Let’s sort out the real home truths about Shared Ownership

Certain key eligibility criteria apply to Shared Ownership, these include:

• Not being able to buy a suitable home for your needs on the open market
• Having a household income of less than £80,000 per year
• Not owning any other property
• Being in permanent employment
• In some cases, having work and/or family connections to the area in which you want to buy. Please check the requirements for the specific site you are interested in for more details.

Our shared ownership homes are sold on a ‘first come, first served’ basis. 

There are two exceptions to this:  

• Serving military personnel or former members of the armed forces discharged within the last 2 years will be prioritised.

• Where the development is within a National Park, Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty or a rural exception site, there may be a requirement that customers with a connection to the local area be prioritised. 

Often on shared ownership developments, there can be very high demand for only a small number of homes. To make the process of securing a home as fair as possible, at the point a new development is released for sale (or ‘launched’) all customers who have registered on the mailing list will be contacted at the same time via an e-shot. This will provide details of how to book an appointment with a sales advisor, either at an off-plan event or show home launch day.   

Customers will then be treated on a ‘first come, first served’ basis, i.e. the first person who calls to book an appointment will have the opportunity to book the earliest appointment on the launch day. And on successful completion of all eligibility checks and a financial assessment, as per our Next Steps guide they would then have their first choice of preferred plot at their appointment.

Ministry of Defence personnel will be prioritised for Shared Ownership schemes where: 

• they have completed their basic (phase 1) training and they are one of the following: 

• • Regular service personnel (including Navy, Army and Air Force) 

• • Clinical staff (with the exception of doctors and dentists)

• • Ministry of Defence Police Officers 

• • Uniformed staff in the Defence Fire Service 

• they are ex-regular service personnel who have served in the Armed Forces for a minimum of six years, and can produce a Discharge Certificate (or similar documentation) as proof, where they apply within two years (24 months) of the date of discharge from service or 

• they are the surviving partners of regular service personnel who have died in service, where they apply within two years (24 months) of the date of being bereaved 

Click here for more information.

If you already own a home, including overseas and existing shared owners, you may not be eligible for the Shared Ownership scheme.

However, if your existing home no longer meets your needs and you are unable to purchase a suitable home because of financial constraints then you may still be eligible – we treat every application on a case-by-case basis. In this instance, you will need to demonstrate that you are in housing need and have an agreed a sale on your current home prior to applying.

If you have previously owned a home, your application will be based on your current housing situation. However, if you have any equity from the proceeds of the sale, these will be taken into account when you apply.

Previously, for Shared Ownership properties, you were only allowed to apply for a property with one more bedroom than your current need. However, there is no longer any restriction on the number of bedrooms you are allowed to apply for.

You are unable to use housing benefit to buy a Shared Ownership property.

If you’re self-employed, you need to be able to demonstrate that you can afford to maintain the costs of home ownership in the long term. You will usually need to provide three years’ past accounts, and speak to a mortgage advisor for financial advice with regards to applying for a mortgage.

Having had adverse credit in the past doesn’t necessarily mean you would be unable to buy a shared ownership home with Plumlife. We would consider each application on a case by case basis, and Metro Finance, as part of their assessment, will ask you about your credit history. You can find out more about what we would usually consider acceptable in our Sales Application Policy.

Please find our policy here.

If you buy a Shared Ownership home, you will initially purchase the share you can afford – usually between 25-75%, although on newer Shared Ownership homes this might be as low as 10%, if this is the share level that’s affordable.

You can then increase your ownership at a later stage and can usually go on to own the property outright if you wish. This is called staircasing and many people who buy affordable homes staircase to become full owners. You can find more information on our Staircasing page.

You can get advice on selling your Shared Ownership property from Plumlife’s Sales Services Team, who can be contacted on 0161 447 5050 and will be happy to advise you on any questions you might have. You can also visit our page on Selling your home for more information.

No, you must live in the home that you purchased. In exceptional circumstances, for example, if you are a serving member of the armed forces away on a tour of duty, then subletting may be considered but written permission from the Plumlife Management Team would be required.

It is your responsibility to maintain the property and keep it in good condition. New-build homes are usually offered with a 10 year build warranty as well as a one year defects period with the builder, which your sales advisor will explain at the time of purchase.

On newer Shared Ownership homes there may be a 10 year ‘initial repair period’ during which you will be able to claim costs of up to £500 a year from your landlord to help with essential repairs. During this period the landlord is also responsible for the cost of essential repairs to the external fabric of the building and structural internal repairs. These are limited to repairs not covered by the building warranty, defects period or any other guarantees. The £500 allowance can also be used to claim back excess paid when claiming through the building warranty. Please check with your sales advisor whether the home you are purchasing benefits from the 10 year ‘initial repair period’.