The shared ownership process

You’re buying a home. There will be paperwork, solicitors and mortgage advisers involved just like with any other house sale. At the end of the day, you’ll pick up the key to your own front door. 

1. Finding your new home

Our Sales team is here to help you find your new home and to step into home ownership. You no longer need a Help to Buy reference number. You can search through all the homes we have available now, and you can join our mailing list to be the first to hear about new releases as soon as they come onto the market. If you are interested or want to find out more, please contact us on sales@crosskeyshomes.co.uk.

2. Apply

After you've found the right home, the first step is to complete your online application with us. 

Read our Shared ownership allocations policy

 

3. Financial advice 

Once we have your application we'll be in touch within two working days to advise you of the next steps and to talk about your requirements and affordability. We’ll also ask you to contact one of our chosen Mortgage Brokers for a free consultation. 

The Mortgage Broker will work through your finances in detail, help you to understand the monthly costs and confirm what size share you can afford. They can also help you find a mortgage if you need them to. You will need to supply them with documentation we need in order to carry out our anti-money laundering checks.

4. Reservation 

If you have been successful in your application we will ask for an agreement in principle from your broker. We will then issue you with a formal offer.

You will then need to pay a small deposit to formally reserve it. If you're buying a new-build home, the deposit is £500. £250 of the cost of this deposit comes off the price when you complete the purchase. 

If you are purchasing a re-sale (previously owned) home, the deposit is £250. This is non-refundable.

5. Instruct solicitors 

At the time of issuing you with your formal offer we will need your solicitor’s details in order to release the Memorandum of Sale. At this point the home is sold to you ‘subject to contract’ (SSTC). 

We both instruct our solicitors to take care of the formal side of the sale. Your solicitor will make enquiries about the property on your behalf and report back to you. They are legally bound to act in your best interests so make sure you understand the information they share with you before you sign the final legal documents. 

Your mortgage lender will carry out a valuation of the property before making you a formal mortgage offer. We will approve your mortgage offer to ensure all details are correct.

6. Exchange contracts 

At this stage, we're ready to exchange contracts and you’ll have to sign all the legal documentation with your solicitor. You'll have to pay the full deposit for your share at this point. Your solicitor handles all of the money for your purchase, including your deposit and the loan advance from your mortgage provider. At this point the purchase is now legally binding for you and us.

7. Agree a date 

After we've exchanged, we're both committed to the sale and can agree a date for completion. 

8. Move home

On completion day, we'll meet you and give you the keys to your new home!