Share to Buy Expert Sessions: Your questions about selling and buying shares

Answering your questions about selling and buying more of your home!

Shared Ownership Sales and Staircasing

If I buy more shares, would I pay at the current market rate?
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Response from Southern Home Ownership – Yes. When you decide to buy more shares in your home you’ll be required to get an independent RICS qualified surveyor to value the property. This will determine the value of the share you want to buy.

What sort of fees are associated with staircasing?
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Response from Southern Home Ownership – You’ll have to cover the valuation fee and as it is a legal transaction, you will have to appoint a solicitor that specialises in staircasing who will also charge a fee.

How do I go about selling my Shared Ownership home?
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If you choose to sell your Shared Ownership home, you will need to contact your housing association to make them aware. You’ll also need to obtain an independent valuation prior to sale to determine the current value of the property. You can find out more about the process of selling your Shared Ownership home here.

Generally speaking, your provider will have around an eight week period to market your home first and, if they find a buyer, they will go through a similar process to the one you went through when you bought the home. If your provider doesn’t find a buyer during this time, you can then choose to sell your property privately or through an estate agent of your choice. If you would like to advertise your home on Share to Buy’s property portal, you can find out more here.

Would the housing association charge a fee for selling my home?
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Response from Southern Home Ownership – Yes, most housing associations will charge a fee for finding someone to buy your share of your home. The fees will vary from each housing association so we’d advise contacting your provider to find out what their fees are.

How is the money split between myself and the housing association if I sell my home?
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Response from Southern Home Ownership – You will be required, in the first instance, to allow your housing association the chance to find someone to buy your home. If after a period of time (usually eight weeks although this will be outlined in the terms of your lease) they’ve been unable to find someone to buy your share, you are able to sell the property on the open market and you get back your share and the housing association gets back their share.

You can find out more about the process of selling your Shared Ownership home here.

Will I ever have the option to sell my Shared Ownership home on the open market?
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Response from SO Resi – If you choose to sell your home and we aren’t able to sell on your behalf within the set eight week period (duration may vary from provider to provider, please check the terms of your lease), you can sell on the open market. Contact your housing association for further guidance on the selling process.

If I want to move or sell my share is there a risk I could lose money if the property value has decreased?
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Response from Southern Home Ownership – When you decide to sell your share of your home, you’ll be required to get an independent RICS qualified surveyor to value the property which will determine the value of your share. Therefore it is important to understand that, like with any home purchase, the value of your share could go down as well as up.

What happens to the price of my home if the market dips?
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Response from SO Resi – Property prices may go up or down. Whether you are selling or buying more shares, the value of your home is based on it’s current market value. You would need to ask an independent RICS surveyor to carry out an up to date valuation of your home. You can also contact your housing association for further guidance.

Is it easier to sell a Shared Ownership home if I staircase and buy 100% of the property?
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Response from JLL – Not always, although it does mean that you can put it on the open market rather than selling as Shared Ownership. For instance, you could choose to instruct JLL to sell it on your behalf, whereby anyone can purchase it.

You can find out more about the process of selling your Shared Ownership home here.

I have just put my Shared Ownership home up for sale. Do I need to have an offer on my current home before reserving another through the scheme?
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Response from Southern Home Ownership – At Southern Home Ownership, we recognise that people’s circumstances and requirements change over time and so we’re very happy to help people move on and buy another Shared Ownership home. We ask that you have a confirmed buyer in place before reserving one of our Shared Ownership homes!

Do you have any information on programmes available from housing associations to help their current owners move to a new home?
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Response from Southern Home Ownership – At Southern Home Ownership, we have an award winning initiative call Second Steps to help current Shared Ownership who have outgrown their home. Second Steps allows you to sell your current home and purchase a new home within London on the open market.

Our sales service team assists with the sale of your existing home and we also help with the onward purchase of your new home under the terms of the Shared Ownership initiative.

Find out more about the Second Steps scheme here.