Shared Ownership

What is Shared Ownership and how does it work?

Shared Ownership is where newly built homes (flats or houses) are sold as leasehold properties on shared ownership terms. Usually, the minimum share you can purchase is 25% and 75% is the maximum. You will pay rent on the share you don’t own.

You can buy additional shares until you own 100%, this is known as ‘staircasing’. When you want to sell the property you can sell the share you own to another household nominated by your landlord or you can staircase to 100% and sell it in the normal fashion.

The property is sold at market value and you will benefit from any equity which has built up on the share that you own.

Who is eligible and what are the selection criteria?

All existing social tenants, serving military personnel and those in priority housing need are given priority order. After these priority groups have been exhausted other first time buyers who fit all other criteria can apply and purchase through the First Steps initiatives.

Where do I get financial advice?

To see if Shared Ownesrhip is an affordable option for you, please find a link to our financial advisors website and a link to an example affordibility calculator which might help you to see if you could be eligible.

If you are buying through Shared Ownership you are likely to need at least a 10% or even 15% deposit.

Mortgage deposits are based on the share price that you purchase. For example, if you are purchasing a property:

• Property price at full market value: £150,000
• Your 25% share: £37,500
• A 10% deposit towards your mortgage is £3,750

This deposit towards your mortgage is additional to the £3,500 that we ask all HomeBuy purchases to have upfront before commencing the purchase. This £3,500 is to ensure you can afford the one-off costs of buying a property - such as legal fees, mortgage arrangements fees, for example.

Where can I find the Shared Ownership properties available at the moment?

For our available properties click here.

A useful website for information on all products available for affordable living in London is First Steps. Viridian Housing operates their shared ownership programme in London and First Steps is the gateway to affordable housing for the London area.

Who do I contact?

For any more information on the types of housing that we offer or the sales process, please contact our development team on 0800 012 1442.