Shared ownership

• You will be eligible for shared ownership if you meet all of the following criteria: 
  • Your household income is £80,000 a year or less (outside London) 
  • You can demonstrate that you would otherwise be unable to purchase a property suitable to meet your housing needs on the open market 
  • You can get a mortgage on the percentage you want to purchase  
  • You have sufficient income to cover the costs of homeownership. 
• You must also meet one of the below criteria: 
  • You are a first-time buyer 
  • You are re-entering the housing market after a relationship breakdown 
  • You used to own a home but are unable to buy one now on the open market without assistance 
  • You are an existing shared ownership homeowner, and you want to move 
  • You do not own another home in the UK or abroad.  

No, this is a common misunderstanding. You will be sharing ownership of the home with believe housing. You will own a percentage, and so will we, until you buy enough shares to own your home outright.

The only people that will live in your home, are the people that you choose to live there. 

‘Staircasing’ is the process of buying more shares of the home you own. You can do this gradually when it suits you with the aim of owning 100%.  

Each time you staircase , your home will need to be valued, as the cost of each share is dependent on the market value of your home.  

Some shared ownership schemes have a cap on the amount of shares you can buy. Please check this before going ahead with your agreement. 

Your offer will be prioritised if you are a serving member of the armed forces. You may also be prioritised if you have previously served in the armed forces, dependent on your role.  

Properties are otherwise allocated on a first come first served basis to applicants who meet the qualifying criteria. 

Up to four people can be named on the agreement, providing they meet the criteria and pass the mortgage assessment for the percentage of share. 

Yes, you can sell your shared ownership property if you wish to. The process however is different depending on how much of the property you own.  

If you have not yet staircased to 100% and wish to sell your share, the lease requires you to offer the property initially to believe housing to nominate a qualifying buyer. We may also nominate to buy back the property. If we don’t nominate within a four-week period then you can, subject to our consent, market and sell your lease.  

There is also the provision for believe housing to be offered the right of first refusal when shared owners have staircased up to 100% and own the property outright.  

You are responsible for general repair, maintenance and improvement of the property, except in the first 10 years of the commencement of the lease. During this time believe housing will be responsible for external and structural repairs and for a financial contribution for some general repairs up to a maximum of £500 per annum (subject to some rollover as detailed below). 

Following this 10-year period, or if you staircase to 100% ownership before that time, you will take on full responsibility for all repairs and maintenance. You will be able to claim up to a maximum of £500 in repairs and maintenance costs each year to support with the repair or replacement (if faulty and not covered by warranty) of elements within the home that are your responsibility to maintain and repair. Detail on respective responsibilities will be contained within your lease.   

Any portion of repair and maintenance costs over and above £500 will be your responsibility. A maximum of £500 worth of unused repairs expenditure can be rolled over into a following year, but not subsequent years. The accumulated allowance will be transferred on a transfer of ownership (resale).  After each repair claim paid, we will provide a statement showing the updated remaining repair allowance.