Selling your home

DO I NEED PERMISSION TO SELL MY HOME?

As a Shared Owner, you may wish to buy additional shares of the equity of the property. This is known as ‘staircasing’.

This part of the handbook outlines what you must do and who at London Borough of Havering (LBH) to contact. If you have purchased a new home directly from LBH on a shared ownership basis and you have lived in your property for a year, you have the option of buying a further share or buying the freehold of a house and the leasehold of an apartment.

If you bought your home from another shared owner you do not have to wait a year. If you choose to “staircase” it is normally done in multiples of a minimum 10%, if you are able to afford it you can eventually purchase your home outright. You should check your lease before doing this. If you are still in doubt please contact the Home Ownership team via email at homeownership@havering.gov.uk or if you would like to speak with an Officer direct you can call 01708 433015.

To start the staircasing process you should, in the first instance write to the Home Ownership team stating that you wish to purchase an additional share of your Shared Ownership home. The Home Ownership Officer will write to you attaching the staircasing valuation request form that you will need to return and must be signed by all parties to the shared ownership lease.

The preliminary procedure you will need to follow is as listed below:-

You will need to contact an Independent Financial Advisor (IFA) to ascertain whether you will be able to afford the additional shares you wish to purchase.

Research property websites i.e. Zoopla or Right Move to find comparable for properties within your area.

Complete the staircasing valuation request form and return it to the Home Ownership team by email to homeownership@havering.gov.uk.

The valuation will be carried out by an independent valuer instructed by the seller and the cost of the valuation will be borne by the Shared Owner/s.

If you have completed improvements and added value to your home (not all improvements will do this), they will disregarded from the valuation. The purchase price of your additional shares therefore will not include any increase in value caused by the works you have had carried out. NOTE: it is a breach of the lease to carry out works to the property without obtaining landlords consent. If this has been completed then you may be asked to return the property to its original state.

The valuation will be valid for 3 months, and if you do not complete the transaction in this time, the property will have to be revalued and any additional costs will be borne by the Shared Owner/s.

If you are increasing your mortgage to staircase, you will need to contact your lender direct to organise the additional borrowing. This is known as ‘further advance’.

An increase in the shares of the property will involve changes to your existing lease. This will mean that you will need to instruct a solicitor.

The costs involved in purchasing further shares in the property, legal fees, mortgage arrangement fees, stamp duty (if applicable), and any other associated costs applicable. There may also be further costs, charged by your mortgage lender. You will need to ensure you have savings or access to funds to cover these costs.

If you purchase up to 100% you will no longer pay the LBH any rent. However, you will still be liable for service charges.

If you are in arrears with your rent and/or service charges, you must clear the arrears on completion. LBH have provided you with guidelines as above, however the above list is not exhaustive, and can be changed in accordance with the lease.

As you purchase additional shares in your home, then the rent that you pay to LBH will reduce, although of course your mortgage repayments will increase as will your ground rent (where applicable) if your property is in a block. Once you have purchased your home outright you will no longer be required to pay rent at all. You may still have to pay ground rent (where applicable) and service charges if your property is an apartment and service charges if a house.