Can I buy my Council/HA home on a shared ownership basis?

Social Homebuy

Social HomeBuy is a new scheme offering tenants the opportunity to purchase a share in their homes. The scheme will especially benefit those who either do not have the Right To Buy or cannot afford to buy outright using the traditional RTB option.

The scheme is set to benefit the social housing sector, by using the income from sales to provide more rented properties.

Who's eligible

To be eligible for the scheme, you must meet the following criteria:

You must be an assured/secure tenant of a participating Housing Association or Local Authority.

Who isn't eligible

Tenants who are facing legal action for anti-social behaviour or breaches of their tenancy agreement.
Tenants still within an introductory tenancy period.
Tenants occupying property types that are exempt from the scheme; such as - those in designated rural areas and those for people with long term disabilities or special needs.
Tenants of landlords not currently participating in the scheme.

Share levels & charges

Tenants may opt to purchase from a minimum share of 25%, upto an outright purchase of 100%. Shares can be purchased in stages.

The landlord who retains the remaining share of the property is entitled to place a levy charge of upto 3% (usually 2.75%) of the capital value of their share.

Discounts

Tenants applying to the scheme will be entitled to a discount on their initial/first share purchase inline with the current RTB/RTA discount scheme. This currently ranges from ?9,000 to ?38,000 depending on which region your property is located in.

Selling your home:

Selling you property within five years of purchase - The full discount will become repayble.
The landlord must be given the first option to repurchase the property from you or to nominate a suitable purchaser.