What is shared ownership?

Shared Ownership is a home ownership scheme that helps to keep the cost of buying a new home low by enabling you to buy a share in the property and pay a subsidised rent on the share you don’t own, plus any service charges. It is designed as a step to full home ownership, allowing you to buy further shares in your property when you can afford to.

The scheme is a cross between buying and renting and allows you to buy a share in a property of the purchase price, and then pay rent on the remaining share.

You will be expected to pay a mortgage on the share you own and depending on the Shared ownership scheme, this can range from 10% to 75% of the value of the home. You will then pay an affordable rent to First Garden Cities Homes on the remaining share you don't own. In most instances, you then have an option to buy additional shares in your home until you eventually own 100%, this is what's known as 'staircasing.'