Find a home with Older Persons Shared Ownership

To be eligible for Older Persons Shared Ownership (OPSO), you must meet certain criteria:

• You must be aged 55 years or older. However, some OPSO developments will allow a couple where the main applicant is 55 but a second applicant is 50 or older.
• Your maximum household income must not exceed £90,000 per annum in London or £80,000 outside of London.
• You should be unable to purchase a home suitable for your needs without assistance.
• You must not already own a home, or you will need to sell any existing property owned before purchasing through the scheme.
• You will need to be able to secure a mortgage or have sufficient savings to pay the share in full if retired.
• You must not have any outstanding credit issues such as unsatisfied defaults or county court judgements.

Yes – to be eligible to buy an Older Persons Shared Ownership (OPSO) home, you must be aged 55 years or older. However, some OPSO developments will allow a couple where the main applicant is 55 but a second applicant is 50 or older.

No – Older Persons Shared Ownership (OPSO) isn’t only available for first time buyers, the scheme is also popular with home movers, downsizers and in some instances, those requiring access to the Extra Care scheme. However, you must be selling or have sold any other properties before being able to buy through OPSO.

The deposit required for an Older Persons Shared Ownership (OPSO) property is calculated based on the share being purchased, rather than the full market value of the property. As an upfront cost, buyers will typically need to provide a deposit of 5% to 10% of the share value. Monthly costs will include rental payments, mortgage repayments and service charges.

Share to Buy list thousands of properties available through affordable homeownership schemes across the country. To search for Older Persons Shared Ownership (OPSO) homes in your local area, visit our property search tool.