8 Benefits of Buying A Shared Ownership Home
Shared Ownership is a government-backed scheme that helps people get on the property ladder if they can’t currently afford in the traditional way.
Under the scheme, buyers obtain a mortgage for 25% - 75% of the property’s value, whilst paying a small rent to a housing provider such as Laurus Homes who own the remaining share.
Shared Ownership can save you money whilst providing the long-term security of home ownership.
You will be eligible for the scheme if you’re a first-time-buyer, or have owned before but can’t afford to now. Your household income must also be less than £80,000.
Here are eight ways Shared Ownership with Laurus Homes could help you:
1. A smaller deposit
All journeys to home ownership start with the deposit for mortgage. In 2018, the average first-time-buyer in Greater Manchester parted with over £27,000 to secure a mortgage for their property.
With Shared Ownership, a smaller mortgage means a smaller deposit. Because your mortgage covers 25% - 75% of the property’s value, the deposit required to secure it will also be a fraction of what it would be to buy on the open market.
For example, depending on your choice of lender, a £170,000 1-bedroom apartment at our Bakers Court development, in Timperley, South Manchester could require a deposit of just £4,250*.
2. Lower monthly payments
Another way you’ll save money is on monthly payments. The overall monthly costs of Shared Ownership properties are usually lower than private rents.
Laurus Homes’ rental charge equates to 2.75% of the property’s remaining value. For example, you would pay just £310 per month** for 50% of a 2-bedroom apartment at Bakers Court.
Your mortgage payments are agreed with your lender depending on how much of the property you own.
3. Invest in your future
This gives you greater financial security than if you were renting, and the potential to profit from the market value of your property increasing.
Over time, a shared owner may increase the percentage share they own and eventually own the property outright, using a process called staircasing. This makes Shared Ownership particularly useful if you don’t have the funds to buy outright now but expect your income or savings to increase in the future.
There are no obligations or restrictions to this process – Shared Ownership is designed to be flexible to your financial situation.
4. A place of your own
Simply put, Shared Ownership makes it affordable for you to own your own home.
As a Shared Owner, you will have a right to occupy the property as a leaseholder for the length of the lease, which typically run between 90-125 years. You are also free to decorate, alter and enhance your home, which isn’t possible in a rented property.
If you staircase to 100%, in most cases Laurus Homes is able to transfer the freehold of your house to you. An apartment would remain leasehold, just the same as an apartment on the open market.
5. Benefits of a new build
By becoming a shared owner with Laurus Homes, you’ll enjoy the same advantages of buying a new build property as an outright owner.
Our properties come with modern fitted kitchens and bathrooms, including new appliances such as dishwashers and fridge-freezers. You may also have the chance to personalise your home by choosing from a range of kitchen units, worktops and bathroom tiling.
For the first 12 months, any defects to your property will be fixed by the contractor we employ, and our Customer Care team will be on hand to deal with any queries. Your property will also be covered by a new build NHBC 10-year structural warranty.
6. A reliable housing provider
Laurus Homes will own the remaining share of your property. We are based in Sale, Greater Manchester and put our customers first, with dedicated teams to ensure a smooth sales journey and management of your property and lease once you move in. As a Shared Ownership provider, we are also regulated by the Regulator of Social Housing.
Our mission is to make Shared Ownership work for you. When buying with Laurus Homes, you will be assessed by an independent financial advisor, so you can be confident that our properties are within your budget.
7. It’s becoming more popular
Demand for Shared Ownership is growing by the day. In the first month of 2020, Property Booking saw a 62% rise in searches, and Savills predicts that demand for Shared Ownership will rise by 150% in 2023 when the Help to Buy Equity Loan is phased out.
This means that if or when you choose to sell your Shared Ownership property there will be more prospective buyers than ever before.
And it’s not just buyers that Shared Ownership is popular with. Now more than ever, there are a wide range of lenders who offer Shard Ownership mortgages, such as Lloyds Bank, HSBC, Barclays, Nationwide, and Santander.
Laurus Homes also works with industry-leading surveyors, financial advisors and solicitors who will ensure a smooth sales process.
8. Great places to live
Across the North West of England, it is becoming less affordable to own a home in so many of the places we love.
Laurus Homes build Shared Ownership properties in some of the most popular areas of the region, where renting privately or owning outright may simply not be possible.
*based on a deposit of 10% of the overall mortgage value.
**subject to qualification for Shared Ownership and a formal financial assessment.
