Censeo Financial: The role of a mortgage broker

Specialist mortgage broker on Shared Ownership affordability assessments

Introducing Censeo Financial

Censeo Financial are an award-winning mortgage broker specialising in Shared Ownership and affordable homeownership. Having been trading for over 16 years, we work with many housing associations, councils and developers and have helped thousands of first time buyers get onto the property ladder.

We have access to all lenders who offer Shared Ownership mortgages and often get exclusive deals that you wouldn’t get from going to a lender direct. We understand the importance of providing a friendly and helpful service and have achieved 98% five star Google reviews in the last 12 months – we strive to offer the best service possible and to find our customers the best mortgage for their personal needs saving time and money.

Many people who look at Shared Ownership properties are often first time buyers who have never bought a home before. Buying a home is a big commitment and needs careful research as you will most likely need a mortgage to buy a property. A mortgage is one of the largest financial commitments most people will ever have and will need the support and guidance of a professional mortgage broker like Censeo.

Shared Ownership is the longest established affordable homeownership product available on new build and pre-owned properties (resales).

It is a government backed scheme for people who are unable to afford to buy a home at the full market value. The scheme is managed by Homes England across the country and the Greater London Authority (GLA) are responsible for properties in London. Housing associations, councils or developers that offer Shared Ownership are required to ensure that potential buyers meet the Shared Ownership eligibility requirements set by Homes England and/or the GLA.

This assessment must be fair and consistent and done by an independent specialist mortgage broker like Censeo with experience of the scheme. They are required to assess buyers’ ability to afford and sustain the monthly payments for the property, buying the maximum share based on the criteria, lenders underwriting criteria and the professional advice of the mortgage broker.

Normally, the housing association, council or developer selling the property will work with a mortgage broker to undertake the affordability assessments. You will need to provide personal details including details of your income and outgoings to the mortgage broker, and you will need to provide documents to support this. If you pass the assessment, you will be able to reserve a property, however if you don’t meet the criteria you will be provided with recommendation to help you with future property searches.

At Censeo, we receive many enquiries from people searching for properties on the Share to Buy property portal. We will undertake an affordability assessment and if successful we will issue you wish a Decision in Principle certificate which allows you to go to an open day with a qualification that you can buy – this may help you secure the home on the day as you have confirmation of affordability giving the sales person confidence you meet the Shared Ownership criteria and can secure a mortgage to buy.

Once you have reserved a property, you will then need to secure a mortgage, which can be done with any mortgage broker, although if you have used Censeo to do an assessment, we will already have a lot of your information, allowing us to quickly arrange a mortgage to meet the exchange deadlines set at reservation.

Share to Buy is a one stop shop for affordable homes. On our website, you can search for properties, compare mortgages and find out all you need to know about alternative home buying schemes such as Shared Ownership via our article index.