Shared Ownership is an affordable home ownership scheme which makes it easier for eligible purchasers to get on the property ladder. Buyers get a mortgage for the share they can afford, and pay rent on the remaining share.
No – this is a common misconception but the ‘shared’ aspect of the scheme simply means you’re sharing ownership of your home with a housing association.
If you decide to buy a Shared Ownership home in Berkshire, you’re effectively purchasing a portion of your property. Your initial share will usually be between 25% to 75%, paying a mortgage on the part that you own and a below market value rent on the remaining share.
Yes – Shared Owners can choose to buy additional shares in their property by ‘staircasing’.
When buying a Shared Ownership home, you will initially purchase a minimum percentage somewhere between 25% to 75%. Down the line, if you find that your financial circumstances have changed, buyers will have the option to buy more shares.
If you choose to buy a higher percentage, your mortgage repayments will increase while the rent you pay will decrease. In the majority of cases there aren’t any restrictions and you can buy 100% of your home – in this instance, you would become the outright owner.
As a home-buying product aimed at helping those who can’t afford to purchase a property on the open market, there are certain requirements that buyers will need to meet to be considered eligible for Shared Ownership.
For example, there are caps on household income which means that you must earn less than £80,000 to be eligible for the scheme – or less than £90,000 if you would like to buy a home in London. The criteria also states that buyers must be at least 18 years of age and do not own another property either in the UK or abroad.
Shared Ownership properties enable you to put down a smaller deposit compared to those required on the open market – buyers will usually need to put down 5% to 10% of the share that they’re buying, rather than the full market value of the home.
On a monthly basis, buyers will be required to pay their mortgage, a subsidised rent and service charge on their home, however, these repayments often work out cheaper than or equal to renting privately in the same area. Other costs to consider when buying a home include solicitor and mortgage broker fees – you can find out more about these costs on Share to Buy.
Share to Buy lists thousands of Shared Ownership homes all across Berkshire and beyond – including new build properties and those available through resale.
Shared Ownership is available on a variety of homes including cosy studios, stylish apartments and traditional family homes. Check out our property search tool to start looking for your new home today!
The major providers of Shared Ownership, Help to Buy and other affordable ways to buy a home in Berkshire and nationwide have their homes listed on Share to Buy.
Share to Buy is the leading online portal for Shared Ownership properties. Established in 2004 as the UK’s first specialist online mortgage broker for affordable home ownership products, the site has since developed into a one stop shop for first time buyers, offering the country’s largest listing of Shared Ownership homes from many of the UK’s biggest housing providers.
Share to Buy is the nation’s biggest and best established affordable home ownership property portal, making it the ideal website for first time buyers looking to take that first step onto the property ladder.
Using our property search tool, you can search for homes that suit your needs via filters such as location, number of bedrooms, monthly outgoings and deposit amount. You can also set up alert preferences so you’ll be notified when new properties that meet your search are announced by email.
Acting as a one stop shop for first time buyers, Share to Buy also offers handy FAQs and guides, interactive mortgage tools, mortgage broker and conveyancing panels, and live events to help potential purchasers on their home-buying journey.
If you are a housing association or developer selling properties through Shared Ownership, Help to Buy and other affordable home ownership schemes, we can list your new build and resale homes on the Share to Buy property portal.
As well as working alongside Registered Providers, we also partner with private sellers who are looking to sell their current Shared Ownership home.
Find out more about advertising your Shared Ownership property on Share to Buy.
“From the moment I bought my first share, I knew that I wanted to staircase. A year after I moved in, I staircased to 75% and this past February I purchased the final share, and now I own my home 100% outright. I really do recommend Shared Ownership as a fantastic way to get into the housing market, it worked so well for me.”
“We were delighted when our application was successful, we moved in a few months later and settled in really quickly. It definitely feels different now we are home owners, it’s so satisfying knowing we own this place. There is no doubt that Shared Ownership is a good way to get onto the housing ladder in London.”
“The deposit for buying a Shared Ownership property was much lower than I was expecting - there’s definitely no way that I would have been able to buy without the Shared Ownership scheme. With staircasing, I could buy more shares in the property, eventually amounting to 100%. At that point the flat would fully be mine and I wouldn’t have to pay any rent!”
For many, their dream property can seem out of reach. If you’re a first-time buyer, Shared Ownership homes in Berkshire can help, while Help to Buy homes in Berkshire can also offer an alternative route to home ownership.
If you’d like to keep up to date with Shared Ownership and Help to Buy properties in Berkshire, all you need to do is sign up to Share to Buy and register to receive alerts. That way, we can send you automatic updates when new properties become available in your desired area.
Berkshire is a home county, meaning that it is one of several which create a border around the city of London. Like its many neighbours, this is a position which gives Berkshire a lot of advantages over many other parts of the country.
It manages to be close enough to London to reap many of the metropolitan benefits you’d associate with the capital, such as good transport links and potential job prospects, alongside all the cultural and entertainment offerings. However, it also manages to be more affordable than many of the more affluent parts of the city, as well as more peaceful and rural than many other built-up areas. In fact, the advantages are even greater than many other areas near London when it comes to transport, thanks to Berkshire’s place on the Great Western Main Line Railway and the M4; this makes Berkshire perfect for those looking to commute to work in London, but don’t want to pay the capital city prices.
Berkshire also has an amazing amount to offer in terms of culture and local attractions, from bustling bars and restaurants to theatres, historical sites, rolling parks and farms. Berkshire really does have something for everyone!
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