Shared ownership is a part-buy, part-rent scheme. It allows you to buy a share of a property on selected sites and pay a reduced rent to the landlord on the remaining share the landlord owns.
Eligible applicants can usually purchase between 25 and 75 percent of the property, depending upon their financial circumstances. This means that buyers need a smaller mortgage and deposit (minimum of 5 percent) than they would need if they were buying the property outright. They will also have the option to buy more shares as and when they can afford to in future. Monthly costs are usually lower than renting the same home privately.
Some schemes give priority to the following types of applicants:
- people with local connections
- social housing tenants
- serving or former military personnel
- first time buyers.
There are no restrictions on the number of bedrooms you can apply for unless otherwise stated in the allocation policy or criteria of the development.
Shared ownership eligibility
Shared Ownership schemes may have specific eligibility criteria, which generally includes applicants:
- who do not own any other property in England or any other country
- applications from home owners are accepted if they can demonstrate that they are in the process of selling their current home
- agreeing to use the property as their own or main home throughout ownership
- agreeing to not rent the property out
- being registered with the Affordable Housing Scheme
- being in permanent employment
- having a household income of less than £80,000 per year
- having a local connection to the Bury area.
Failure to pay rent, service charge or mortgage payments and other serious breaches of the shared ownership lease including anti-social behaviour could result in forfeiture of the lease or repossession.