Shared Owners

All about being an Eastlight shared owner, including responsibilities and opportunities for you to buy or sell shares in your home.

20230825 Witham Residents 028 Steve Brading
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    Responsibilities

    What you are responsible for

    If you live in a house, you’re responsible for maintaining everything inside and outside your home as if you owned it fully. If you live in a flat, you’re responsible for the maintenance of everything inside your home, including any services and pipes that solely serve your home.

    You pay rent on the share of your home that you don’t own and, in most cases:

    • A service charge for services carried out on the development your home is situated on
    • Services to your building, if your home is a flat.

    What we are responsible for

    If you live in a flat, we maintain the communal areas and structure of your building. We also provide your buildings insurance, whether you live in a house or a flat.

     

Buying or selling your home

Once you have lived in your home for the period stated in your lease, you'll be able to buy more of your home. This is known as ‘staircasing.’ The more shares you own, the less rent you will pay. You can sell your share of your home at any time. See more about buying a share of or selling your home below.

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What does my service charge cover?

If you live in a flat, your service charge covers:

  • Communal lighting
  • Communal doors and repairs to the entry system
  • Maintenance to an amenity area
  • Communal TV aerial
  • Management fee
  • Buildings insurance premium – you will need to arrange your own contents insurance
  • Repairs to the communal areas and fabric of the building
  • Communal cleaning
  • Ground rent.

If you live in a house, your service charge covers:

  • Buildings insurance premium – you will need to arrange your own contents insurance
  • Services carried out on the development your home is situated on.

How can I pay my service charge?

Can I have a breakdown of my service charge?

Please contact Eastlight to request a breakdown of your charges.

When is my service charge due?

Eastlight’s financial year runs from 1 April to 31 March. Service charges should be paid by 31st March. In most cases, your service charge will be included with your monthly rent payment, and your payments will be calculated to ensure your account is clear by 31 March.

I am having difficulties paying my service charge - what can I do?

Please contact us as soon as you can if you’re experiencing any difficulties paying your charges. We will work with you to arrange an alternative payment plan. You can also click here to read our cost-of-living support page for help and advice.

What happens if I choose not to pay my service charge?

We can seek legal action for non-payment of service charges, which could lead to us taking possession of your home. If you purchased your home with a mortgage, we will contact your lender to request they make payment on your behalf to protect their security in your home.

How much can I buy?

The minimum you can buy, or “staircase to”, is 10%. There may be a cap on the shares you can own, which would mean you would be unable to own your home outright; but, if not, you could purchase the full, remaining share of your home, should you wish to.

How much will the share I’m buying cost?

The purchase price of the share you’re buying will vary, depending on its value at the time. For example, if your home is valued at £200,000 and you purchase a further 10%, the purchase price will be 10% of the full value, which is £20,000.

When can I staircase?

Subject to your lease allowing staircasing, it is often done one year on from completing your sale.

Most purchasers chose to staircase, where possible, at the time they look to re-mortgage.

How do I apply?

Please complete this application form. The fee for carrying out a property valuation is £150 +VAT. When we receive this payment, an independent Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors (RICS) surveyor will be instructed to carry out the valuation. 

Once the valuation has been received and the share percentage to purchase has been agreed, you will need to advise and instruct your solicitor to deal with the transaction. There are no other fees payable to Eastlight.

If I disagree with the valuation, can I appeal?

Yes, you can appeal and obtain a second valuation, at your own cost.

This must be carried out by an approved RICS surveyor. This value will be reviewed by our Leasehold Manager.

Can I purchase the remaining share of my home in one transaction?

Providing there are no restrictions in your lease, yes, you can.

Will owning more shares make finding a buyer harder if I decide to sell my share?

No.

Your home will be advertised on the Share to Buy platforms as part of the re-sale process. If a buyer is not found, you have the option to advertise your share on the open market. A buyer can also purchase our share in this initial transaction. This opens up the sale to those also looking for full home ownership.

What’s the process to sell my share?

Please complete this application form. The fee for carrying out a property valuation is £150+ VAT. When we receive this payment, an independent Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors (RICS) surveyor will be instructed to carry out the valuation.

Once you’ve received the valuation and are happy to go ahead, please provide us with photos and information about your home. We’ll advertise on the Share to Buy website.

Once advertised, we have a timeframe, known as the nomination period, to find a buyer. The nomination period can vary between eight and twelve weeks.

If a buyer isn’t found within the nomination period, you are able to sell your share on the open market.

Why do I pay rent?

Under the terms of the lease, you must pay rent for the share that you don’t own. Rent is reviewed annually, and the lease defines how the rent is increased. This is an upwards-only rent, so the rent will never decrease.

You will receive notification in February of the charges to take place from 1 April.

What happens if I do not pay my rent?

Not paying your rent is a serious breach of your lease, which can lead to us taking possession of your home. If you purchased your home with a mortgage, we will contact your lender to request they pay arrears on your behalf, to protect their interest in your home.

It is therefore extremely important that you pay your rent.

I am having difficulties paying my rent - what can I do?

Please contact us as soon as you can if you’re experiencing any difficulties paying your rent. We will work with you to arrange an alternative payment plan. You can also click here to read our cost-of-living support page for help and advice.

Contact us

If you have any questions, please contact our team. We are here to help.

Notification to sell or staircase:

Please complete this form to notify us of your intention to sell your shares in your home, or buy further shares in your home.

Please supply three valuations from local estate agents so these can be considered when the surveyors write their report and determine the valuation. We accept PDF, TXT, PNG or JPG files. Files should be no greater than 5mbs in total.

Please be aware that the surveyors determination is based on ‘sold’ properties – properties were completion has taken place so please bear in mind that the figure may differ from estate agent values as these are asking prices and properties do not necessarily sell for that price.

As estate agents receive commission for the properties they sell, it is in their interest to market a property for a higher value.

Upon receipt of your completed form, the valuation fee and copies of three valuations from local estate agents, we will instruct our Independent Surveyor to value your property and your contact details will be passed to them for the purposes of arranging the survey. The information you provide will be used to process your application to sell your share or purchase further shares.