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Shared Ownership ticks all the boxes for first time buying in London

New data from Rightmove reveals that the average asking price for a home in London crept up 2.8% in February 2024 – a real terms increase of £18,439 since January 2024. This is a serious concern for potential home buyers, who simply cannot keep up with the cost of getting onto the property ladder in the capital. At the same time, rents are at record highs, meaning that the ability to save is significantly reduced.

All is not lost, however, and there is help available for first time buyers. With Shared Ownership, it’s possible to buy your first home using a much lower deposit.

What is Shared Ownership?

Shared Ownership launched in the 80s, and it’s all about offering buyers a helping hand where they wouldn’t be able to afford otherwise. Using Shared Ownership, you can buy a percentage share of a new build home, rather than the full value. This means you will be able to put down a smaller deposit (as low as 5% of the share you are buying), and take out a mortgage to cover your share. Buyers then pay a below-market-rate rent on the remainder of the property, and it’s possible to buy more shares when you can afford to using a process called staircasing. In London, your annual household income must be below £90,000 per annum to be eligible to use the scheme (£80,000 for outside of London).

Let’s do the maths

Take a home worth £300,000 as an example.

To buy the house outright with a 10% deposit, you would need to put down £30,000 to afford the house. With Shared Ownership, your deposit could be nearly 10x smaller.

Let’s break down the numbers:

• Full market value is £300,000.
• Your 25% share would be 75,000.
• A 5% deposit would be just £3,750.
• This is considerably lower than buying the home at full market value.

Where can I buy with Shared Ownership?

At SO Resi, we have several Shared Ownership homes available across London. We’ve included a couple of examples below, and you can find more information and homes for sale on our website: www.soresi.co.uk.

Whetstone

A selection of apartments located in North London, our SO Resi Whetstone development offers balconies and terraces to each apartment, while every home has access to a central courtyard with seating and plenty of space to socialise or unwind. A number of shops, restaurants, and Totteridge & Whetstone Tube Station are all within walking distance.

Prices start from £100,000 for a 25% share of a one bedroom apartment (full market value: £400,000), which can be secured with a 5% deposit of just £5,000.

Nine Elms

Our newly launched homes at One Nine Elms offer Zone 1 living at an affordable price point. Our homes offer open plan living, many with river views and private winter gardens. Vauxhall tube station is just a few minutes’ walk away, as is the newly regenerated Battersea Power Station.

Prices start from 158,125 for a 25% share on a one bedroom apartment, with a 10% deposit starting from just £15,813 (full market value: £632,500).

How do I get started?

Our friendly team will be at the London Home Show to answer all of your questions about Shared Ownership and our homes across London. Come along to chat to an expert, or visit our website: www.soresi.co.uk.

Attend the London Home Show

Tickets for the London Home Show are free, but visitors must register in advance to attend. For more information, or to reserve your place at the capital’s no.1 first time buyer event, please visit the Eventbrite page.

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.