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 Dunstable, 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 Dunstable 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 Dunstable 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.
“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!”
“The landlord at our old place kept threatening to sell up and leave us in the lurch, which produced a lot of anxiety. Now we’ve got a stake in something, we aren’t at the mercy of someone else - we wouldn’t have that freedom if we stuck in renting or bought somewhere outright. Shared Ownership has been a perfect solution.”
“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.”
Many first time buyers worry that the prospect of home ownership is out of their reach. Thankfully though, Shared Ownership homes in Dunstable can help you get that vital first step onto the property ladder. Help to Buy homes in Dunstable are also an excellent option for potential buyers looking to finally settle down in their dream location.
Do you want to stay up to date with the latest Shared Ownership and Help to Buy properties in Dunstable? All you have to do is sing up to Share to Buy and register to receive alerts when new properties are added to your desired market.
Found 30 miles north of London, Dunstable offers many people the opportunity to be able to afford to work in the capital without having to face unmanageable commutes each and every day. In fact, depending on where exactly in London you are headed, train journeys should take only around an hour, and you can also get into the city at a similar rate via the M1.
All of this, of course, is incredibly important. It really opens up Dunstable residents to many more opportunities than they would find in more secluded towns. However, you would be mistaken in thinking that Dunstable is a mere hub for the city centre.
For starters, this is a place of astonishing natural beauty. We bring this up because a lot of people think that being in a town so close to the capital would still leave them staring at cement. Here though, you can enjoy beautiful green areas as far as the eye can see.
That’s not the only piece of eye candy that Dunstable has to offer either, as an incredible history which quite literally goes back to ancient times lends itself to some truly sensational architecture. Take the Dunstable Priory, for instance, which was used for the divorce between Henry VIII and Catherine of Aragon.
Even its pubs are historic, as part of the town’s prosperity came from its large number of public houses in the 17th century. Some of them remain to this day and you can even recognise them from the coaching gates which still stand, making them a perfect place to learn about the town’s unique history. You can also enjoy a drink while you embark on an education through the ages.
That brings us to our next important point which is while the wonderful blend of nature and historically formed charm are a big part of what makes Dunstable special, none of this comes at the expense of convenience. Still a market town at heart, Dunstable boasts major shopping centres and plenty of local businesses to provide for your every need. Just because you can go to London that doesn’t mean that you’re missing out on anything by staying put if you prefer.
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