Your rights
When you buy a shared ownership property you become a leaseholder and CHP is your landlord.
You’ll have a lease for the property, which is a legal contract between you and us. The length term of lease will typically range from 125-990 years, according to the original lease length and depending on when you bought your home.
The lease outlines your rights and responsibilities as a shared owner. You have the right to decorate your new home as you wish. You’re responsible for keeping your home in good condition and making repairs. However, if you'd like to make any structural changes to the property, such as removing a wall, you must get our permission. You decide when it’s time to sell or buy new shares.
Service charge
As a leaseholder, you’ll pay a monthly service charge to us. These cover the costs of maintaining communal areas for your building and/or block, including communal lighting, repairs, cleaning and gardening, as well as buildings insurance and management fees.
Buy more later
With most shared ownership schemes, you can buy further shares when you can afford to. This is called staircasing. The minimum percentage you can staircase depends on the shared ownership model under which you bought your home. There are different models that vary depending on the rules in place at the time the home was funded or planning permission granted, where the home is located, and whether it’s for a specific group of people.
All shared ownership models allow you to buy a minimum of 10% and then in 5% increments, i.e. 10%, 15%, 20%, etc. This is called standard staircasing. You can usually staircase up to 100% to eventually own your home outright. Most people will staircase two or three times before they own their home completely. However, on some schemes, you may only be able to buy up to 75 or 80%. Your lease will detail which shared ownership model you’ve bought with, including any restrictions to staircasing if this applies to your home.
Some shared ownership models allow you to buy a 1% share of your home each year for the first 15 years after you become a shared owner. This is called gradual staircasing. We won’t charge you an administration fee when you buy 1%.
For more information on the different shared ownership models, please contact us.
Eligibility
You’ll need to meet the following criteria to be eligible for shared ownership:
- you must be aged 18 or over;
- your annual household income must be less than £80,000 (£90,000 in London);
- you don’t already own a property, or part of a property, at the time of completing your purchase.
You’ll need to have a good credit history and have some savings (a minimum of £5,000) to cover the costs involved in buying a home. You must also be able to keep up with the monthly rent and mortgage repayments.
Your options
You can buy newly built or resale shared ownership properties.
Find a home
Home ownership for people with long-term disabilities
If you have a long-term disability and are interested in buying your own home, shared ownership through the HOLD scheme could be the answer.
HOLD (Home Ownership for people with Long-term Disabilities) is a government-backed scheme that helps those with disabilities to part-buy a home together with a housing association like us. If you’re eligible, the HOLD scheme allows you to:
- choose a home that suits your needs;
- buy a share of the home (usually 25%–75%);
- pay subsidised rent on the rest (paid for through Housing Benefit);
- get support with the mortgage through the government’s SMI loan;
- buy more shares over time through ‘staircasing’ (if you want to);
- stay in the home as long as you wish.
You can find out more about the scheme on the government website or contact us.
