Step 1
Are you eligible?
You will need to register with your local zone agent for shared ownership. In Berkshire and Buckinghamshire this is Catalyst Housing and in some areas you will also need to register with your local authority. Once they have approved your application your details will be passed onto housing associations when they have shared ownership properties available within your local authority area. To qualify for some shared ownership properties you have to be a key worker. Please contact us to check if you are eligible for key worker properties.
Step 2
Can you afford it?
Check if you can afford to buy a property by contacting a financial advisor, your bank or building society to make an initial enquiry about getting a mortgage. You should tell them that you want a mortgage offer in principle. You will probably need to have savings you can use as a deposit and you will need in the region of £3,500 to £4,000 to pay all the costs associated with buying a property. We can let you have details of financial advisors who specialise in shared ownership properties.
Step 3
Viewing
Make arrangements to view the properties we have available and choose the one you would like to buy.
Step 4
Application
You will need to send us:
- A completed application form with the following supporting information;
- Proof of your identity (passport, photo driving licence or birth certificate);
- Proof of savings;
- Proof of your income (payslips covering the last three months or three years’ accounts if you are self employed and your latest P60);
- Bank statements covering the last three months;
- A mortgage offer in principle;
- Documents showing details of any loan agreements;
- Credit card statements for the last three months;
- A copy of your rent book, rent statement or mortgage statement for the last six month (if applicable);
- A reservation fee of £500.
Step 5
Credit check
We will assess whether you can buy a home and invite you to come to an interview or arrange a phone interview to make sure you can afford all the costs of owning a home. The financial assessment will be carried out by a qualified independent Financial Advisor. The local authority must support your application before we can offer you a property.
Step 6
Interview
We will invite you to an interview so that we can check your eligibility to buy and explain in detail how shared ownership works and the responsibilities that are entailed in buying a home.
Step 7
Offer
We will send you an offer to buy the home of your choice. You will have seven working days to respond to this offer. If you decide not to go ahead we will return your £500 reservation fee. Once you have confirmed that you are going ahead with the purchase we will bank your deposit of £500.
Step 8
Appointing a solicitor and arranging your mortgage
You will need to appoint a solicitor. It is important that you choose a solicitor who is experienced in shared ownership. We can provide you with details of solicitors experienced in dealing with shared ownership. You should call each of these solicitors to find out how much their fees are, including local searches, stamp duty and other costs associated with buying a property before you agree to use one of them.
You will also need to complete a full mortgage application. Once you have received a copy of your mortgage offer, you should send this to us immediately.
Step 9
Exchange of contracts
Once your solicitor and ours have received all the documents they need we can exchange contracts. This means that you sign a legally binding agreement to buy the property and we sign a contract to sell it. When we exchange contracts we will ask you to pay a further deposit of 10 per cent of the value of the share you are buying. On the day of exchange of contracts your solicitor will agree the date that you will complete the purchase. This is normally one or two weeks after the exchange of contracts.
Step 10
Moving in to your new home
Your purchase is completed. Congratulations this is the day that you can move into your new home. We will arrange to meet you to hand over the keys and check all the meter readings.