Shared Ownership Mortgages
Own a share, rent the rest, buy more when you're ready. It's a real route in when full ownership feels out of reach.
Shared ownership lets you buy a share of a home (often between 25% and 75%) and pay a below-market rent on the remainder, usually to a housing association. Because the mortgage only covers your share, the deposit and income needed are much smaller than buying outright.
It's a genuinely useful route into ownership, with its own quirks. Not every lender offers shared ownership mortgages, the rent and service charge sit alongside your mortgage payment, and 'staircasing' to a bigger share has rules worth understanding from day one. I guide you through all of it.
What working together looks like
The lenders who actually do this
Shared ownership is a specialist corner of the market and many lenders simply don't offer it. I know the ones that do, their criteria and how they treat the rent in affordability calculations.
The full monthly picture, not just the mortgage
Your real monthly cost is mortgage + rent + service charge. I put all three on one page so you're comparing honestly against renting or buying outright.
Set up to staircase
If you plan to increase your share later, some mortgage choices now make that easier and cheaper. I structure today's deal with tomorrow's staircasing in mind.
Shared ownership, translated
- Staircasing
- Buying additional shares of your home over time (say from 40% to 60%), reducing the rent as you go. Many leases now allow staircasing in 1% steps.
- Housing association
- The organisation that owns the share you don't. You pay them rent on it, and they usually manage the building.
- Service charge
- A monthly charge for maintaining shared areas and buildings insurance. It's payable on top of mortgage and rent, and part of the affordability sums.
- Resale property
- A shared ownership home being sold by its current shared owner rather than new from the developer. Often better value, and the same scheme rules apply.
Asked all the time, answered honestly
Who is eligible for shared ownership?
Broadly, your household income must be £80,000 or less (outside London) and you can't usually own another home. Schemes prioritise differently, and individual developments can have local connection criteria. I help you check eligibility before you set your heart on a plot.
How much deposit do I need?
Usually 5 to 10% of the share you're buying, not the full property value. On a 40% share of a £300,000 home, a 5% deposit is £6,000, which is what makes the scheme accessible.
Can I ever own the whole property?
In most cases yes, by staircasing to 100% over time, at which point the rent stops entirely. Some rural or older leases cap the maximum share, so I check that at the start.
Is shared ownership harder to sell later?
There is one extra step. The housing association typically gets a period to find a buyer first. Resales do sell (the buyer pool is everyone else looking for an affordable route in), but it's fair to factor the process in, and I'll give you the straight version.
What happens if I miss rent payments on the share I don't own?
The rent is a real obligation, and persistent arrears can put your home at risk just as missed mortgage payments can. Affordability for both parts together is exactly what I check before you commit.
Your home may be repossessed if you do not keep up repayments on your mortgage.
Let's talk about shared ownership
A free, no-obligation chat is the easiest first step. Tell me what you're hoping to do, and I'll tell you honestly how I can help.