About Us
Introducing share to buy
Our Technical Director, Stephen Dwelley, who is an IFA with over twenty years experience in the financial services sector.
Share to buy specialises in arranging mortgages for the growing number of people up and down Britain sharing their first or next step on the property ladder. We are not tied to any other companies; we search the whole of the market to find you the best deal and we don't charge any fees. Our speciality is shared mortgages with friends, shared mortgages with family members or housing associations (i.e. part buy / part rent), but we can also arrange standard mortgages for single and joint applicants, as well as remortgages and buy to let.
In all cases, no broker's fees are charged and instead we get paid commission by the lender but this does not affect the product choice available to you. Our name – share to buy – has become a term of general usage for sharing a mortgage to buy a property, and we are proud of our reputation for good customer service as confirmed in our real life case studies up and down the UK.
History
Share to buy was set up in July 2004 to find a new way of approaching the problems facing first time buyers. We launched with our exclusive mortgage via Britannia Building Society taking not just 1 or 2 but up to four joint incomes into account, enabling flatmates to become joint homeowners. We also provided a free legal agreement covering the key issues of friends buying together.
Since then, we have gone from strength to strength and developed into a real force for first time buyers, specialising in all types of shared mortgages. Our staff have now built up considerable experience in the shared domain so whether you are looking to buy a share in a housing association property, or want to club together with three mates to buy a large house, we would be delighted to put our expertise to the test on your behalf.
Key points about our company
- We are based in North London but in order to ensure that share to buy is available across the UK we operate primarily over the internet and telephone (face to face meetings are possible in the London area where necessary).
- Operating as we do also keeps our costs down and ensures that we do not charge a fee for any of our mortgage or insurance services.
- We are entirely privately owned and not 'tied' to any other organization or required to offer the products of a particular company.
- We source mortgages from right across the market but we also have exclusive deals not available anywhere else such as a mortgage for up to four applicants provided in conjunction with Britannia.
Our partners
Whilst share to buy is entirely privately owned and not 'tied' to any other company, we have important partnerships with established players in the markets where we operate. These include:
Britannia Building Society
We are an affinity partner of Britannia, Britain's second largest building society. Britannia provide an exclusive arrangement with share to buy that is not available anywhere else, even in their branches: a mortgage with no up-front fees or tie ins, but most importantly, which operates on a salary multiple of three times up to four incomes. Britannia have a proven track record of high quality customer service and a social awareness that has enabled them to look sympathetically on the problems faced by first time buyers.
Notting Hill Housing Trust
Our lead partner in shared ownership mortgages is Notting Hill Housing Trust. Notting Hill are involved in developing projects with the share to buy team, which we hope to bring forward in the coming months. Notting Hill Housing was founded in 1963 and is one of the UK's largest providers of affordable housing, employing approximately 750 staff. Notting Hill manage 19,000 homes, housing nearly 50,000 people across London and the surrounding areas. Click here for more information: www.nottinghillhousing.org.uk
Monster
Monster.co.uk is our official recruitment partner and the leading provider of online careers and recruitment resources. Stephen Dwelley, our technical director, contributes regularly to Monster's personal finance forum. Monster UK works by connecting quality job seekers with leading employers across all industries and offers innovative technology and superior services to give employers more control over the recruiting process. For more information on Monster, please visit www.monster.co.uk.
