Home Ownership Made Easy With Shared Ownership

Are you tired of renting but see very few options available to you? Shared ownership could make your home owners dreams come true. This is a plan that allows you to own specific shares in your home and then pay rent on the remaining shares.

This division will vary depending on how much money you have available to purchase shares and how much you can afford to pay to rent the rest. Over time, many of these plans will allow you to purchase more shares as you can afford them leading to eventual ownership of the home and no more rent!

Rented Shares:
If you are a little concerned about who owns the remainder of your shares do not worry, these are generally held by a housing association and many times the rents you pay are subsidised. Housing associations are regulated by the Housing Authority who in turn must report directly to the government so you need not worry.

General Qualifications:
Shared ownership schemes are open to individuals with a yearly income of less than 60,000 and do not own any other homes or properties. There are no real limits to the number of people you can share this home with provided they all fall within the income and home ownership guidelines.

The money for purchasing shares can come from your own savings or from a traditional mortgage. There is priority given to certain individuals such as those with community responsibility or current local authority tenants. You will need to register with both the Housing Association and HomeBuy agents since the scheme works in partnerships with each of these.

Agreement:
A typical agreement will include a 99 year lease in which you and others on the lease may live in the house as owner occupiers. You will be given the option to purchase more shares over time if you so desire or you can keep the contract status-quo. In most cases you can also sell your shares in the house at a future date, the details of this transaction will be contained in your contract.

Elderly:
There is also a program available for the elderly to participate in shared ownership. Under this scheme, the individual can only purchase up to 75% of the homes shares, but at this point, they no longer have to pay rent on the remaining 25%. This is a HomeBuy program for those 55 years old or older who do not own other property.

Conclusion:
Home ownership is a wonderful thing, however due to a variety of circumstances now everyone can afford it today. To combat this problem the idea of purchasing shares and renting the rest was developed and made available to people from all walks of life. If you have been struggling to find decent housing at a reasonable rate one of these rent to buy or shared ownership schemes could be just what you need. Everyone should be able to enjoy home ownership and these schemes make it entirely possible, particularly for those with limited resources.