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Owning a home is never easy these days, especially with the rising costs in the real estate industry. This is the reason why there are a lot of mortgage options and home loan payment schemes that you can take advantage of. You just need to learn all that you can about the payment options that are available for you so that you can decide which one will best suit your needs. How does a shared ownership mortgage work? Shared ownership mortgage is a term used to describe a method by which an individual can have his or her own home without having to share the house’s occupancy with another individual or family. Not all individuals or families as a whole can afford to purchase a house right off the market, and this is mostly caused by their financial capabilities. Thus, payment schemes and options to own a home have been developed to give everyone a fair chance of owning a residential property that they can rightly call their own. With a shared ownership mortgage, you are entitled to own a ’share’ of the property where you will have exclusive residential rights for. The other part of the property’s share that you do not own is what you will be renting out. For example, if there is a property that is worth an amount that is represented with the letter A. With a shared ownership mortgage, you can own 50% of the A amount while the other half will be your monthly rent. As you become more financially stable, you can gradually work your way towards buying part of the remaining 50% while still needing to pay the other part as a monthly fee – until you have fully purchased the property. What are the characteristics of a shared ownership mortgage? A shared ownership mortgage assists those who cannot afford to buy a home right off the market. With a shared ownership mortgage, although you may not have not fully purchased the property where you are residing at, you still have the complete rights like that of a regular homeowner. As compared to the United States where a shared ownership mortgage can exist between friends and relatives whose rights for the portions of the house are subdivided equally, in the UK, the terms are much less complicated. Just imagine what will happen if four friends move in together and they have fully purchased a house which was previously under a shared ownership mortgage. What will happen if they part ways? This scenario will be avoided because in the UK, it is only the housing association and the borrower who have ownership rights to the property. However, the right to live in the house is retained solely by the home owner although part of the property is still owned by the housing association. Through which establishments are shared ownership mortgages available? Cooperatives, housing trusts and housing associations are the establishments where you can take advantage of a shared ownership mortgage. They are the ones who own the remaining property rights for the part of the share that you do not own. What are the advantages of a shared ownership mortgage? Those who do not have a chance of owning a home or a piece property all in one purchase will benefit from a shared ownership mortgage. This is because the borrower is given more leeway when it comes to paying for the property in full. If you are not yet capable of paying for the full amount, then you can already own part of the share of the property while paying rent for the remaining share that you do not own. Unlike a fixed amount mortgage, for example, you need to pay for interest rates and penalties if you are unable to make a payment for the monthly premium. With a shared ownership mortgage, you can just buy the remaining share of the property when you are able to do so. The rest of the time, you will need to shell out money for the monthly rent. One other advantage of shared ownership mortgage is that you have a total of 99 years to purchase the property in full – which basically means that you have the rest of your life to buy off the property.

What is a shared ownership mortgage? If you are still in the process of saving up to buy a home, why not take advantage of a shared ownership mortgage? With a shared ownership mortgage, you do not need to have the entire amount of money needed to purchase a particular property that you are eyeing. With a shared ownership mortgage, it will be like owning a share of a stock, only you get full rights to use it. Thus, if you have a home that is under a shared ownership mortgage, you just need to buy a certain percentage of the share for the property. The remaining portion of the share will be owned by a housing association from where you have purchased the property, and this part will also correspond to the monthly rent that you need to pay. So, it is like partly owning and partly renting a property, but the good thing is that you get full occupancy rights. Can I eventually own the property that is under a shared ownership mortgage? Yes, you can definitely own any property that is under a shared ownership mortgage. This is actually the advantage of a shared ownership mortgage. There is a 99-year window in which you can purchase the property, which means that you literally have a lifetime to buy the shares for the rest of the property that you do not yet own. Are there any disadvantages to a shared ownership mortgage? Because of the numerous benefits working to a borrower’s advantage, the one downside to a shared ownership mortgage is that this type of home ownership scheme is quite difficult to come by. The demand for this type of mortgage is high and not all areas are offering shared ownership mortgages. How can you shop for the best shared ownership mortgage plan? Housing associations, housing trusts, cooperatives and other similar associations are the ones who are offering shared ownership mortgages. Because of the great amount of leeway given to those who are benefiting from a shared ownership mortgage, investors and lenders do not easily or commonly give out this type of loan. However, you just need to be resourceful enough to be able to shop for the best shared ownership mortgage. Here are a few resources: The Housing Corporation: This governmental agency is responsible for funding new and affordawble homes in UK. They also regulate the housing associations in the country. If you want to obtain a list of the housing associations from which you can get a shared ownership mortgage, this is the agency that you need to go to. Just specify the area where you wish to buy a property and they can give you a name of the housing associations in that area, as well as the names of the developers of such home ownership schemes. However, you may need to wait for some time because priority is given to existing tenants or those who are on the waiting list. Browse through online resources: Just like everything else, you can Google your way through shopping for the best shared ownership mortgage options. The Mortgage Warehouse is an example of an online site from where you can get a list of the establishments offering shared ownership mortgage plans. Abbey Mortgage is the second largest mortgage provider and one of the biggest banks in the UK. They offer a wide array of mortgages to suit your individual needs. The Beverly Building Society is the country’s oldest and most established financial institutions. Mortgages and investments are their major dealings, so you can definitely look for the shared ownership mortgage plan that will best suit your financial situation from such a reputable and established financial establishment. Another establishment offering shared ownership mortgage plans is Alliance and Leicester which is a major player among the country’s biggest financial services groups. Their clients range from individuals to major companies and businesses through the wide range of financial services that they offer. Halifax is another UK lender which offers shared ownership mortgage plans to those who would like to have their own home.