Shared Ownership: London’s highest-rated developments

The Shared Ownership scheme has been instrumental in helping people on low incomes or with little savings to buy their own home. But what are the best Shared Ownership developments across London? Verified reviews from Shared Owners on HomeViews reveal the capital’s best properties for the scheme.

What is Shared Ownership?

The UK Government launched the Shared Ownership scheme in 2016. Since then, more than 200,000 households have used the scheme to buy their own home. Shared Ownership allows the buyer to purchase between 10 and 75 per cent of a home’s full market value, using a standard combination of deposit and mortgage.

You pay rent to a landlord for the portion of the property you don’t yet own. You can, however, steadily increase your ownership stake by buying more shares in the property over time. This process is called staircasing.

Shared Ownership London: Top developments according to residents

Let’s take a look at London’s top 10 Shared Ownership developments. These rankings are based on the reviews of Verified Residents who bought their homes using the Shared Ownership scheme. As such, you can be sure the rankings are impartial and free from bias.

The developments in the list met a minimum threshold of at least 10 verified resident reviews. This is the case for all except our 10th entry, which sneaked into the list with nine reviews.

What types of properties are available through Shared Ownership?

There are some restrictions to the type of property you can buy through Shared Ownership. Shared Ownership landlords are typically housing associations or local councils. The properties tend to be new builds, and all Shared Ownership houses and apartments are leasehold properties.

You can find some existing Shared Ownership properties available to buy through a resale scheme. Additionally, if you have specific needs or a long-term disability, there are some concessions to the properties you can buy.

Shared Ownership advantages

Shared Ownership provides a great opportunity to buy your own home, even if you have a low income or very little savings. If you crave the security of home ownership over renting, Shared Ownership could help you to get started.

You can buy a Shared Ownership property with a far lower deposit than if you were buying a traditional property. It’s significantly easier to secure a mortgage for a Shared Ownership purchase. You can also sell your share in the property back to your landlord at any time.

Disadvantages of Shared Ownership

The main disadvantage of Shared Ownership is that you have to pay rent to the landlord for the portion of the property that you don’t own. Additionally, Shared Ownership properties are all leaseholds. This can make reselling awkward if the lease has a short period remaining on it.

You’re also responsible for paying all the charges that homeowners traditionally pay. These include utility bills, ground rent, service charges and council tax. The landlord might cover some of these charges in a traditional rental scenario.

Do you want to explore London’s Shared Ownership developments in more detail? You can browse the best new build property developments across the capital by clicking on our guides menu at the top of this page. From there, you can select which part of London to explore, and find the best new homes in each area.

HomeViews provides verified resident reviews of the UK’s housing developments. We’re working with developers, house builders, operators, housing associations and the Government to recognise high performers and help improve standards in the built environment.

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