Shared ownership housing means that rather than buying a property outright, you buy a share in a home (either 25%, 50% or 75%, depending on what you can afford), and pay an affordable amount of rent on the remaining percentage that you don’t own. The more of the property you own, the less rent you pay.

As time goes on, you are given the opportunity to increase your ownership of the property by buying a larger percentage of it. This is called ‘staircasing’.

You may want to eventually own your home outright (by purchasing 100%) or you may want to sell your share and move elsewhere.

Shared ownership housing schemes aim to provide affordable housing for those who cannot afford to purchase a home in any other way.

Schemes will vary in their requirements for eligibility, but generally first time buyers, applicants living in certain areas and particularly those already on local authority and housing association lists will be eligible to apply for shared housing schemes.

Despite not owning your home outright, you will generally have the same rights as any other homeowner. Your housing association will make sure that you know exactly what your rights and responsibilities are.

Your lease will entitle you to live in the property for a set period of time (99 years, for example) and to buy further shares in your property, or sell the shares you do own.

Shared ownership properties will charge you a monthly service fee (the ‘service charge’) which is put towards the cost of any repairs or maintenance on your property.

When buying a shared ownership property, make sure you ask how much the service charge is as well as knowing how much rent you will be required to pay.

To find shared ownership housing, you should contact your local authority. It will be able to put you in contact with the homebuy agent for your area (the representative of your local housing association) who will deal with all of your queries, assess whether you are eligible for shared ownership housing and provide information on houses and flats for sale.

Visit the shared ownership website for more information on shared ownership housing and for help and advice on securing a mortgage.