your new home you don’t own. The amount you will pay depends on the how much the home costs to buy and the % that you own. Our team can tell you exactly how much this will be for each home we sell.
Who pays for the repairs?
You are also responsible for all maintenance and repair costs once your initial defect period has ended. A defects period is the length of time that the builder is responsible for repairs to your home, usually 1 year after you buy your home. However, on the new shared ownership model (see below), a repair contribution will be paid by the landlord.
In some cases, you may be restricted on what home improvements you can make. Ask our sales team for advice.
Can I buy more of my new home when I can afford to?
You can continue to buy more shares, this is called 'staircasing'. In most cases, if you are able to purchase 100% of your home you would then acquire the freehold, as long as your lease allows it.
Some homes will always remain leasehold (such as flats or other specific schemes where the freehold cannot be acquired). If this is something that’s important to you, please speak to a member of our team and we can check the terms of the lease.
The new model of shared ownership
The government introduced a new shared ownership model in 2021, to help more people to buy a home.
The new model works the same way as before, but with a few changes, including:
- the minimum initial share can now start at 10%
- the option of staircasing in 1% increments for the first 15 years
- a 10-year period during which the cost of £500 per annum for any essential maintenance or repairs will be covered by the landlord
- the option for the shared owner to end the nomination period at four weeks if they want to try selling on the open market
- each home will be provided with a 990-year lease.
The new model only applies to certain developments and in some instances, certain homes. Ask our sales team for more information.