Shared Ownership Morgages and Morgage finder
Shared ownership mortgages enable qualifying applicants to buy a share in a property, usually funded by a morgage, and pay rent to a housing association for the rest. The rent is normally a percentage of the value of the share of the property owned by the housing association. Eventually you will be able to buy more of the housing association's share of the property.
Joint ownership (buying with a friend) and shared ownership can also sometimes be combined. If you need to take out a mortgage for shared ownership to enable you to buy a share of a property, you'll need to know how much you can borrow and what is the most suitable morgage for your circumstances.
Work with a good shared ownership mortgage advisor for morgage advice. Your mortgage advisor will know all about the 100% shared ownership mortgages about who are the best shared ownership mortgage lenders and who offers the best shared ownership morgage rates.
As shared ownership mortgages are seen as less attractive business propositions not all lenders will offer mortgages for this purpose. Interest rates may be slightly higher than for conventional mortgages but fees are generally comparable.
Similar criteria for lending apply for shared ownership mortgages than for conventional mortgages but some lenders will not lend on certain types of property
The initial share purchased must usually be at least 25%. If you want to increase your share of ownership of the property, once the housing association has granted you approval to buy a further share, you should apply to your lender for a further advance. This is sometimes known as "staircasing". The lender is likely to want to carry out another valuation of the property for which fees will be payable and the housing association may also want to get its own valuation done.