If you are thinking about buying a home, the first thing you need to do is to put together enough money for a deposit \u2013 typically 10% of the selling price and them be able to demonstrate that you can pay your mortgage.<\/p>\n
Easier said than done; it may take many years of savings to come up with enough money for a deposit\u2026and as property prices continue to raise the chances to borrow the amount you need may get slimmer and slimmer.<\/p>\n
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Shared ownership schemes are a cross between buying and renting and are aimed mainly at first-time buyers who don\u2019t earn enough to buy a home outright.<\/p>\n
If that\u2019s your case and depending on your household income, you may be eligible to buy a share (between 25 and 75%) of a property from a housing association and then rent the part you don\u2019t own at a reduced rate.<\/p>\n
You will have the option to buy a bigger share of the property at a later date (staircasing).<\/p>\n
All shared ownership homes are offered on a leasehold only basis, meaning you will own the lease on them for a fixed period of time, typically 99 years.<\/p>\n
You also have to pay a service charge for the property, which is usually charged on a monthly basis.<\/p>\n
Most of the homes available are newly built, and some are properties being re-sold.<\/p>\n
Buyers will need to pay a 10% deposit\u00a0as well as stamp duty and other fees.<\/p>\n
You\u2019ll also need to find a mortgage lender that is willing to lend on shared ownership properties<\/p>\n
Although you own only a share of the property you still have to pay all of the maintenance costs.<\/p>\n
Depending on your country there may be different schemes with different rules. The best is to find out what scheme is available for your area and how does it work.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"