A Guide to Shared Ownership | The Mortgage Broker

Many people are finding it increasingly difficult to get their feet on the first rung of the property ladder. What with the combination of high property prices and mortgage lenders asking for the minimum of a ten percent deposit, many prospective home buyers may feel defeated before they have even found the home of their dreams. Shared Ownership is a concept that has been devised and developed by housing associations across the UK to help those individuals who dream of being property owners but who are not financially equipped to buy a home outright. Also known as a Part Buy Part Rent scheme, Shared Ownership offers a low cost ownership option for those who are perhaps on a low income and indeed, those who do not have a big enough deposit and so have been refused a full mortgage. Creating affordable housing has been a Government target for many years, and introducing this particular scheme has made the prospect of buying your own home a little less daunting. Of course, not everyone will qualify or be eligible to take advantage of the Shared Ownership scheme. Each housing association has its own criteria which needs to be met to qualify for the scheme so it is imperative that applicants seek the help and advice of a housing association approved mortgage broker who thoroughly understands the process and advantages of the Part Buy Part Rent plan. In short, the Shared Ownership option is available to any first time buyers with a household income of £60,000 per annum. Most housing associations will also request that you have some amount of deposit available and pay costs of up to £3000 that may be charged during the arrangement process. The advantages of Shared Ownership makes getting a first step onto the property ladder a real possibility for many couples and young families. Many homes that are available under the scheme are usually new builds or newly refurbished properties with many housing associations even wavering the stamp duty charges to the buyer. Owning just part of a property really can make home buying a less expensive prospect while offering assurances and security for the buyer. Put simply, Shared Ownership is an agreement between the buyer and local housing association in which it is agreed that the property in question will be part sold and part rented to the occupants on a percentage basis. As part of this agreement, it is also possible for the buyer to gradually buy larger percentages of their home until they own it outright, and this process is aptly named as staircasing. With this Shared Ownership route, it is possible in some areas to buy into a property for as little as twenty four percent of the full value and so your deposits and the value of the mortgage you require will be minimal. As with a regular mortgage application, you will still need a ten percent deposit to enter into the scheme, but this will be a significantly smaller amount over all. It isnt difficult to see why these Government Shared Ownership schemes are gaining in popularity amongst first time buyers. For one they offer more stability in such turbulent financial times as these as well as affording individuals the security of owning their own home and the first steps into becoming fully fledged home owners. If you would like further details on what shared ownership mortgages could be available to you, contact our teamto discuss your requirements or fill in ouronline mortgage enquiry formtoday and we will be in contact with you.