|
Financial
Services > Mortgages
> Shared Property
> Shared Property Ownership
Shared
Ownership
What is meant by shared ownership or part buy/part rent and how
do you find out more about it? Shared ownership schemes are intended
for people who cannot afford to buy a property outright and gives
them a helping hand to get on to the property ladder. Although
you will not own the property outright, you will still have all
the normal rights and responsibilities of an owner-occupier. It
is possible for up to four individuals to become joint owners,
but each applicant must meet the eligibility criteria.
Shared ownership is the most common way of purchasing affordable
housing from a Housing
Association or Registered
Social Landlord (RSL). It allows you to purchase
a share in a property, which can be anywhere between 25% and 75%
with 50% being the usual average. As when buying a property in
the conventional way, you organise a mortgage to cover the cost
of the percentage you are buying and then you pay a low rent on
the outstanding part.
The Housing
Corporation is sponsored by the Office of the Deputy
Prime Minister and is a Non Departmental Public Body. Its role
is to regulate and fund Housing Associations
in England. Housing Associations are the principle providers
of new social housing. There are currently over 2,000 Associations
in England. RSLs are social landlords who are registered with
the Housing Corporation. The majority of RSLs are Housing Associations,
but some are co-operatives, companies and trusts. Housing Associations
are run as businesses, but they do not trade for profit and any
money they make is ploughed back into the organisation to fund
new homes and maintain existing ones.
A full list of Housing Associations is registered with the Housing
Corporation and can be found in the Public
Register of Social Landlords. The Housing Corporation
office covering your area will also have a list of Housing Associations
offering different schemes. Both can be found on www.housingcorp.gov.uk
Once you have purchased your share in a property, your investment
doesn't have to stay at the same level. As your finances allow,
you can buy further shares in your home, buying it outright if
you want to. This method of house purchase is known as "staircasing".
Another scheme that is sometimes available is "Do
It Yourself Shared Ownership". In this instance,
rather than purchasing a property directly from the Housing Association,
they would set you a budget and you would be able to look on the
open market. When you have found a property, the Housing Association
would purchase it and then sell you a share of between 25% and
75%. The scheme then works in the same way as outlined above.
NEXT >>
|
