Question 1

What is Home Reach?

Accepted Answer

Home Reach offers a shared ownership scheme as an alternative route to get onto the property ladder for those who may not be able to buy a home outright.

Question 2

What are the costs involved with Home Reach?

Accepted Answer

Costs include rent on the unpurchased share, collected monthly, and other fees like reservation and lease management, subject to annual increases.

Question 3

Why should you choose Home Reach?

Accepted Answer

Deposits for Home Reach properties can be significantly lower than those for equivalent properties purchased via a traditional mortgage. This is because shared ownership deposits are determined by the share of the property you buy, not the value of the property you wish to live in.

Question 4

Shared Ownership eligibility?

Accepted Answer

The first thing to consider is your income. To be eligible, your household income cannot exceed £80,000. Secondly, you must be either a verified first-time buyer, or if you used to own a home but don’t anymore and then you must be in the position that you can’t currently afford to buy outright again.

Question 5

How does resales and staircasing work?

Accepted Answer

You can increase your share in your property at any time after you complete your initial purchase. This is known as ‘staircasing’. In most cases you staircase all the way to 100% ownership, then you will no longer need to pay rent.

Question 6

How will I pay my rent with part buy part rent scheme?

Accepted Answer

Rent will be collected monthly, the easiest way to pay your rent is by direct debit, as the payments are taken automatically so you don’t have to worry about missing a payment.

Question 7

How do I buy more shares of my home?

Accepted Answer

You can increase your share in your property at any time after you complete your initial purchase. This is known as ‘staircasing’.

Question 8

What will happen to my rent when I staircase?

Accepted Answer

When you staircase, your rent will fall in line with your new share ownership, as you only pay rent on the share of the property you don’t own. If you staircase to 100%, you will no longer need to pay rent. If you pay ground rent or a service charge on your lease, this will still be due after you staircase to 100%.

Question 9

Is there a minimum time I have to wait before staircasing?

Accepted Answer

There is no mandatory waiting period for staircasing; you may begin the process at any time of your choosing.

Everything you need to know about Home Reach