Owning a home

1. What is shared ownership?

Shared ownership is where you buy part of your home and rent the rest of it. It is for people, usually first-time buyers, who cannot afford to buy on the open market. You buy a share, usually 50% of the property, and pay rent on the share you do not own.

After you have owned the property for a certain length of time (usually a year) you can buy more shares in the property until you own all of it. This is called staircasing. As you buy more shares your rent will reduce. If your home is a house, once you have bought 100%, you usually get the freehold. This means you will own the land the property is on.

2. Can I apply to buy my current property from Viridian?

You may be able to, if we bought or built your home after 1 April 1997 with money provided by the Tenant Services Authority or a Local Authority, you might have the `right to acquire’. This means that you can buy your home for less than its market value.

To be eligible, you must also:

• have an assured or secure tenancy (but not an assured shorthold tenancy or licence),
• have been a housing association or council resident for two years,
• be up to date with your rent,
• not be bankrupt
• not be involved in possession proceedings

Read our ‘Buying the home you currently rent’ leaflet for more information.

3. Where can I find out what shared ownership properties are available?

We currently have shared ownership properties in the following areas.

London: Wandsworth, Barnet, Enfield, Hackney, Hammersmith and Fulham

East Midlands: Milton Keynes, Northampton, Daventry

West Sussex: Arun, Worthing

For more information please contact our home ownership team on 0330 123 0220.

4. What is Social Homebuy?

Homebuy is a Government scheme to help people who would not otherwise be able to afford to buy their own home. One housing association in each local authority manages the scheme and will offer help if there are funds available. We do not currently manage Homebuy and your local authority or the TSA can tell you which housing association to contact.

Read our 'Owning your own home' leaflet for more information or to apply.