Right to Shared Ownership: buying a share of your rented home
How to apply
There are 9 steps to apply for Right to Shared Ownership.
1. Tell your landlord you want to apply
Tell your landlord you want to buy a share of your rented home on shared ownership terms.
They will write to you within 4 weeks to confirm if your home is eligible for the Right to Shared Ownership scheme.
If your home is not eligible
Your landlord must explain why your home is not eligible. You can make a complaint if you disagree with their decision. Your landlord will tell you how.
2. Fill in the application form
If your home is eligible, complete a Right to Shared Ownership application form and send it to your landlord.
The landlord will check that you are eligible. This can take up to 8 weeks.
If you are not eligible
Your landlord must write to you to explain why you’re not eligible. They will also tell you how to appeal the decision.
3. Meet your landlord for a home ownership meeting
In this meeting, your landlord will:
- tell you how shared ownership works
- explain what happens when you become a shared owner - your costs and legal responsibilities
- give you key information documents about shared ownership
- give you an estimate of how much your home is worth
4. Check you can afford it
The landlord will send you to a mortgage or financial adviser, or you can choose your own adviser.
They will check your income and outgoings. This is called an ‘affordability assessment’.
They will make sure you can afford the payments for your home, and tell you what size of share you can afford to buy.
If the adviser says you can afford to apply, you must tell your landlord. You can do this yourself or your adviser can do it for you.
5. Getting a valuation
Once you have told your landlord you can afford to apply, they must get an independent valuation of your home. The valuation must be done by a RICS surveyor (Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors) who does not work for your landlord.
This will be based on what it would cost to buy your home on the open market. This can take up to 6 weeks.
If the valuation is higher than the original estimate you were given at the home ownership meeting, your mortgage adviser will need to re-check your income and outgoings. This may mean the size of the share you can afford to buy changes.
If you disagree with the official valuation, you can pay to have a second independent valuation done. You must do this within 3 months of the date you got your landlord’s valuation.
6. Choose someone to do the legal work
You’ll need to find a legal professional to handle the process of buying a share of the property (called ‘conveyancing’).
You can use a solicitor or a licensed conveyancer. They’ll explain the terms of your shared ownership lease and check the conditions of your mortgage offer, if you have one.
7. Get an offer notice
Once the value of your home is agreed, your landlord will give you an offer notice.
The offer notice tells you:
- how much your home is worth
- the size of the share you are buying and how much it will cost
- how much rent you’ll pay
- the costs you’ll have to pay after you buy your share
- how long the lease will be
8. Accept the offer
Tell your landlord that you want to accept the offer. You must do this within 4 weeks of the date you got your offer notice.
If you decide not to accept the offer, you should tell your landlord. You can continue to rent your home as a tenant.
9. Buy your share
Your landlord and solicitor will arrange the legal work for you. This includes:
- checking your mortgage offer
- exchanging contracts
- completing the sale