Is shared ownership a good idea?

Is shared ownership a good idea?

Thought about buying a shared ownership home? Concerned it might not be a good idea or might not work for you?

Here are five key reasons why we think it’s a great option and is becoming ever more popular with homebuyers:

 

You can get a foot onto the housing ladder

Shared ownership sees you buy a share in your home and pay rent on the share that you don't own. It means you can take the first step on the property ladder with a smaller deposit and a smaller mortgage.

It doesn’t need to cost you the earth

That’s right – it really might not be as expensive as you think because your share options are so flexible. Depending on the scheme, the type of property you want to buy and where your new home is located, shares as low as 10% are available. This also removes the problem of finding a huge deposit – one of the biggest barriers to buying a home.

Staircasing

Buying a shared ownership home doesn’t mean you will never own your home outright – far from it. It is possible for you to buy a larger share in your home, or even all of it, at some stage if you want to. This is known as ‘staircasing’ and allows you build up your share over time in an affordable way.

The larger the share of your property that you own, the less you will have to pay in rent.

It’s open to virtually everyone

Changes to shared ownership eligibility criteria which came into effect in January 2016 mean that it is now open to many more people than before:

  • The household earnings threshold has risen from £60,000 or less a year to £80,000 or less a year (or £90,000 or less a year if you live in London)
  • You’re no longer restricted on the size of property you can buy – as long as you can afford it, you can buy any sort of shared ownership home you like
  • Shared ownership homes are now offered on a first-come, first-served basis – the only exceptions include priority continuing to be given to MoD personnel, or if the local authority for the area that you want to buy in requires you to have a local connection.

You can sell at any time

You can sell your share in your home at any time. You just need to inform the housing provider which owns the remaining share of the property formally in writing. As a part owner of the property the housing provider has first refusal on the opportunity to buy the property. If you own 100% of the property you can sell it yourself privately.

To view shared ownership properties available in your area visit our sales pages, email homeownership@aster.co.uk or message @Sales_Aster on Twitter.

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