What is Shared Ownership?

Shared Ownership is a government-backed scheme that makes buying your home more affordable. It works in a simple way – by letting you buy between 10% -75% of a new home initially, which means the deposit you’ll need to find is much less than if you were buying 100%.

The share you buy depends on how much of a mortgage loan you can afford, and how much you’ve saved for a deposit.  Once you move in your monthly costs will include your mortgage repayments for the share you’ve bought and as we’ll still own a part of the home there’ll be some rent to pay on this too.

Even though you’ve only bought a share to start with, with Shared Ownership you get to live in your home as though you own it outright. What’s also great is that you can buy more shares over time until you own all of it, known as ‘Staircasing’.

Why choose Shared Ownership?

Benefits of buying a new home with Shared Ownership include:

Lower deposit meaning you can step onto the property ladder sooner
You’ll only buy at the share that ensures monthly payments are affordable for you
You’re able to buy more shares and ‘staircase up’ when the time is right for you
If property prices rise, you’ll benefit and gain equity in the share you own
You can decorate your Shared Ownership home how you want to
You can sell your home on if you want to

Who is Shared Ownership for?

If you’re looking to buy your first home, or don’t currently own a property, Shared Ownership could be right for you! Each applicant is assessed individually, and some rules apply – for example you’ll need to have saved a deposit, not have a household income of £80,000 or more a year, and there’ll be a financial assessment to check you can afford the share and monthly costs. For more information please click here.

1.

Online application

Complete the following Shared Ownership Eligibility Application Form – we will assess your eligibility for Shared Ownership. You will receive an email within 4 working days with confirmation of your acceptance or rejection.

2.

Affordability assessment

Metro Finance carry out all of our affordability assessments. Once the properties have been released for reservation you can either complete an online form at www.metrofinance.co.uk or call on 0114 270 1444. Metro Finance will assess your affordability within 4 working days. Metro Finance will work out the maximum share that you can purchase.

3.

Documents

Once your eligibility has been confirmed with Metro Finance you will need to provide them with the following documents, the information will be required for all applicants:

– Photographic ID (Passport or Driving Licence).
– Your last 3 months’ payslips (If self-employed, you will need to provide 3 years of accounts by a qualified accountant or 3 years of SA302’s, if the mortgage lender will accept these).
– Proof of funds for the deposit
– A ‘Mortgage in Principle’, this proposes the amount the provider is prepared to lend, the interest rate and the number of years to repay.
– Working Tax Credits (excluding child care credits).
– Last three months’ bank statements

4.

Payment and reservation

Once Metro Finance has provided their sign off and our Sales Advisor is happy that all information has been supplied and all criteria satisfied, you will need to pay the £500 reservation fee to secure the property. This can be paid by online bank transfer.

Once you have paid the reservation fee, the Sales Advisor will contact you to confirm the sale details and terms and conditions of the reservation period. You will need to provide your solicitor details at this point.

For more info on Shared Ownership contact us today.

To find out more about the buying process once you’ve reserved your home click here.

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