Shared ownership can be a good option for first time buyers who wish to get onto the property ladder but may not be able to afford to buy a property outright. Housing Associations offer schemes allowing you to part buy and part rent a property. The share you buy initially is agreed with the Housing Association and you then have the option to buy further shares until you own the property outright (a process called “staircasing”). The price you pay on staircasing is based on the market value of the property at the time.
The purchase of the initial share and any additional shares bought by staircasing are normally funded by way of a mortgage. This means that as you staircase your rent decreases but your mortgage payments increase.
You can sell a shared ownership property (whether or not you own 100%) but this is subject to an obligation to offer the property for sale back to the Housing Association in the first instance before putting it on the market. The Housing Association then has the option of buying the property or nominating a purchaser from a waiting list.
All shared ownership properties are leasehold and the provisions dealing with staircasing and the re-sale procedure as well as other restrictions on your use of the property are contained in a lease which is a lengthy and complex document. It is therefore essential that you receive specialist advice and our team at Heppenstalls has all the expertise and experience necessary to guide you through the process.
As with all sales and purchases of residential property, we offer a fixed fee and from the outset we shall provide you with full details of all fees and disbursements so there are no hidden extras or unpleasant surprises.
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