Shared Ownership is an affordable home ownership scheme which makes it easier for eligible purchasers to get on the property ladder. Buyers get a mortgage for the share they can afford, and pay rent on the remaining share.
No – this is a common misconception but the ‘shared’ aspect of the scheme simply means you’re sharing ownership of your home with a housing association.
If you decide to buy a Shared Ownership home in Taunton, you’re effectively purchasing a portion of your property. Your initial share will usually be between 25% to 75%, paying a mortgage on the part that you own and a below market value rent on the remaining share.
Yes – Shared Owners can choose to buy additional shares in their property by ‘staircasing’.
When buying a Shared Ownership home, you will initially purchase a minimum percentage somewhere between 25% to 75%. Down the line, if you find that your financial circumstances have changed, buyers will have the option to buy more shares.
If you choose to buy a higher percentage, your mortgage repayments will increase while the rent you pay will decrease. In the majority of cases there aren’t any restrictions and you can buy 100% of your home – in this instance, you would become the outright owner.
As a home-buying product aimed at helping those who can’t afford to purchase a property on the open market, there are certain requirements that buyers will need to meet to be considered eligible for Shared Ownership.
For example, there are caps on household income which means that you must earn less than £80,000 to be eligible for the scheme – or less than £90,000 if you would like to buy a home in London. The criteria also states that buyers must be at least 18 years of age and do not own another property either in the UK or abroad.
Shared Ownership properties enable you to put down a smaller deposit compared to those required on the open market – buyers will usually need to put down 5% to 10% of the share that they’re buying, rather than the full market value of the home.
On a monthly basis, buyers will be required to pay their mortgage, a subsidised rent and service charge on their home, however, these repayments often work out cheaper than or equal to renting privately in the same area. Other costs to consider when buying a home include solicitor and mortgage broker fees – you can find out more about these costs on Share to Buy.
Share to Buy lists thousands of Shared Ownership homes all across Taunton and beyond – including new build properties and those available through resale.
Shared Ownership is available on a variety of homes including cosy studios, stylish apartments and traditional family homes. Check out our property search tool to start looking for your new home today!
The major providers of Shared Ownership, Help to Buy and other affordable ways to buy a home in Taunton and nationwide have their homes listed on Share to Buy.
Share to Buy is the leading online portal for Shared Ownership properties. Established in 2004 as the UK’s first specialist online mortgage broker for affordable home ownership products, the site has since developed into a one stop shop for first time buyers, offering the country’s largest listing of Shared Ownership homes from many of the UK’s biggest housing providers.
Share to Buy is the nation’s biggest and best established affordable home ownership property portal, making it the ideal website for first time buyers looking to take that first step onto the property ladder.
Using our property search tool, you can search for homes that suit your needs via filters such as location, number of bedrooms, monthly outgoings and deposit amount. You can also set up alert preferences so you’ll be notified when new properties that meet your search are announced by email.
Acting as a one stop shop for first time buyers, Share to Buy also offers handy FAQs and guides, interactive mortgage tools, mortgage broker and conveyancing panels, and live events to help potential purchasers on their home-buying journey.
If you are a housing association or developer selling properties through Shared Ownership, Help to Buy and other affordable home ownership schemes, we can list your new build and resale homes on the Share to Buy property portal.
As well as working alongside Registered Providers, we also partner with private sellers who are looking to sell their current Shared Ownership home.
Find out more about advertising your Shared Ownership property on Share to Buy.
“The huge number of properties listed on the Share to Buy website gave me a lot of choice all in one place, even with my limited budget. Shared Ownership meant I could afford a brand new home in Zone 3, which I didn’t think I would be able to manage in a million years for my first home.”
“The Shared Ownership calculator on Share to Buy gave me a really clear understanding of what my budget was and what my monthly outgoings would be, including rent and service charge. The buying process of Shared Ownership was really simple - I bought a 35% share of my property and eventually plan on staircasing to own more of it.”
“If you are considering Shared Ownership, I would 100% recommend using Share to Buy to learn more about the scheme and assess your options. Shared Ownership is an excellent stepping stone into the property market – it’s worked so well for me. It’s given me a freedom and flexibility I wouldn’t have had if I bought on the open market!"
If you’re a first time buyer, then you may worry that you’ll be unable to achieve your home ownership aspirations. Thankfully though, with Shared Ownership homes in Taunton, that vital first step on the property ladder is within your reach. Help to Buy homes in Taunton also offer great options for home buyers wanting to lay down roots in a special location.
Staying on top of the latest Shared Ownership and Help to Buy properties in Taunton couldn’t be easier. Simply sign up to Share to Buy and register to receive alerts when new properties are added to the market.
Taunton, the county town of Somerset, is every bit full of the gorgeous greenery you would expect from a place boasting such a title. Beautiful parks, picturesque lakes, sensational flora and fauna all help you to fall in love with nature all over again. It’s probably what it is best known for: a kind of splendid British beauty many thought lost in time, like an old steam train chugging along an endless wave of green. And it more than lives up to expectations, proving that sometimes the simple things are the best.
However, the natural scenery is not all that is available here. Alongside this stunning backdrop lies some captivating historical sites, thanks to its millenniums of military and religious history, which are often intertwined. This longevity means that not only is there amazing architecture in Taunton, but also a wide variety of architectural styles. This brings a unique mixture of aesthetics to the already beautiful land to create a treat for both the eyes and the mind.
That’s not to say that Taunton is stuck in the past though – far from it. This is an area which has transformed itself into a wonderful example of how a town can adapt with the times. It shows that a location can enjoy such a rich heritage while also providing the modern conveniences people expect, such as supermarkets, retail parks, restaurants, pubs and cafes. In fact, Taunton has made a bit of a name for itself as a foodie haven. They manage all of this while not losing any of the charm or character which make it such a special place to live.
On top of this, the town is full of opportunity. All that modernisation creates jobs, and Taunton now has a diverse economy featuring everything from cider production to work in the United Kingdom Hydrographic Office. If that’s not variety, we don’t know what is.
Of course, if opportunity takes you elsewhere, you could always take advantage of Taunton’s public transport to make your way around the country. Particularly useful is the town’s access to the Bristol to Exeter line via Taunton railway station. For drivers, there are also excellent road links connecting to the M5 motorway alongside several A roads.
Taunton is beautiful, but it’s also a practical, dynamic place to live.
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Thousands attend the country’s leading first time buyer event On Saturday 13th April 2024, Share to Buy welcomed 3,450 attendees to the London Home Show at the QEII Centre in Westminster, with this being the 11th year of the capital’s biggest first time buyer event. The free event is the capital’s biggest exhibition for first…
