Developers

If your development is required to include affordable housing as part of planning agreements, Co-Ownership is here to help. 

We're the established path to deliver intermediate housing for sale across Northern Ireland, backed and partly funded by the Department for Communities. Our role is not only to support the purchase of intermediate housing for sale, but to ensure the process for developers and buyers is clear and straightforward.

What is affordable housing?

As defined by the Department for Communities, affordable housing is “homes provided outside the general market for people whose needs are not met by standard housing”. This includes social rented housing, intermediate housing for rent, and intermediate housing for sale.

When a home is bought through Co-Ownership, it counts towards the intermediate housing for sale requirement set by councils.

How Co-Ownership helps you meet planning obligations

Through our shared ownership model, customers buy the share of their home that they can afford (between 50% and 90%), and we buy the rest. As their financial situation improves, they can increase their share in the property, all the way to full ownership, and we recycle those funds to help more customers achieve home ownership. 

For developers, this means your intermediate housing requirement is met via a straightforward process, which is simple for councils to track and verify.

To streamline the process, it's best to involve Co-Ownership early, ideally during the design stage of your development. 

• Check affordable housing requirements: If your planning application requires affordable housing, speak to the Northern Ireland Housing Executive (NIHE). They'll confirm whether social housing or intermediate housing (or both), is needed in that area.
• Involve us if Co-Ownership is part of the plan: If you're planning to offer intermediate homes for sale through Co-Ownership, let us know.
• Social housing is different: We support intermediate housing for sale. If social housing is required, you'll need to contact a registered housing association. A full list is available on the Northern Ireland Federation of Housing Association website.

How it works for buyers

Sales are agreed between you (or your estate agent) and the buyer (our customer) directly, in a fair, transparent and accessible way. We don't market or sell your properties - that remains part of the agent's role. Instead, we handle the customer's affordability assessment, the property valuation, and Co-Ownership-specific processes once they express interest in buying through shared ownership. 

Most Co-Ownership customers take on a mortgage to buy their share of the home. Therefore, the property must be suitable for mortgage lending and meet lender requirements.

If your buyer is approved for Co-Ownership, we issue a Co-Ownership Acceptance and instruct solicitors to progress the purchase. Once the sale completes, that home will count towards your planning obligation for intermediate housing for sale.

Property requirements

We have a specific criteria that properties must meet in order to be accepted for Co-Ownership. Most new-build and existing homes in good condition will meet these, such as being mortgageable and built to the same quality and standard as others on your development. 

Once a sale is agreed, we will arrange a valuation by a RICS-registered valuer, who confirms the price that Co-Ownership will pay for the home. We can only buy homes at their market value, and cannot pay more or less than the property is worth. The maximum property value limit that we can purchase up to is £215,000. 

The purchase price must include utility connection fees, and roads and sewers must be bonded or adopted.

Working together

To gain maximum exposure for your homes available via Co-Ownership, we promote properties on PropertyPal, Northern Ireland's leading property portal. PropertyPal users are able to search specifically for properties that meet Co-Ownership criteria, and filter for homes only available through Co-Ownership. This gives your development increased exposure to reach more potential buyers, including those who previously thought that they couldn't afford a new build property.

Our Business Development team are always happy to answer questions and advise on how to ensure your development meets affordable home planning requirements for the council area you’re building in. Early engagement means clarity for everyone involved in the home building and buying process.

To support you, our team can:

• attend show home and open day events taking place in your development to talk to potential customers about shared ownership
• provide branded materials for your offices and show homes to explain how shared ownership works
• supply bespoke resources such as brochure inserts, and co-branded marketing materials
• develop joint advertising assets to promote your properties, amplify reach and reinforce your commitment to affordable housing

Submit requests for marketing materials via our marketing assets form.