What is shared ownership?
Shared ownership is intended for eligible people who are looking to buy an affordable home suitable for their needs.
With shared ownership, you buy a share of the full market value (between 10% and 75% depending on the lease and your affordability), and pay rent to LiveWest on the remaining share.
This means a smaller deposit, and a smaller mortgage. A great way to help you get onto the property ladder.
You can buy more shares as and when it’s affordable to you.
The qualifying criteria
Our homes are allocated on a first come first serve basis. View our policy here.
In some cases, to qualify to purchase a new build or Resale home with LiveWest, you will need to have a local connection to the area in which you want to buy if there is a local connection requirement. Once you have registered your interest, a member of the Sales team will be able to provide you with further information and confirm whether you are eligible.
In order to be eligible for shared ownership, you should:
- Have a gross household income of less than £80,000 per year.
- Be unable to buy a suitable property for your needs on the open market.
- Have enough savings or access to sufficient funds (such as a gift), to put towards your deposit, and any other purchasing costs such as moving costs and legal fees.
- Not currently own or have interest in another home (although we will consider those who are sold subject to contract).
We understand that everyone’s circumstances and affordability are different. When buying a home, it’s important to think about more than just the upfront cost. Shared ownership is a great way to get on to the property ladder however, it is important to understand that some costs can increase over time.
Before you decide to buy, we recommend talking to an independent financial advisor or getting professional advice. This can help you understand your options and make the best choice for you
How do I apply?
1. Apply and affordability assessment:
If your preferred plot is available and you are the first to apply, LiveWest will check that you meet the local connection requirement (if applicable) and refer you to New Homes Mortgage Helpline for your affordability assessment.
As part of your assessment, New Homes Mortgage Helpline will complete a detailed budget planner. In order to qualify, you must have a minimum of 10% remaining of your net monthly income after all financial commitments.
For more information, view our shared ownership monthly minimum surplus income policy.
2. Your affordability assessment:
For your affordability assessment, you will be required to evidence:
- Incomings
- Outgoings
- Identity
- Deposit funds
- Local connection if applicable
New Homes Mortgage Helpline will confirm the documentation required to evidence the above. If a joint application is made, both applicants must be named on the shared ownership lease and on any mortgage on the property. You will have 72 hours to provide the requested documents.
For more information on the New Homes Mortgage Helpline process and affordability assessments, view our ‘How to Apply’ brochure for a step by step guide and what you will need to do.
3. LiveWest Approval:
Once you have completed your affordability assessment with New Homes Mortgage Helpline, LiveWest will complete the final approval before contacting you with the outcome of your application. Please note during our busiest times this may take up to five working days.
View our How to Apply document.
What could affect your application?
We will always do our best to support you through the Shared Ownership process, but there are some situations where your application might not be approved. This could happen if:
- You do not meet the eligibility criteria for Shared Ownership or pass the affordability checks.
- We are unable to process your application as it does not meet LiveWest’s policies.
- The documents or information required have not been provided.
If you would prefer to buy a share that is different from the one that we've assessed is affordable—either higher or lower—please provide us with a reason. Without a clear explanation, LiveWest might offer an alternative share or may not be able to progress your application.
Once you've been offered your new home
We will do everything we can to help you into your new home in the shortest possible time. We will normally expect an exchange of contracts (when you are legally committed to the purchase) within six weeks of us issuing the sale contract to your solicitor (unless other timescales are specified). Completion of the sale (when you move in) should take place within a further two weeks (subject to the completion date of the development).
Unless there are circumstances beyond your control, we may be forced to withdraw an offer of sale if these timescales are unreasonably delayed. For Resale homes, the timescale will be agreed between you and the seller although we will always try to assist with the process where we are able to.
You will be invited to view your new home. For new build homes, we will organise your visit (subject to the construction stage) and our Sales team or our agent, will show you around your home.
For Resale homes, we will put you in touch with the owners and provide you with written details of the sale, including the share available for purchase and the rent payable on the remaining share.
Moving in and completion day
Congratulations! This is the big day where you will receive the keys to your new home.
Once a completion date has been agreed with your solicitor, we will arrange a New Home Demonstration with you, which can take place up to a week before your agreed completion date.
The purpose of the New Home Demonstration is to help you understand more about your home and what to expect on your completion day. You can expect helpful advice on living in and maintaining your home, appliance and system operations and other important information about your warranties and reporting new home repairs.
On completion day, once our solicitor confirms the funds have been received, we will contact you to share the good news and provide the key safe code to your new home!
Some of our homes are complete with Air Source Heat Pumps, and some with solar panels. To find out more, you can view our below guides with details on maintenance and care.
After you have purchased your home
Did you know?
Priority is given to members of the British Armed Forces, unless conditions within the planning consent apply e.g. highest priority given to local people living within the community where the homes have been constructed. Should any such special conditions apply, we will make them clear to you when you apply.
Applications from non-Armed Forces personnel and where no local connection or planning conditions apply, will be dealt with on a 'first come, first served basis'. This means that we will prioritise applications in the order in which they are submitted.
Contact us today
If you'd like to find out more about our shared ownership homes, get in touch with a member of our Sales team today.
