Step one: intention to sell
Getting your house in order
All leaseholders assigned to the lease must sign and agree to selling the property. You must repay any arrears on rent, service charges and any additional costs incurred whilst living in the property (if applicable).
Find out how much your home is worth
When you decide to sell your home, you will need to get an independent surveyor to see how much your home is worth in today’s market. You can select a surveyor from our panel of experts, or you may wish to appoint your own. Peabody will need to verify and agree the surveyors valuation before you are able to sell your home.
Consider the impact of home improvements
When you sell your home the surveyor will value the property in its current condition including all home improvements. You will sell the share you own which will be a percentage of the full market value including home improvements you have made. If you have done any major home improvements you will have needed permission from our Housing Management and Asset Management departments. If you have done this let us know and provide copies of the estimates/receipts for the work to the surveyor who will advise us if the works have increased the value of your home or not.
Looking for another home
You can begin to look for another home to buy as soon as you decide to sell. However, to avoid putting yourself under any pressure, you should not make an offer on another home until a buyer has agreed to buy your Shared Ownership home. When you agree to buy a home, it is in your best interests to make everyone involved aware of the timescales outlined in this guide. Remember that you and your buyer could decide not to proceed at any time up to exchange of contracts
Step two: Peabody will help you market your home and sell your share
Selling your Shared Ownership home
As we have lots of people interested in buying Shared Ownership properties, Peabody can help to market and sell your home.
Here to help every step of the way
We will arrange viewings with interested buyers, ensure they fulfil the Shared Ownership guidelines, approve applications, allocate a buyer, liaise with all parties and progress the sale to completion. Our team will be on hand to help you throughout the process.
Showing off your home
We will assist in helping you find a buyer for your home as quickly as possible. You can choose from our approved panel of financial advisors, surveyors and photographers who will provide photography, floorplans and a property description for marketing purposes. You should also get your Energy Performance Certificate (EPC) ordered. The cost for these services are paid directly to the professional you choose. You should always check the final cost of these before you appoint someone.
Making sure buyers see your home
We will list your property on our Peabody New Homes website, as well as directly advertise it to our existing database of applicants. We will also list your home on popular websites such as Share To Buy and Homes for Londoners as well as promoting your property at home show events.
How much will it cost?
The cost of marketing and selling your home through Peabody is an initial non-refundable Marketing Admin fee of £350. If we are successful in selling your home, we will charge a fee of 1% of the full market value plus VAT. This is payable once the sale of your home has been completed.
Step three: finding a buyer
Arranging viewings as soon as possible
Peabody will find interested buyers and arrange for them to view your home at a time convenient to you. You will be notified by email of all requested viewings.
Get your home ready for viewings
You will be responsible for showing people around your home. At the moment, you may choose to do these virtually, usually over a WhatsApp video call, or in person. Always try to have someone with you when conducting viewings in person. If this isn’t possible, let someone know when you have a viewing.
Make sure your home is spick and span before potential buyers arrive. Open up curtains to let in natural daylight, or turn all the lights on for evening viewings. Try and guide people around your home and create a welcoming atmosphere. Don’t worry if you are unable to answer all their questions, you can always direct them to a member of the Peabody New Homes team.
Let us take care of everything else
After the viewings, your Peabody New Homes team will liaise with interested buyers and ensure they meet the eligibility criteria to buy your home.
They will select the most appropriate buyer and handle all of the admin involved in the sale so it goes through as smoothly and quickly as possible.
The Sales Team will keep in regular contact with you and your appointed Solicitor throughout the sales journey.
Cost of selling your home through Peabody
As with all property sales, you will have expenses to pay. Before deciding to sell your home it is worth investigating the full costs involved. As the leaseholder, you are required to meet the valuation and legal costs and any other costs incurred in connection with selling your home.
Please note: This is only a guide to costs, depending on your property there may be additional costs. Indicative prices do not include VAT.
Starting your reselling journey
The resales Enquiry pack includes useful information, forms and contacts for the initial part of your reselling journey. In addition to downloading the pack, we recommend that you look at how much similar properties in your area are on the market or recently sold for. You can do this by visiting websites such as Zoopla and Rightmove or contacting a local estate agents who may give you a free estimate of your home’s value.
Once you are happy to proceed, you will need to instruct an independent RICs registered surveyor to carry out a valuation of your home. The Surveyor will provide a full valuation report of the condition and value of your home.
If you would prefer, you can instruct your own Independent RICs registered surveyor. Please note that they must adhere to our set criteria which can be found on the below ‘Find a Surveyor’ button.
Your valuation is valid for a period of 3 months, if your property has not sold after that point you may incur a valuation extension fee.
Before instructing Peabody to proceed, it is best to select a solicitor, so that you are ready to act promptly when you receive the valuation report. We recommend using the solicitor who originally dealt with your purchase as they are most likely to have a lot of your details available regarding your property. Alternatively, you can select a solicitor from the Peabody Panel who offer a fixed fee for their services.
Obtain a quotation before instructing your solicitor and choose a solicitor with knowledge and experience of Shared Ownership leases.
Once you are ready to begin the process, please return all documentation details on the checklist below to the Post Sales Team:
- A Completed Intension to Sell form
- A copy of your full signed and dated lease agreement
- A copy of your Register and Title
- If you have previously bought more shares of your property, a copy of the memorandum of Staircasing
- A valuation from a RICs qualified surveyor
Once we have received the required documents, your case will be assigned to one of our Post Sales Executives who will be in contact to talk through your next steps and to take payment of your initial admin fee of £350.
Your Post Sales Executive will process your valuation for approval, they will also check to see if your local authority has any nomination rights or if these can be waived to allow you to sell 100% via an Estate Agent. Post Sales Executive will confirm your options and how you would like to proceed.
If Peabody will be marketing your share then the Post Sales Executive will request that you send in photography, floorplan(s) and an Energy Performance Certificate (EPC) to start the marketing.
Selling your share via Peabody
Once you have sent in photography, floorplan(s) and an Energy Performance Certificate (EPC) the Post Sales Executive will work with our marketing team to prepare your sales particulars. These will the get sent to you along with an Intension to Proceed. Once we received your signed form back the marketing of your property will be made live on all relevant marketing channels.
We will arrange with you for any prospective buyers to view your home, this will be at a time convenient to you. You will be notified by email of all requested viewings. You will then show prospective buyers your home, buyers will be allocated on first come first served.
Prospective buyers will need to have completed the online application from, the reservation form, along with their initial affordability assessment from the allocated mortgage advisor. The above must be emailed to the Post Sales Team for the buyer to be allocated.
Selling 100% via an estate agent
If you have the option to sell 100% via an Estate Agent then you would need to provide Peabody with the contact details of your chosen Estate Agent, your Estate Agent must provide a copy of your property’s sale particulars before marketing can commence.
Once a 100% buyer is found they must complete and send a signed reservation form to the Post Sales Team at Peabody.
When you find a buyer
Once a buyer has been found, your file will be passed over to a Stage 2 progression Post Sales Executive.
The Memorandum of Sale will be created, and this will be sent to:
- Peabody’s Solicitors
- Your & your Solicitors
- The Buyers Solicitors
Once the Memorandum of Sale has been sent you should contact your solicitor to confirm they are formally instructed and pay any outstanding fees.
Once your solicitor has received all relevant information and monies from you, they will commence the legal paperwork for the sale.
A management pack will be required in order for you to sell your property, we have a dedicated team at Peabody that are responsible for collating all the relevant information that your buyer’s solicitor may need in order for them to progress the sale.
The management pack will include information from us such as three year’s audited accounts, building insurance documents, fire safety reports and other key information about your property and the building.
If the freehold is not owned by us or if there is a managing agent, your solicitor may need to contact the them to request additional information. There may be a cost for this information from the freeholder or managing agent which will be payable by you.
Keep in touch with your solicitor for updates. You may need to provide additional documents at this stage. The buyer’s lender will be instructing a valuation for your property. We will give your details to the surveying company so that the surveyor can contact you for access to your property.
Once your solicitor has collated all information about your property which includes the forms you completed and the ‘Management pack’ from us, they will send these papers with the draft contract to the buyer’s solicitor. The buyer’s solicitor will review the papers and raise any enquiries to your solicitor. In the meantime, the buyer’s mortgage offer will be issued and will need to be approved by our solicitors.
Your solicitor will send you the contract which sets out the terms of the sale. Having reviewed the contract, you should sign and return the contract to your solicitor A proposed completion date should be discussed with your solicitor who will be liaising with the buyer’s solicitor to confirm completion dates. If you are purchasing another property please ensure all matters have been resolved so that you can exchange contracts.
Once exchange happens, you will have entered into a legal agreement with the buyer. You will not be able to withdraw from the sale at this stage without incurring significant penalties. You will receive a completion statement from your solicitor which details the monies due from the buyer as well as any outstanding fees that are payable by you. If there are any arrears on your Peabody account, the monies for these are taken as part of your completion funds. Your solicitor will deal with any outstanding legal paperwork. They will arrange for any money payable to us by you (including the Peabody sales fee) to be sent to us on the day of completion.
Inform utility suppliers of meter readings in readiness to share with purchaser on completion. Make sure you cancel your direct debits and redirect your mail to your new address. Get together all copies of keys, fobs and permits in readiness to give to your purchaser on completion day.
Once you have received confirmation monies have been received by your solicitor, you will meet the buyer at your property to handover any keys.
Here are some tips below as to what to go over with your purchaser on the day: Show the purchaser where the utility meters and bin stores are located. Show the purchaser where any bike store and parking space is located. Show the purchaser how to use the heating, entry phone and any other tricky appliances. Handover any instruction manuals and documents that would be helpful for the home
If Peabody are unable to sell your home
If in the event that we have been unsuccessful in finding a buyer after marketing it for four weeks, you are able to instruct an estate agent to market your property, paying their fee for the service they provide. We would recommend using an agent who has experience selling Shared Ownership homes.
If you haven’t been able to do this, we may consider selling a share
If you have been unable to find a buyer for the full value of your home, then we may be able to agree selling to another Shared Ownership buyer that your Estate Agent has found. If you are hoping to do this, you should contact the Peabody New Homes sales team to discuss.
Making sure they meet the criteria
If the buyer buys less than 100%, they will have to complete a Peabody application form and be approved by us. They must meet the criteria set by the Government to qualify to buy a Shared Ownership home.
No cheeky offers
If the estate agent sells the property on a Shared Ownership basis, the property cannot be sold any lower than the current RICS valuation report.
