Buyers find their Shared Ownership homes through Savills

What is Shared Ownership?

Shared Ownership is an affordable home ownership scheme which makes it easier for buyers to get on the property ladder. Buyers purchase a share of the property, and pay rent on the remaining share, dramatically reducing the amount required for a deposit.

The available share of the property that a buyer can purchase with Shared Ownership is between 25% and 75%. The buyer will usually pay a mortgage on the part they own and a subsidised rent on the part they don’t own. As time goes on and if the buyer’s income rises, they are able to increase their share of the property until they eventually own 100% and no longer pay any rent. This process is known as ‘staircasing’.

Who has it worked for?

Shared Ownership has helped many thousands of households to become first time buyers. It has also helped growing families, downsizers, divorcees, and people moving regions for work into secure and affordable homes. Here are some stories of Shared Ownership in action.

Young professional Toby had lived in London for a decade always in shared accommodation. Toby began thinking about owning his own home and after 24 hours of searching he found out about Leyside in Dagenham at a networking event. The area provides easy transport links to his place of work in Tower Hill. Through Shared Ownership, Toby was able to initially buy a 25% share of his home and he intends to eventually staircase to owning 100% of the property.

Nurudeen’s first time buying through Shared Ownership was in 2015. As his family expanded needs called for a larger home, Nurudeen began searching on the open market for a three bed house. Again, the family turned to Shared Ownership as a solution to their housing needs. The family moved in with family friends for three months while they waited for contracts on their previous house to exchange. Of his new home in Leyside Dagenham Nurudeen says “this is a place you can call home.” His son is now within walking distance of his primary school and the family are well settled into the area.

Following a change in domestic circumstance, Becca moved back in with her parents. Working in a job with unpredictable hours, she felt she wanted more stability at home than a rental property might bring. Knowing she couldn’t afford to buy alone, Shared Ownership provided a suitable alternative.

Prime 1 in Rochester was on Becca’s route to work every day, she says “it would catch my eye and I thought it’s obviously meant to be. It’s just the perfect place, it’s near the high street but not too near, it’s near the train stations, it’s near work and near friends.”

Shared Ownership gave Becca the independence she needed to move into her own home when she couldn’t afford to buy alone. Of the scheme she comments, “I definitely think that people that are interested should do a little bit of research into it and realise that it’s not actually as complicated as it might initially appear.”

Where can people buy?

Savills currently have schemes available in the following locations:

• Belmont Apartments – Archway
• Kidbrook Village – Lewisham
• The Paragon – Ilford Hill
• Lime Quarter – Bromley-by-Bow
• Patchworks – Islington
• Greenstock Lane – Harrow
• Penlands Place – Hayward Heath
• Hounslow Place – Hounslow East

Please get in touch with Savills Shared Ownership team for any further information, we’d be happy to help with your property search. You can contact us on: 020 3227 0417