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How to buy a home: preparing to buy, deciding on a home, making offers, conveyancing, paying Stamp Duty Land Tax and making complaints.

• Overview

  Buying a home takes about 5 months on average. The process can take longer…

• Preparing to buy

  When you decide you want to buy a home, you may need to get a mortgage to…

• Deciding on a home

  There are different ways to own a property. Leasehold and freehold…

• Making an offer

  Before you make an offer, check: what the property is worth the number of…

• Transferring ownership (conveyancing)

  Once the offer is accepted, the seller is responsible for drawing up a…

• Tax

  You may need to pay: Stamp Duty Land Tax (SDLT) when you buy a home in…

• Making a complaint

  You can make a complaint to a company involved in the sale if you’re…

Find out about buying a home through shared ownership. Read about who can apply, costs, paying rent, buying more shares and repairing and selling your home.

• How shared ownership works

  You can buy a home through the shared ownership scheme if you cannot…

• Who can apply

  You can buy a home through shared ownership if both of the following are…

• Costs

  You’ll need to plan for all the costs when buying a home. When you’ve…

• Paying rent

  For a shared ownership home, you need to pay rent to your landlord for the…

• Apply

  There are 4 steps to apply for a shared ownership home. 1. Check if you…

• Finding a shared ownership home

  There are several places where you can search for shared ownership homes…

• Repairs and home improvements

  You will need to pay for repairs and maintenance no matter what share you…

• Buying more shares ('staircasing')

  You can buy more shares in your home after you become the owner. This is…

• Selling your home

  You can sell your shared ownership home at any time. If you own 100% of…

• Renting out all or part of your home (subletting)

  You can normally rent out (sublet) a room in the home, but you must live…

• Help and advice

  You can get free advice about how to buy a shared ownership home or…

You can no longer apply for a Help to Buy: Equity Loan - find out about interest rates and how to manage your Help to Buy: Equity Loan.

Rent a property at a discount to help with the cost of saving for a deposit to buy a home. Information on who is eligible and how to apply.

Supporting the Armed Forces onto the home ownership ladder.

• Updated: 19 December 2022

Help to Buy and affordable home ownership schemes to help first-time buyers and home movers - equity loan, ISA, shared ownership

Buy your rented home through the Right to Shared Ownership scheme: who can apply, how to apply, costs, paying rent, buying more shares, repairing and selling your home.

New rules will give millions of Buy-Now, Pay-Later users key protections offered by other forms of credit.

• Updated: 17 October 2024

VAT and other taxes on shopping and services, including tax-free shopping, energy-saving equipment and mobility aids.

• Updated: 3 July 2017