Key Worker Shared Ownership: What You Need To Know
Everything you need to know about Key Worker Shared Ownership
If you’re not sure how to buy your first property, shared ownership might be the answer. With this type of purchase, there is no deposit required and only a mortgage needed on the part of what’s being bought – meaning that those with smaller budgets can still get the access they deserve! Here we’ll discuss Key Worker Shared Ownership: What you need to know.
Shared ownership is a government initiative to make it easier for people from lower-income brackets to buy their first home. The minimum share required in order purchase has been reduced, and you pay subsidized rent on what’s leftover after that initial down payment has been made – but when your financial situation gets better? You can increase your holdings by buying up all remaining shares at once or in smaller batches until they’re fully yours!
What is shared ownership?
The government gives residential property buyers the chance to purchase more of their homes with shared ownership schemes. The minimum initial share required has been reduced from 25% down to 10%. Additionally, 1% extra instalments are now possible for those who want it – up until 5 years ago, this was only achievable in 2- or 3-months’ time at an increased cost!
The government plans also aim to introduce 10 years during which the shared owner will receive support from their landlord to pay for essential repairs. This is possible with Shared Ownership leaseholders because they have more control when it comes down to selling their homes at an affordable price while still making money off of what little equity remains.
Most properties that can be bought in this way are either newly built or older shared ownership properties being resold by housing associations.
Shared ownership homes will always have service charges, ground rent for now – but there’s been some good news on the horizon! The government has just announced plans where leaseholders won’t need to pay it later this year (see ‘service charge and Ground Rent’ section below).
What are the requirements for purchasing a shared ownership home?
The government recently changed the rules for key worker shared ownership. Instead of only applying to public sector workers such as nurses and teachers, it now benefits anyone who meets certain criteria: they must be at least 18 years old with a household income below £80k in London or £90K elsewhere; if you meet these requirements then there’s hope that owning your own home will soon become more affordable than renting!
However, before we get ahead ourselves, let’s look into what exactly this means by looking over some relevant statistics from last year when our new scheme started up again after being taken away due to circumstances beyond their control (read about those here).
If you’re aged 55 or over, then there is a shared ownership scheme that could be right for your needs. This program offers much of the same benefits as standard schemes but only allows up to 75% purchase with no rent payments required once initial equity has been achieved.
How do you go about purchasing a shared ownership property?
If you’ve found the perfect house and want to buy it, there’s a lot of work that goes into getting approval. You’ll need money for your deposit as well as an assessment from housing providers about what share they think is fair for them to let go (or sell) their property!
After that, the process is pretty similar to what you would do if buying on the open market. You’ll need a mortgage for your share in the property, and not all lenders offer them either, so make sure to research it beforehand!
What is the down payment for a shared ownership home, and what are the continuing costs?
You’ll need to pay a 10% deposit for the share of the property you want to buy. Then there are also standard costs such as mortgage arrangement fees, solicitor’s services, and stamp duty that come into play when purchasing properties. Still, first-time buyers don’t have their payment of £300K or less up until 500k pounds in value, including ground rent if Leasehold is chosen instead.
On a shared ownership property, who pays the service charges/ground rent?
Sometimes, even if you only own a small proportion of the property, you may find yourself obliged to pay most or all service charges. Charges can vary each year depending on what maintenance is needed for that particular land lease; typically, they are lower in houses and higher on flats with more communal areas being maintained by owners’ associations/societies, so these tend to have higher rates too!
In 2021, leaseholders will no longer have to pay ground rent for their homes. In January, the government pledged that they are willing and able enough to extend leases from 500 years up until 990 more after the upcoming session starts this spring!
How can I buy extra shares in a shared ownership property?
One of the best ways to own your home outright is by staircase. This means that instead of leaving one’s house in stages, you can buy more property with each stage until owning 100%. However, the price will depend on how much it costs at any given timeless if prices are low and higher when they’re high!
The more shares you own in your property, the less rent it will cost. For example, if I buy 10 percent of my home outright with no mortgage payment whatsoever – which is known as staircasing- then when someone else rents from me, they pay around £150 per month instead of close to £200 for full ownership! If two people share one small room, each without stairs between them (like most student accommodation), both parties could be saving over 50%.
What happens if I wish to sell a property in which I have a stake of the ownership?
If you want to sell your home but don’t have 100% ownership of the property yet, the housing association may help. They can search their database for buyers looking for properties like yours and put them in touch with each other so that they might come up with an offer. If this doesn’t work out or is too time-consuming, there’s always going through usual processes where people buy homes outright instead!
Got a question we haven’t answered? Perhaps we do on our Main Key Worker page. If not, get in touch
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