Shared ownership - going above the £80k/£90k threshold

mrr88

Hi all,

I appreciate if any of you could help me, as the HA has been quite unhelpful!

I am in the process of buying a shared ownership flat and my salary as a single person is close to the threshold. My lease doesn't state much information on affordability and my solicitor suggested that shouldn't be an issue, but asked me to discuss with HA (which hasn't replied to me yet).

• Scenario 1: if I remain living by myself and my wages go above the threshold, will I be prevented from stair casing? 
• Scenario 2: I marry my partner and he moves in to my flat, my household income will definitely go above the threshold. There is absolutely nothing saying about the household income being above the threshold would prevent me from stair casing together (I could potentially add him in a future).

A few relevant parts of my lease:

• Assignment & Pre-emption - the lease can be assigned in the event of your death or in the event of a matrimonial transfer

• Assignment or Transfer - If the Leaseholder assigns or transfers the lease before he or she staircases to 100%, the consent of the Landlord must be obtained.

• Landlord’s right of first refusal - With a view to ensuring that the property remains in the ownership of people in need of shared ownership units there are restrictions on the transfer, assignment and subletting of the Property. The restrictions apply from the date that the lease is granted up to the the date that the Leaseholder staircases to 100%.

My question and concern is more about the scenario 2, as if I go ahead with this flat purchase, I don't want to buy for the short term and would likely to stay there for the next 5-10 years to build some equity. Has anyone gone through something similar? Can the Housing Association prevent me from stair casing if my circumstances change? Solicitor doesn't believe they can but HA aren't clear and they haven't returned to me.

Thank you in advance!

housebuyer143

mrr88 said:

Hi all,

I appreciate if any of you could help me, as the HA has been quite unhelpful!

I am in the process of buying a shared ownership flat and my salary as a single person is close to the threshold. My lease doesn't state much information on affordability and my solicitor suggested that shouldn't be an issue, but asked me to discuss with HA (which hasn't replied to me yet).

• Scenario 1: if I remain living by myself and my wages go above the threshold, will I be prevented from stair casing? 
• Scenario 2: I marry my partner and he moves in to my flat, my household income will definitely go above the threshold. There is absolutely nothing saying about the household income being above the threshold would prevent me from stair casing together (I could potentially add him in a future).

A few relevant parts of my lease:

• Assignment & Pre-emption - the lease can be assigned in the event of your death or in the event of a matrimonial transfer

• Assignment or Transfer - If the Leaseholder assigns or transfers the lease before he or she staircases to 100%, the consent of the Landlord must be obtained.

• Landlord’s right of first refusal - With a view to ensuring that the property remains in the ownership of people in need of shared ownership units there are restrictions on the transfer, assignment and subletting of the Property. The restrictions apply from the date that the lease is granted up to the the date that the Leaseholder staircases to 100%.

My question and concern is more about the scenario 2, as if I go ahead with this flat purchase, I don't want to buy for the short term and would likely to stay there for the next 5-10 years to build some equity. Has anyone gone through something similar? Can the Housing Association prevent me from stair casing if my circumstances change? Solicitor doesn't believe they can but HA aren't clear and they haven't returned to me.

Thank you in advance!

 I believe it's your salary that determines your eligibility for the scheme only.
Once you have been accepted to purchased the house and have completed you can earn whatever you want and can staircase as well. 

The salary thing is really there to stop people applying for shared ownership who do not need it.

kieran3184

My HA wouldn't. Like Housebuyer143 says, the criteria is put in place for the here and now and you are assessed on that. Once you buy and complete then that is that.  I've been in mine for 10 years, if I want to staircase then the HA will give me a current valuation of my flat (or we come to an agreement) I then need to see if I can afford to buy the remaining shares and if my lender will agree to lend that amount to me. Nothing to do with what my salary was 10 years ago to what it is now

mrr88

kieran3184 said:

My HA wouldn't. Like Housebuyer143 says, the criteria is put in place for the here and now and you are assessed on that. Once you buy and complete then that is that.  I've been in mine for 10 years, if I want to staircase then the HA will give me a current valuation of my flat (or we come to an agreement) I then need to see if I can afford to buy the remaining shares and if my lender will agree to lend that amount to me. Nothing to do with what my salary was 10 years ago to what it is now

Thank you! Would that be that be the case even if I added someone to my lease?

kieran3184

I would concentrate on yourself first and worry about that later