Buy a Shared Ownership Home
I want to buy a shared ownership home, what do I do?
For a Step By Step guide also see our Shared Ownership Buyers guide here.
When viewing properties there are a few important points to remember see our Viewing Tips here.
To see sellers details and contact them you must first register click on the egister Now tab.
Reserving a home
If you are interested in buying a shared ownership property the housing association will usually let you reserve it with a deposit in the region of £200, varying depending on the housing association.
Attending a financial interview
If you meet the eligibility criteria for shared ownership see details here, the housing association will invite you to choose an Independent Financial Advisor (IFA) an approved list of financial advisers, Housetrade have a specialist list here.
You will then arrange to meet the IFA, they will inform you what pieces of information will be required to go through an eligibility and financial assessment with the IFA who will make you aware of your financial obligations, all the associated costs and what will be sustainable for you in terms of budget. They will then be able to determine your eligibility for the home you are interested in, the share of ownership you can afford and any other financial requirements.
The information the IFA will request from you is as follows:
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Proof of your name and address - for example utility or council tax bill Proof of your salary - for example 3 months payslips or P60
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Identification - for example your passport
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Proof of your savings - for example a building society statement
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Details of any children living with you
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Any other appropriate information in support of your application.
The Independent Financial Advisor will search for the best mortgage offers to meet your needs and refer you to a selection of lenders that will be able to help you. Housetrade have partnered up with a panel of specialist shared ownership mortgage lenders giving you the choice and ensuring you benefit from the most suitable and cost effective offering available see the list here. You are no obliged to use one of these suggested lenders although if you search on the high street and find a lender who isn’t a specialist in shared ownership it can delay the buying process.
Appointing a solicitor
Everyone who buys a property needs a solicitor to do the necessary legal work. Housetrade have partnered up with a panel of specialist solicitors with experience in shared ownership giving you the choice and ensuring you benefit from the most suitable and cost effective offering available see the list here. Most housing associations also have a panel of solicitors with an understanding of shared ownership schemes. You are no obliged to use one of these suggested solicitors although if you search on the high street and find a solicitor who isn’t a specialist in shared ownership it can delay the buying process.
Your solicitor will be responsible for:
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Performing checks that the paperwork and mortgage are in place to complete on time.
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Undertaking 'property searches' which ensure various things such as a check that the housing association actually owns the property in question and that there are no planned developments which could affect your property in the future
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Ensuring all support is there so that everything necessary to help you buy your home quickly happens.
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Speaking with your mortgage lender, the housing association’s solicitors and checking the lease for the home you wish to buy has no anomalies.
After the Financial Interview
After you had the financial interview the housing association will issue your solicitor with a document called the 'Memorandum of Sale', which essentially summarises the details of your proposed home purchase. This will provide details such as the intended ‘exchange of contracts' which is the date when the proposed purchase and sale will be legally binding.
It normally takes about 28 days to exchange contracts for shared ownership sales, in this period your selected mortgage lender will preparing your mortgage offer and your solicitor will be undertaking the required legal work.
Also during this period an independent valuation of will be undertaken on behalf of the mortgage lender to verify the value of the property set by the housing association.
Once and if the mortgage lender is then satisfied that a mortgage loan can be issued, you will be given a 'mortgage offer' for the shared ownership home. Upon receipt of this you can contact your solicitor who will then make arrangements for you to sign a contract. This is the point where you will pay the housing association the deposit required for the property. When your deposit is paid and contract signed you are ready to 'exchange contracts'.
Exchange of contracts
The exchange contracts is the point where your solicitor and the housing association's solicitor actually swap the signed contracts. Once this has been done you are legally bound to buy the shared ownership property and the housing association is legally required to sell. You will then be given a 'completion date' from the housing association usually within 10 working days of the date your home is ready to move into. Where a property is under construction the housing association will arrange a completion date around when it will be ready to move in to, which is known as 'completion on notice'.
Completion of the sale
When the completion date comes around your mortgage lender will transfer funds to your solicitor who will in turn pass this money on to the housing association's solicitor to purchase the home. Once this is done you will officially be the owner of the property.
Move in
At this point the housing association will release keys to you so that you are able to move into your new shared ownership home.