Shared Ownership is often government funded, which means we must comply with Homes England’s Capital funding Guide and the Greater London Authority’s Capital Funding Guide to allocate and offer our shared ownership resale homes through a fair and transparent process.
Shared Ownership homes are only available to people who cannot buy a home on the open market.
If you are interested in buying a Shared Ownership resale home from us, you must complete an application form on the Hyde New Homes website at www.hydenewhomes.co.uk
We consider all Shared Ownership applications in an impartial, equitable and consistent manner. Applicants must meet our eligibility criteria, and homes are allocated in line with government guidance.
Eligibility
Eligibility criteria may differ, depending on the location and local authority. However, in general you must:
- Be aged 18 or over
- Be unable to afford to buy a home on the open market
- Have an annual household income less than £80,000 outside of London and less than £90,000 in London
- Pass money laundering and fraud checks
If you already own, or part-own a home (either in the UK or abroad) you may still be eligible for Shared Ownership but you must sell that home before completing the purchase of your new home. You need to provide us with proof of sale and proceeds.
Affordability
We follow the Homes England guidelines to ensure anyone applying for a Shared Ownership home can afford to buy it without overstretching themselves financially.
Initial affordability assessment
You must successfully complete an affordability assessment through one of our panel of independent mortgage advisors.The assessment is free of charge and you do not have to arrange a mortgage through the advisor assessing you.
Adverse Credit Check
Lenders require mortgage applicants to have clean credit histories, so part of the affordability assessment includes a check to see if you have any adverse credit. This check includes but isn’t limited to:
- Missed mortgage or rent payments
- Credit defaults within the previous 12 months
- Whether you have a County Court Judgement against you.Your eligibility won’t be affected if you can provide documentation to show the default has been satisfied
- Individual voluntary arrangements that have been discharged more than three years before the adverse credit check won’t affect your eligibility, if you can provide proof there are no outstanding debt or credit issues.
- Repossessions more than three years before the adverse credit check won’t affect your eligibility, if you can provide proof there are no outstanding debt or credit issues.
We reserve the right to decline applications because of adverse credit histories.
Second Stage Affordability Assessment
You must go through a second stage affordability assessment once you have received an offer for your Shared Ownership home. This is a more detailed look at your finances. The independent adviser will complete a budget planner with you, to look at your income and spending. You’ll have to disclose information and documents, including (but not limited to):
- Your passport (if you have one)
- Three months of your most recent pay slips, if you’re employed.
- Three years of tax calculations / SA302s & tax year overviews – (if you’re self-employed)
- Proof of any other income (eg tax credits, second job, pension income etc.)
- Three months of your most recent bank statements
- Proof of address – eg a full UK driving licence, bank statements or utility bill
- Your most recent P60
- Gift letter, if any of your savings have been gifted
- Marriage certificate (if applicable)
- Council tax bill (if applicable)
- Credit report – Experian or Equifax
This assessment will ensure that:
- Mortgage repayments are no more than 30% of your net income, after considering your firm commitments, including the rent and service charge payable on your new home*
- You have a minimum of 10% of your income remaining after all your expenditure has been accounted for
- Your income is sustainable in the long term
- You’ll be able to afford any potential rent increases over the next five years
*You won’t be able to buy a Shared Ownership home in London if your housing costs are more than 45%, or less than 25%, of your household income. Mortgage lenders must be a mainstream Shared Ownership provider. We reserve the right to decline applications from adverse credit lenders.
Cash Buyers
- If you want to buy a Shared Ownership home without a mortgage, you’ll still need to go through the second stage affordability assessment.
- We’ll only consider cash purchases of Shared Ownership homes outside of London if you can’t get a mortgage due to your age, religion, disability or income
- Cash buyers in London will only be approved in exceptional circumstances. We’ll need to obtain the authority from the Greater London Authority.
How We Allocate Resale Shared Ownership Homes
As Shared Ownership resales involve an existing leaseholder selling their home, we will ensure that the home is offered as quickly as possible to the buyer who meets the eligibility and affordability criteria above and their ability to progress to legal instruction.
Shared Ownership resale homes outside of London are allocated on a first come, first served basis to applicants meeting the eligibility and affordability criteria.
- The first person to submit a reservation that meets the the affordability criteria will be given the opportunity to reserve the home first.
In determining an offer we will also take into account the following factors:
- Your ability to proceed within a reasonable and agreed timescale
- The complexity of any related chain
- Your readiness to progress to reservation and legal instruction
Local Connection and Priority Groups
Some homes are subject to a local connection criteria or priority groups (as required by Homes England, a local authority or funding conditions) these requirements will take priority.
- Applicants will be informed of any such criteria before proceeding and must confirm their compliance.
Fairness and Transparency
All decisions relating to the nomination of a purchaser for a shared ownership resale home will be:
- Applied consistently
- Documented appropriately
- Made in accordance with Hyde’s obligations under the Capital Funding Guide and any applicable funding or planning requirements
Declining Applications
We reserve the right to reject your application if you don’t:
- Meet our eligibility criteria
- Meet the requirements of the affordability assessment
- Meet one of more of our shared ownership-related policies
- Provide the required documentation or information
- Disclose key information that would make your application non-compliant with the Capital Funding Guide
Responsible Organisations
The table below sets out the various elements of the shared ownership process for resale homes:
| Application/ Assessment Element | Responsible Organisation |
| Applicant eligibility/prioritisation | Hyde |
| Financial assessment and affordability | Mortgage Broker/Advisor (on behalf of the Shared Ownership Provider |
| Decision to accept or decline an application and at what share level | Hyde |
| Complaints regarding application or share decisions | Hyde |
| Complaints regarding mortgage advice | Mortgage Broker/Advisor’s complaint procedure |
| Application of specific policies | Hyde |
| Complaints regarding mortgage advice | Mortgage Broker’s/Advisor’s own complaint procedure |
Contact Us
For further information please contact us on 0345 606 1221.