The advantages of buying a home with Co-Own

Finding a place to call your own is an exciting journey, but it can also be challenging, especially in today’s property market.

Are you currently struggling to buy your first home? Maybe you have affordability issues, or increasing private rents are making it harder to save for a deposit, then buying a home using our Co-Own product offers a route to affordable home ownership. In this blog, we will explore the benefits of buying your home through shared ownership, shedding light on how we can help can turn your dreams of home ownership into a joyful reality.

Advantage 1: Lower costs

Because the rent we set is lower than the rent you would pay if renting privately and the mortgage you need is smaller, your monthly repayments could be less than they would be if you’d bought a home with a full mortgage. You buy between 50% and 90% of the property either with a mortgage or savings and pay rent on the remaining share owned by Co-Ownership. This means that you will need a lower deposit (depending on the lender), a smaller mortgage, and will have reduced monthly payments compared to buying a property with a full mortgage. Shared ownership enables people and families with limited savings or who are on lower incomes to take their first steps toward home ownership. To see how much buying a home with Co-Ownership costs check out our ‘How much will it cost me’ calculator.

Advantage 2: Increased Choice

Because you are only buying a share and we are buying the rest, buying a home with Co-Ownership makes your budget go further. This means that you may be able to buy a property in an area closer to friends, family or work, which may have been previously unaffordable when you were trying to buy on your own.

Our recent Social Impact report found that 93% of applicants agreed that buying a home with Co-Ownership meant that they were now able to choose where they wanted to live, with 81% stating that they were now living closer to friends and family. If you are interested in reading how Co-Ownership has impacted people’s lives check out our most recent Social Impact Report.

Advantage 3: Flexibility to increase your share

One of the advantages of Co-Ownership is the ability to gradually increase your ownership of the property over time. With Co-Ownership you can buy out in chunks of 5% or all at once, depending on what works best for you. Each time you increase your share, the amount of rent you pay decreases, and you move closer to owning your home outright. To learn more about how increasing your share click here.

Advantage 4: Improvements

Our shared ownership arrangement means that when you sell your home, we both benefit from the value going up or share in the loss if the value goes down. However, if you make any improvements to the property (for example, fitting a new kitchen, adding an extension, converting your heating system etc.) you get to keep the value that’s been added to the property when you come to increase your share. Unlike your local estate agent who will carry out a market valuation, we carry out an equity valuation. This means that we will exclude the value (equity) you have added to your home (through carrying out improvements) and value it to the same standard that you bought it, but at the current market value. To learn more about this click here.

If you’re searching for an affordable and flexible route to homeownership, consider exploring Co-Ownership as an option. Your journey towards owning a home can become a reality sooner than you think.

Want to learn more about the different stage within the homeownership journey? Check out our Steps to Buy NI website, which can help you understand all the different housing options available to tips on how to finance your move.