Share Ownership & Leaseholders
Shared Ownership is often referred to as part buy, part rent. This is where the purchaser buys a percentage share of the property and then pays rent on the remaining share. Shared Ownership is a good scheme for applicants on a lower income or applicants who have a large cash deposit but are unable to secure a mortgage.
You can increase your share, as and when you can afford it, if you wish, until you own the property completely: this is known as “Staircasing.” However, you’re not obliged to purchase the remainder of your home, the choice is yours.
We own in the region of 800 leasehold properties across North Wales and of these approximately 600 are shared ownership properties. The share values range from 25% to 75%.
When existing shared owners decide to sell their share, the properties are valued by a member of the ‘RICS’ (Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors) and applicants off the affordable housing register are kept informed of new properties becoming available.
100% Leasehold
Sometimes properties are bought 100% leasehold with a long lease of 99 or 125 years, rather than buying the freehold. This can be because the freehold wasn’t available or the property is a flat. There would be no rent to pay but there would be a monthly service charge to cover buildings insurance and any other services provided by ClwydAlyn under the lease.
Shared Owner and Leaseholders Responsibilities
If you are a shared owner of a flat or 100% leaseholder of a flat, you are responsible for all repairs inside your property unless otherwise stated within your lease. ClwydAlyn, as landlord, is responsible for insuring the building and carrying out repairs and maintenance to the communal areas, the outside areas and the structure and services of the building. These are carried out on the shared owners or leaseholders behalf by ClwydAlyn and any costs are recharged to all the properties within the building via a monthly service charge.
If you are a shared owner or 100% leaseholder of a house, the lease for your property is a full repairing lease. This means you are responsible for repairs and maintenance to the structure as well as the inside and outside of your home. ClwydAlyn will be responsible for insuring the building and this is recharged via a service charge every month. If you have use of any shared communal areas, there may also be service charges for maintenance of these too.
The exact responsibilities vary according to the type of home in which you live and the contents of your lease.
Shared ownership, Leasehold FAQ’s
A Shared Ownership property is where you hold the leasehold title for a share of the property and ClwydAlyn own the remaining share along with the freehold
You can ‘Staircase’ at any time, this is where you purchase more shares in the property or purchase the remaining share from ClwydAlyn
Your lease decreases by the year, you can extend your lease at any time by contacting our affordable homes team who can advise you of the procedure
You must get written confirmation from the affordable homes team before you carry out any work, you may also need to seek permission from your mortgage lender too
The rent and service charge will be reviewed annually, and any increases or decreases are applied from the 1st of April