Thinking of buying a property - SmartShare has thousands of properties to buy or rent across the UK
Affordable homes for everyone
Thinking of buying a property - SmartShare has thousands of properties to buy or rent across the UK
Whether you have found your new home or just finding out more information about how a shared ownership mortgage works, then you have come to the right place!
SmartShare is delighted to announce that they have teamed up with JS Town and Country Mortgages - a UK based company specialising in shared ownership, buy to let, right to buy mortgages and the insurance market.
JS Town and Country Mortgages have been established for over 10 years and cover the UK. They are well known and respected within the financial market and have expert knowledge and access to the best rates available from all the shared ownership mortgage lenders.
From your first call you will notice that JS Town and Country are different and offer a high level of service to our clients, in order to make your life as easy as possible. So why not take your first step and contact Julie today:
Telephone: 01642 602602 Fax number: 01642 612602
Or send an e-mail at julie@jstownandcountrymortgages.co.uk
Visit the website http://www.jstownandcountrymortgages.co.uk
Please do mention that you found us via the SmartShare website!
If you would like an idea of how much your monthly mortgage and rent may cost, take a look at our shared ownership mortgage calculator. This calculator is a helpful tool to enable you to work out what your monthly payments might be if you take out a shared ownership mortgage.
Buying a shared ownership home enables you to buy a home to suit your needs by purchasing a share of the property and paying a subsidised rent on the part you do not own.
Depending on the scheme and personal circumstances:
The purchaser can buy a share of the property e.g. 25%, 50% or 75% and is generally financed by a mortgage available from a high street lender or specialist mortgage lender.
A subsidised rent is payable to the housing association for the share of the property which you do not own. For example if you buy a 30% share, then you will pay 70% of the rent which the housing association would normally charge for the whole property.
Once you have moved in and you can afford to buy a larger share in the property e.g. 10%, 25% then in most cases you can keep doing so until you own 100% of the property outright - this is known as ‘staircasing’.
On average you will need a minimum income of £15,000 per annum to be able to afford a shared ownership home, although this will vary depending on the housing association scheme.
The benefit of buying a shared ownership home means that your monthly mortgage and rent payments are affordable, the cost can be less than renting and it also means you will have a capital stake in your home which may increase.
Here is an example of how much a shared ownership mortgage could cost.
Please note these figures are a guide to illustrate the potential costs and will vary according to the circumstances of your purchase.
A three bedroom house has a full market value of £225,000.
If you were to purchase 35% or 50% of the property your monthly payments would be as follows:
Percentage Purchased 35%
Mortgage (approx 5% interest on repayment mortgage) £540.00
Rent £243.75
Total £783.75
Percentage Purchased 50%
Mortgage (approx 5% interest on repayment mortgage) £708.00
Rent £187.50
Total £895.50
Other costs to factor into buying a shared ownership property:
Service charge - between £25.00 - £120.000 per month depending on the property type.
Expenses - approximately £3,000 to cover legal costs, fees, surveys and so on (these will vary depending on the size of the property).
Mortgage deposit - when applying for a mortgage some lenders prefer a 10% to 20% deposit.
Furnishings - consider how much money will be required to furnish a new property.
There are many providers of shared ownership mortgages. We recommend that you obtain a mortgage offer from a number of shared ownership mortgage lenders before settling on a particular provider.
Please make sure that the financial organisation is part of the FSA (Financial Services Authority). You can check this on the FSA’s Register by visiting the FSA’s website www.fsa.gov.uk/register or by contacting the FSA on 0845 606 1234.
In the near future we will be creating a directory of shared ownership mortgage lenders so please do check back.
If you are still looking for an affordable home click on the SmartShare logo and start searching straightaway. If you have more questions on buying a shared ownership property, please click on the FAQ link below.