Why buy a shared ownership property?

Buying a shared ownership property is a great way to take your first step onto the home ownership ladder. Shared ownership properties are available to those who can raise around half the price of a property through a mortgage or savings, but cannot afford full home ownership on the open market.

A shared ownership property can be a house, flat, maisonette, new, old or refurbished and the idea is that you buy a share of the property and pay a subsidised rent on the remainder; the share that you don’t own will be owned by a housing association.

After buying a share in a shared ownership property, you will be able to buy more shares until you own the property outright and every time you increase your share, you'll pay less rent. The funding for shared ownership homes comes from the Government via the Housing Corporation to housing associations.

Shared ownership is becoming increasingly popular and there can be competition for some shared ownership homes, so priority is often given to local authority tenants, keyworkers essential to the community and those already living or working in the area.

The shared ownership homes on our website aren’t brand new. They have already had a shared owner living in them who is now ready to move on; it’s their share that is being resold. Thus we refer to housing association resale properties.

The price of a shared ownership property is set by an independent valuer and a shared ownership home is subject to the same market conditions as properties on the open market.