If you live in one of our Shared Ownership or Shared Equity homes, here is some information if you choose to buy more shares or sell your home.
Shared Ownership
Purchasing Additional Shares
When you enter a shared ownership agreement, you’ll start by buying a 25%, 50% or 75% share in the home and pay an Occupancy charge to us on the remainder. An Occupancy charge is an amount the owner pays because we allow you to occupy the whole property although technically you only own a share. Your Exclusive Occupancy Agreement will run for 20 years from your date of entry.
You’ll have the option to buy a larger share at any time after you’ve been living in the home for a year. You can only do this once per year and these would be purchased at the current market value. This is called ‘staircasing’. If you would like to apply, please click here.
We will write to you before your Exclusive Occupancy Agreement expires with the options available to you.
Selling
If you want to move, you have the option to either sell your current share or sell the property outright.
If you choose to sell your share, you can decide on an acceptable price as our equity is not affected so you incur any profit or loss after legal fees.
If you plan to sell the whole property, you must firstly obtain our consent. We expect that the property will not be sold for less than the current market value and the total sale price will be split between you and us, based on shares owned.
If you wish to sell, let us know. We can post details on our website to see if this generates any interest in your sale. To apply, click here.
Shared Equity
If you live in a Shared Equity property, you will normally own a stake between 60% and 80% of the home’s cost and the Scottish Government will hold the remaining stake under a ‘shared equity agreement’, which it will enter into with you. There will be a mortgage (or ‘standard security’) on the home to make sure the Scottish Government’s stake is protected.
It also means that if you ever choose to sell your home or buy additional stakes, the Scottish Government will get a share of the money. Click here to find out more information about your after sales options..
