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 North West Leicestershire, 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 North West Leicestershire 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 North West Leicestershire 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.”
“The Shared Ownership calculator on Share to Buy gave me a really clear understanding of what my budget was and what my monthly outgoings would be, including rent and service charge. The buying process of Shared Ownership was really simple - I bought a 35% share of my property and eventually plan on staircasing to own more of it.”
“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.”
Shared Ownership in North West Leicestershire
For first time buyers, the prospect of owning their own home can often feel out of reach. Thankfully, Shared Ownership homes in North West Leicestershire can make it so much easier to take those vital first steps onto the property ladder. To stay up to date with Shared Ownership properties in North West Leicestershire, make sure you sign up to Share to Buy and register to receive alerts when new properties are announced via email.
Help to Buy in North West Leicestershire
The government Help to Buy scheme was a first time buyer equity loan which ended in Mach 2023. While Help to Buy properties in North West Leicestershire are no longer available, there are a number of alternative home-buying schemes available including Shared Ownership and other affordable home-buying and rental options. Start the search for your new home on Share to Buy.
Shared Ownership Index – Share to Buy
Thinking of buying a Shared Ownership home? Share to Buy offers handy guides, articles and jargon busting videos all about the part-buy part-rent scheme.
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