Are you searching Google for information on how to buy your first home with a small deposit or, how to get on the property ladder with a low income, meaning that you can only afford to pay a much smaller mortgage? Do you want to know how to find well built, modern, affordable housing without getting bombarded with information from banks and mortgage lenders, with figures that often make your head spin?
It’s not as easy as it should be, to find the best option for you. Do you often wonder whether you will ever have the opportunity to own our own home, or if it’s now becoming a luxury for the wealthy?
Well, there’s some good news for you; starting on the property ladder with a small deposit, or even no deposit at all is not a problem! Welcome to Shared Ownership.
Shared ownership is simple; you buy a share of a property and pay rent on the rest, along with any maintenance/service charges if required. There are no other sneaky additions, as long as you are able to keep up your mortgage, rent and service charge payments this option is much more logical when it comes securing your own property.
You may read these words and immediately think; ‘I don’t want to get involved in that’ or ‘I knew there was a catch somewhere’ but you need to keep reading and ask yourself, how much do you really know about shared ownership, to even make that decision? It truly gives you an opportunity to get onto the property ladder and there really is no catch.
The National Housing Group (NHG) report that there are currently over 90,000 people in the UK, who have stepped onto the property ladder with the help of shared ownership housing, showing how it’s a proven, cost-effective, alternative to renting, as well as creating a natural, desirable approach to finding your way onto the property ladder especially, if you currently can’t afford to buy a house outright.
Do not take shared ownership housing literally, it does not mean that you will be sharing your home with Bob, Jude and their golden retriever Sally, the home that you find will be yours and no one else will be involved, other than the housing scheme that you will renting a percentage from.
You are free to buy as little as 10% of the property, with a deposit as low as £1875 for a £150,000 house, increasing the share as and when you are able.
It’s important to point out that there are very few restrictions to the shared ownership structure, making it a very popular option. Should you want to sell your share of the property, you will have the lease in order to do this. As long as your household earnings are below £80k outside of London (£90k within London) and you don’t own another property, or are using the ‘buy to let’ scheme, shared ownership is a brilliant way to get you into your own home.
Read more about the steps towards shared ownership here with our 6 simple steps or click here to search for your perfect new home on a shared ownership lease.