shared ownership and remortgage question

lee26g

11111111111

mzeep

It is a 75% share with the housing association and a full value of 290k. I meet the ineligibly requirements, i.e. live locally, first time buyer, with the right salary. However, I can afford to mortgage the full value.

My understanding is that one of the eligibility criteria is that "you should not be able to afford to buy a home suitable for your housing needs on the open market". However, assuming that the housing association overlooks this as part of their affordability assessment, the standard shared ownership lease contains a provision that allows you to staircase “at any time or times”.

I assume I will need to remortgage for this? how quickly can I remortgage? and how are the fees with this?

You would not necessarily need to remortgage, but would need to apply for additional borrowing. You would then effectively have two separate mortgage products. If you wanted to remortgage, you should check whether there are any early repayment charges on your original mortgage.


Note, I expect that even if you decide to staircase immediately after completing, the housing association is likely to insist on an updated market valuation. If, as you say, the property is currently undervalued, you may find that the new valuation reflects this and you would have to pay more for the remaining share.


You should also bear in mind the other costs of staircasing; housing association fees, legal fees snd SDLT if you haven’t made a market-value election on the original purchase.