Shared Ownership Conveyancing Solicitors in East London

Having trouble getting on the property ladder? Shared ownership could help you achieve your home ownership dreams, no matter how impossible it feels.

With property prices continuing to rise across the UK, millions of people are being priced out of the ‘traditional’ property market. The shared ownership scheme is one of the Government’s affordable home ownership schemes intended to help people buy their first home. Shared ownership allows you to buy a share (between 25-75%) of a property through a housing association and pay rent on the remainder.

In London and south east England in particular, shared ownership is essential to help first time buyers partially buy a property they otherwise would not have been able to afford.

There are important differences between ‘normal’ conveyancing and shared ownership conveyancing. Our specialist conveyancing solicitors can provide all the advice you need to make a confident decision about buying and/or selling a shared ownership property.

Speak to our shared ownership solicitors in London today by giving us a call at our office in South Woodford or by filling in our online enquiry form and a member of our team will be in touch shortly.

Why choose Huggins Lewis Foskett for shared ownership conveyancing?

We are proud members of the Law Society’s Conveyancing Quality Scheme (CQS) for our skills and expertise in this area. Our team includes Law Society approved Conveyancing Panel Solicitors and members of the Council of Licensed Conveyancers.

Based in South Woodford, we advise clients from across London and beyond on a wide range of residential property transactions. We have years of practical experience under our belts and an approachable manner that keeps our clients coming back to us each time they decide to move house.

Your case will always be managed by a qualified conveyancer who has a full understanding of the shared ownership process. We will respond to your correspondence promptly and take all possible steps to progress your transaction swiftly so you can get settled in your new home as soon as possible.

Our shared ownership solicitors’ fees

We aim to keep our services competitively priced while still providing the highest quality of advice and representation. We are completely upfront about our fees and can provide a clear quote which includes all costs you may encounter during the course of your transaction at the beginning of your case.

For more information about our fees, please visit our Residential Purchase Pricing or our Residential Sale Pricing pages. Otherwise, please get in touch for a quote.

Our London conveyancing team

Fee Earners

Secretaries

Jacqui Alston
Carly Eaton
Claire Maddocks
Alison Curtis
Wendy Jarvis
Sylvia Gibbins
Patricia Cranfield

Shared ownership FAQs

How does shared ownership work?

Shared ownership is an affordable home ownership scheme whereby you purchase a proportion of a property (between 25% and 75%) and pay rent on the remainder.

Shared ownership properties are always leasehold. This means you will actually own a long lease of the property for a certain number of years but you won’t own the land the property stands on. This will belong to the housing association through which you bought the property.

You can continue to buy more shares in your property until you own 100% (other than in certain circumstances). This is called ‘staircasing’. The cost of each new share is worked out according to the property’s value at the time you want to buy the share, not the value at the time you first bought the property.

Who is eligible for shared ownership?

You are eligible for shared ownership if your household earns £90,000 or less in London (or £80,000 or less elsewhere in the UK) and:

You are a first time buyer
You used to own a home but now you cannot afford one
You already own a shared ownership property

There are also two other forms of shared ownership:

Older People’s Shared Ownership (OPSO)

If you are over 55 years old, you can use the (OPSO) scheme you can buy up to 75% of a property. You will not have to pay rent on the remaining 75%.

Home Ownership for people with a Long Term Disability (HOLD)

If there is no other shared ownership scheme that is appropriate for you, The HOLD scheme can allow you to buy up to 25% of any property that suits your disability needs.

HOLD works like this – once you have found the property you need (such as a ground floor flat), a housing association will purchase the property and subsequently sell your share to you. You will pay rent on the share owned by the housing association.

You can also get a special type of loan to help cover your mortgage repayments called Support for Mortgage Interest (SMI). However, this will need to be repaid once the property is sold (you will never be asked to repay more than the property is worth).

Like normal shared ownership, you can buy extra shares in the property over time. However, you can only staircase to a maximum of 75% ownership.

Do you need a deposit for shared ownership?

Yes. Like ordinary conveyancing, you need to save around a 10% deposit to purchase a shared ownership property. However, it is 10% of the share you are planning to buy rather than 10% of the entire value of the property. You can get a mortgage on the rest of your share’s value.

For example, if you are buying 25% of a property worth £300,000, your share would be worth £75,000 so you would need to save a 10% deposit of £7,500.

How is rent calculated on shared ownership?

Rent will usually be set at 3% of the value of the housing association’s share. For example, if you own 25% of a £300,000 property, the housing association’s share will be worth £225,000. Annual rent will therefore be set at around £6,750 and your monthly rent will be around £562.50.

Remember that you will also need to factor in other costs such as mortgage payments, service charges (for things like maintenance of common areas), and insurance.

Can you ever own a shared ownership property?

If buy through the standard shared ownership scheme (not OPSO or HOLD), you can staircase your way to owning 100% of the property. You will still own this on a leasehold basis, meaning you actually own a long lease of the property for a certain number of years.

Depending on the circumstances of your case, you may be able to extend your lease and we can provide further advice about this.

What is the difference between help to buy and shared ownership?

Help to buy is also a Government home ownership scheme that helps first time buyers get on the property ladder.

With help to buy, you can buy the entirety of your home with Government help. There are two schemes:

Help to buy ISA – you can no longer open a new ISA, however, if you already have one you can continue to use it until November 2030. When you pay money into your ISA, the Government will top up your savings by 25% (up to £3,000) to use when you buy your first home
Help to buy equity loan – if you save up a 5% deposit for a new build property, the Government can loan you up to 20% of the purchase price (giving you a total deposit of 25%). Once you sell the property, you will need to repay 20% of the property’s value to the Government

Do I need to use a shared ownership solicitor?

Shared ownership conveyancing has several important differences with ordinary conveyancing so it pays to get a solicitor with experience. At Huggins Lewis Foskett, we have helped dozens of first time buyers take that first vital step into home ownership. We have an in-depth understanding of the process and can provide valuable advice on every legal aspect of the purchase or sale.