Five benefits of shared ownership

We have created a list of five benefits of shared ownership to help you decide if shared ownership is right for you.

Shared ownership means that you buy a share of the property and pay rent to a landlord on the rest. It’s available to those who earn less than £80,000 a year (£90,000 in London). You must either be a first-time buyer, have previously owned a home but you cannot afford to buy one now or you are an existing shared owner and would like to move.

1. You need a smaller deposit

You can now purchase between 10-75% of the market value of a property. This is great news for those who do not have the ability to save a large deposit.

If you buy 25% share of a £200k home, the cost of the share you buy is £50k, therefore a 20% deposit for your share is £10k.

For homes built as part of the Affordable Homes Programme (AHP) 2021-2026, customers can now buy shares as low as 10%, meaning for a £200k home this will be £20k for a share and £4k for a 20% deposit, for that share.

In comparison, a 20% deposit for a £200k property is £40k.

2. Mortgages are more accessible if you are on a lower wage

Mortgage lenders look at your yearly salary to decide the size of the mortgage they will offer you. Often, they will not lend you more than four times your annual salary.

The size of a mortgage on a shared ownership home is smaller, therefore the chance of being offered a mortgage is higher.

3. You might get help with the cost of essential repairs

For homes built as part of the AHP 2021-2026, there’s a 10-year period where Grand Union will support with the costs of essential repairs and maintenance in new shared ownership properties where customers own less than 100% of their home.

Repairs will need to be reported to Grand Union first and, if approved, arranged by the customer.

They will need to be completed by an approved tradesperson and customers can claim a repairs allowance from Grand Union to cover the cost. You can claim up to a certain amount a year, which is £500.

This won’t be retrospective, so if you already live in a shared ownership property, your lease will remain the same. Our first homes under this programme are due to be completed mid-2023.

4. You can buy more shares of the home

Once you own a shared ownership home you can buy more of it – this is called staircasing. Many shared owners have increased their ownership by 10% or more. If you buy more shares, you’ll pay less rent.

The share available to buy changes with the new shared ownership lease (AHP 2021-2026), so customers who buy homes through the new shared ownership lease can now buy 1% more at a time during the first 15 years of the lease, rather than having to buy larger shares at a time.

5. There’s potential to grow your equity

Over time, you could still benefit from the equity of your home increasing as long as you pay your mortgage. If the value of your home increases, the value of your share will also increase.