What is the eligibility criteria for Shared Ownership?
Shared Ownership has been designed to help those who need it most. Eligibility will vary depending on which development you are looking to buy in. However, there are some general criteria that you must meet for every development:
✔ You must be aged 18 or older.
✔ Your annual household income if buying in London must be less than £90,000 (£80,000 outside of London).
✔ You will normally be a first-time buyer or be in the process of selling your home. You must not own any other property at the time you buy your new home.
✔ You should not be able to afford to buy a home on the open market.
✔ You must be able to show you are not in rent or mortgage arrears and demonstrate a good credit history.
✔ You must be a British or EU/EEA citizen, or have indefinite leave to remain
✔ You must be able to pass money laundering and fraud checks
*Eligibility may vary depending on property size and whether there are any criteria imposed by the local authority.
Does Shared Ownership eligibility vary by development?
All applicants who are interested in Shared Ownership will need to meet the basic eligibility criteria to purchase a home. There are times when some additional eligibility criteria will apply depending on the development you are looking to buy.
For example, some developments will only be available to buy by someone who either lives or works in the same London borough as the development. This usually applies for a certain period from when the development first launches (i.e. first 3 months) before being open to applicants living anywhere.
It is also possible that further income restrictions apply beyond the basic eligibility criteria meaning that the maximum household income could be less than £90,000 in some instances.
We therefore recommend that you check the eligibility criteria for each individual development when searching for new homes.
How does Shared Ownership priority work?
What is Shared Ownership priority?
Shared Ownership is available to anyone that meets the eligibility criteria for an available property.
As some of our developments can be very popular and at times, receive more reservations than we have homes available, we use a scoring system to prioritise certain people to ensure that our homes go to those most in need.
On some occasions there may be additional priorities set by the Local Authority which will then override our standard Allocation Policy.
For more information about how we prioritise Shared Ownership homes or Shared Ownership eligibility criteria, speak to our team.
How do Peabody prioritise for Shared Ownership?
To make sure properties go to those most in need, priority will be given in the following order.
✔ Existing social tenants - because council and housing association tenants buying their own home will release a home to someone else who needs social housing
✔ Military personnel
✔ Applicants registered on the local authority’s housing waiting list or who are in a local priority group
✔ First-time buyers
✔ Buyers with a home to sell
After the initial priority groups have been considered, applications will then be prioritised based on:
✔ People who live and work within the same borough of the home they wish to buy
✔ People on the lowest income, but still able to afford the property
✔People with a larger household size i.e. families
What if I'm not eligible for Shared Ownership?
There are some strict eligibility criteria you have to meet to buy a home with Shared Ownership.
This is also true for London Living Rent homes that also require applicants to be eligible to buy on a Shared Ownership basis.
However, if your household income is above £90,000 or you have a larger deposit, you may be able to buy a home on the open market. This means simply putting an offer on a new home and obtaining a mortgage offer as long as the home is affordable to you.
Discover homes available on the open market, like at Southmere in Thamesmead by Peabody New Homes.
How to apply for Shared Ownership
Peabody has a range of new-build and pre-owned Shared Ownership homes throughout London and the Home Counties. If you want to apply for Shared Ownership with Peabody, you can contact us today or register your interest on one of our development pages.
Securing a Shared Ownership home can be exciting, but applications can be rejected or delayed due to common mistakes. To give your application the greatest chance of success, make sure you meet the criteria outlined above, and you can read our article on applying for Shared Ownership for more information.
Shared Ownership Eligibility FAQs
For buying a Shared Ownership home in England, the maximum household income you are allowed is £80,000. However, due to higher property values in the capital, the maximum household income for those looking to buy in London increases to £90,000.
Household income is the income of any member of the household included in the purchase of the property. This means if you are buying the Shared Ownership home with your partner or a friend, then the income for each of you needs to be below the eligibility threshold.
If you are purchasing a Shared Ownership home with your partner but also have a child who is currently employed, then as long as their name is not included in the purchase of the property, their income would not be included.
There is no minimum household income required to buy a Shared Ownership home based on eligibility. However, due to the cost of buying a home and the need to have a mortgage as part of buying through Shared Ownership, you will need to meet affordability requirements.
This means in order to buy a home you will often need to have a minimum household income in order to be deemed affordable to buy and able to obtain a mortgage.
The minimum income required will be based on your personal finances, and for example if you have a large deposit, you may be able to buy with a lower household income than say someone with a lower deposit.
Shared Ownership is predominantly aimed at helping first-time buyers step onto the property ladder. Therefore if you already own a property in the UK or abroad, you will not be eligible to purchase a Shared Ownership home.
However, if you do own another property, you may be able to purchase with Shared Ownership if you are able to prove that you are in the process of selling the home.
Existing homeowners must have sold the property, or had their name removed from the mortgage before they can exchange contracts on a home bought through Shared Ownership.
In short yes.
You can apply jointly for Shared Ownership with a partner or a friend depending on your personal circumstances. You will just need to ensure you both meet the basic eligibility criteria and together your household income is less than £80,000 (or £90,000 if buying in London)
Yes, self-employed individuals can be eligible, provided they meet the requirements of shared ownership. To apply for shared ownership, self-employed applicants will need to demonstrate their financial stability and prove their income. As with other applicants, you must meet the shared ownership criteria, including having a household income below £80,000 (or £90,000 in London).
Yes, it’s possible to apply for shared ownership if you are retired. Retired applicants will typically need to demonstrate that their retirement income, such as pensions, is sufficient to cover both the rent on the property and any mortgage payments.
While having bad credit can make it more challenging to get a mortgage for shared ownership, it is still possible. Some lenders may consider applicants with poor credit histories, and you'll still need to meet the requirements for shared ownership stated above. We recommend getting in touch with a mortgage advisor.
You will need a deposit based on the share of the property you are buying, not the whole value. The deposit for shared ownership is usually around 10% of the share you are purchasing. For example, if you are buying a 25% share of a property valued at £400,000, you will need a 10% deposit for £100,000, which would come to £10,000.
"We really wanted to stay in London and buying through Shared Ownership was the best way to make this happen. Everyone at Peabody New Homes was so helpful and very efficient, guiding us through each stage of the process. From my initial phone call, they managed to book me an appointment for the following week. I was so impressed with the quality of the homes here. "