What's our chances?

kingstreet

Not the same kind of agent.

Shared Ownership is a Government scheme, so you have to be approved by the Homes & Communities Agency HomeBuy Agent for your area. For example, in the West Midlands and East it's Orbit, in the South East it's Catalyst.

They work in conjunction with the Housing Association who will own the other share in your property.

You must get approval from the HCA HBA and Housing Association before you think about applying for a mortgage.

There are limited lenders for SO and they will depend on your deposit. I would advise against an EA mortgage advisor unless they are whole market. If you use a Countrywide advisor for example, you'll pay them a fee, get only a limited panel of lenders, a single tie for insurance and their dubious quality conveyancing service shoved down your throat.

If the HomeBuy Agent for your area has an approved panel, you would be better off using one of the penal advisors who are much more switched on to SO business.

There's a list of the HCA HBAs in the back of the attached HTB Guide, showing the areas they cover;-

http://www.homesandcommunities.co.uk/sites/default/files/our-work/help_to_buy_buyers_guide_sept_2013.pdf

Rach_b_123

Thanks for the advice this is really helping. We know nothing about shared ownership (I have now realised!).

I am looking at my local HomeBuy Agent website which is Plumlife. It says on their website in the Shared Ownership Re-sales section:

"Homes bought via the re-sale route can usually be purchased through Shared Ownership or on an outright basis".

Buying it through an outright basis would be possible for us in terms of affordability (personally not officially)....I wonder if we should look at that first.

I have just noticed that in general, applicants have to meet this criteria: "Are not able to afford to buy a home outright on the open market"....how do you know if you are or are not able to buy a home outright on the open market if you have never applied for a mortgage before?

Surely we need to try to apply for a mortgage outright first? Or am I missing something? Maybe I need to call Plumlife tomorrow.

kingstreet

To purchase the property outright, the vendor would need to staircase upto 100% at completion. You would need to establish this before you proceed.

I still feel you should investigate the SO situation before you apply for a mortgage. If staircasing upto 100%, you would use a different lender to buying 80%.

Typically, if you are outside London (you are in the NW) the maximum joint income to qualify for SO is £60k. There is a SO Calculator (XL file) to establish affordability and this is used by the HCA HBA to ensure you are not buying too much, or too little. If you want a copy, PM me your email address and I'll send it over to you.

Speak to Plumlife before you do anything else.

Rach_b_123

I've pm'd you.

I completely agree and have told my husband to hang fire with the form for now.

She is a Countrywide agent by the way...glad you mentioned this above!