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 Somerton, 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 Somerton 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 Somerton 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.
I viewed the flat online and thought it looked great, but once I saw it I person, it felt so much bigger.
“A friend at work had just signed up on the Share to Buy website and said I should register too. I didn’t know much about Shared Ownership so the Share to Buy website was really helpful, giving me all the information that I needed about the scheme. It turned out that there were a few properties in my area, so I registered for all of them!”
“I’d got it into my head that finding a Shared Ownership home would be quite a painstaking process, but Share to Buy made it so easy. I liked that you could do everything online – there was no posting off forms or long phone calls. The website was very visual, with plenty of photos, and it was so simple to use.”
Many first-time buyers can feel disheartened that the prospect of home ownership is beyond their reach. Thankfully though, Shared Ownership homes in Somerton can make that vital first step onto the property ladder more accessible than ever. Help to Buy homes in Somerton are also ideal for buyers looking to lay down roots in their ideal location.
Do you want to keep up to date with the latest Shared Ownership and Help to Buy properties in Somerton? First, just sign up to Share to Buy and from there, you can register to receive alerts when relevant properties are added to the market.
Somerton of Somerset is not just a wonderfully lyrical name: it’s also one of the most charming towns you’re likely to come across in these British Isles. In fact, the similarity in the names is no coincidence. The county of Somerset actually gets its name from Somerton, giving you an idea of just how big an influence the town has on its wider area. This is also something that works both ways because Somerton, in many ways, feels like a condensed version of so much of what makes its county such a remarkable place to be.
We may as well start with the obvious and that’s all the beautiful green spaces. These shine even brighter thanks to the area’s pleasant climate, which is warmer and sunnier than much of the rest of the country. It’s also situated close enough to the likes of the breath-taking limestone canyons of Cheddar Gorge, the vibrant Quantock Hills and many more must-see sights to make them easily accessible for those taken by a wanderlust.
Of course, Somerton is also a place of great history. This is something which provides the town with so many sensational sights, creating a truly unique place to live. There’s perhaps no better example of this than the main square with its market cross, the likes of which have been around since the late 14th century. It’s something which is iconic to the area and still benefits the modern community to this day.
That is a perfect example of how Somerton utilises the strengths of its past to bolster and create depth in the present day. Its rich heritage can also be seen in the incredible architecture found around the town. All this creates a visual representation of the proud local culture and community.
Speaking of which, just as important are all those practical details which make up everyday living. Here you’ll find plenty of shops, restaurants, pubs and more to fulfil your needs, meaning the beauty of Somerton doesn’t come at the expense of convenience.
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