Jan 01, 2016

A guide to shared ownership in Gloucester

Shared ownership makes home ownership more affordable. With shared ownership you buy a share of your home and pay rent on the remainder. It is particularly suitable for people with a regular income who wish to buy their own home but cannot afford to do so through conventional methods.

Find out how shared ownership works and if you qualify.

Who is eligible for shared ownership property in Gloucester?

The scheme is intended for people who cannot afford to buy a suitable home in any other way.  It is provided through “HomeBuy agents”, who will decide if you can buy a home this way.  HomeBuy agents are housing associations that have been authorised to run schemes for people who have difficulty buying a home.

You can only buy a home through shared ownership in Gloucester if:

  • your household earns £80,000 a year or less,
  • you can’t otherwise afford to buy a home in your area.
  • you’re over 18 and living in the UK
  • you’re able to get a mortgage to cover the purchase price of a share
  • you’re in a position to buy with savings available to cover solicitor and mortgage fees.

A household is the number of people who are buying the home.  For example, a household might be you alone or you and your partner.

Shared ownership is open to:

  • people who rent council or housing association properties,
  • first-time buyers (you are a first time buyer if you haven’t owned a home before)

You can also get help through shared ownership if you used to own a home, but can’t afford to buy one now.

How does shared ownership in Gloucester work?

You might buy 25%, 50% or 75% share in your home.  You will need to obtain a mortgage to fund the share that you own.  You pay a rent on the share that you don’t buy – usually up to 3 percent of the share’s value.  The bigger the share that you purchase, the less rent you have to pay.  The other share is usually owned by a housing association.  Your income will need to be high enough that you can reasonably afford the rent and mortgage payments but low enough that you do need assistance.

Shared ownership properties are always leasehold.  This means that you own them for a fixed period of time, usually 99 years.

When you buy your home, you become the owner of the lease.  The housing association will grant you a lease for the fixed period. Although you do not buy outright, shared ownership means that you will have sole right of occupancy. You have the normal rights and responsibilities of a full owner-occupier as set out in your lease.

Gradually you may buy further shares in the property, known as staircasing, and eventually own your home outright.  If you wish to purchase additional shares you’ll need to serve notice on the housing association who will than have the property valued.  The price you pay will be the percentage of the market value as per the valuation which relates to the percentage you are purchasing.

How to apply for the shared ownership scheme

If you are interested in buying a home though shared ownership, you will need to get in touch with the HomeBuy agent in the region that you wish to live.  Each HomeBuy agent will have an online application form which you will need to submit for approval.

This link will help you find your local Help to Buy Agent.

How do I sell my shared ownership property?

Sometimes you’ll want to sell the shared ownership property.  You can sell the house at any time, but you must tell the housing association in writing.  There are two ways that you can do this.  Firstly you can just sell the share that you own or secondly you can staircase to 100% simultaneously with the sale.  With the second option the buyers will not need to be approved as when completion takes place it will no longer be shared ownership.

For more details about shared ownership developments in Gloucester that we have available please contact Michael Tuck New Homes in Gloucester on 01452 726443.

Alternatively here is a list of the shared ownership developments and shared ownership properties that we currently have available.

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Michael Tuck Lettings in Quedgeley have managed our rental property for the past 11+ years.

During this time their professionalism has never dropped. In the early days, Ian, Graham and Vikki-Lee were a huge help to a novice landlord. I’m pleased to say they are still there with a helping hand. Claire has always been the nudge I needed for the necessary insurance and safety checks. Having had some difficult times over the past couple of years I would like to say a special thank you to Lianne who has been there to help wherever she could.

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They were so professional and so prompt with their communication. In particular we would like to mention Charlie for his regular updates and extremely helpful service in the sale of my mothers house. We were in a particularly long chain, and he went over and above to assist us in the communications between the buyers and sellers in order for our chain to proceed. He even contacted Solicitors and helped progress the exchange.

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Michael Tuck Lettings in Abbeymead have been a fantastic letting agents looking after our house for the past 17 years.

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I have recently bought and sold through the Gloucester branches and cannot praise Miles and the team highly enough.

In what has been a very testing time for the industry, Miles and all the staff have worked tirelessly in my purchase and even more so my sale.

Thoroughly recommend Tucks every time. Special thanks to Otis. Thank you guys it’s been an absolute pleasure.

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David Lichtenstein
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