If you want to make any structural changes to your home, such as removing an airing cupboard, you'll always need to speak to us first as structural changes need to be approved to ensure that you don’t invalidate the warranty. Shared Ownership homes come with a 10 year warranty (sometimes 12), to cover any major structural damage over that period. This is called an NHBC or LABC warranty. Please note any excess that needs to be paid for any work undertaken will be your responsibility to pay. Please also note that the excess limits increase per annum. You should also always check the terms of your lease before carrying out more major DIY projects in your home. 

A service charge is a payment made to us by a customer to cover the cost of providing services such as repairs, maintenance, improvements, insurance and management costs.

You may have bought 25% share of your home, but you will still need to pay 100% of the service charge each month. Your service charge may increase or decrease over time, but we’ll contact you regarding this in advance if this is the case.

The total you pay can vary depending on how much it has or will cost us to provide these services, and customers’ individual charges may vary according to the services they receive.

All homes that are bought through Shared Ownership are leasehold. This means that you own your share of the home, but the land that you home is built on is owned by the freeholder – which in this case is VIVID. The length of the lease is outlined in your lease which you'll receive from your solicitor. It could be 125 years, or in some cases, 250 years.

If you decide you want to ‘staircase’ so that you own 100% of your home, you’ll no longer have any rent payments to VIVID; fantastic! Just remember that you might still be a leaseholder though (especially if you’re in a flat) so monthly service and/or management charges will still apply.. Its important at this stage, you check with your sales officer to confirm.

If you live in a house and want to have the freehold once you own 100%, just let us know. Remember you’ll then need to arrange your own buildings insurance as up until then, it was included in your monthly rent and service charges.

In some occasions there may be restrictions to staircasing to 100%. This is usually in place so that the property remains as a shared ownership home so that if/when you come to sell your home, it’s offered as an affordable home again like when you first purchased it! Staircasing restrictions are confirmed in your lease, but check with your sales officer to confirm too.

Shared ownership is so popular that we usually sell all our homes off plan, even before they’ve finished being built. This means when you apply and reserve your new home, it may still be a building site, and won’t be at a stage when it’s safe for you to view it. But as soon as it is ready, we'll let you know and you can have a look.

There are many financial advisors you could use to understand and apply for a Shared Ownership mortgage on your behalf. Every financial advisor has a duty to find you the mortgage that’s best for you. They’ll keep in mind VIVID’s timescales for any mortgage that is offered to you, as it needs to meet our sales timeframe. 
We’re signposting you to our panel advisors that don’t charge you a fee for advice. If you choose to use another financial advisor that’s absolutely fine, and your choice won’t impact any VIVID decision on whether you buy a home from us. 
 

Please note: VIVID is not a credit broker.

Our panel financial advisors are:

Chartwell Funding | phone: 01454 540 500 | email: vivid@chartwellfunding.co.uk
Mortgage Decisions | phone: 03454 500 200 | email: vivid@mortgagedecisions.com
 

You will hear us use the terms handover date and completion date. There is a difference between the two terms. 

Handover date means the date the developer give VIVID the keys to the property.

Completion date means the date VIVID give the keys to you (once the legals are done and the purchase price has been paid)

Unfortunately, no, you can’t. To keep costs down we buy kitchens, bathrooms, carpets and other things in bulk, often many months ahead of time, as part of the contract between us and the builder.

This varies from scheme to scheme, and you’ll need to ask permission if you want to install one. There will be more information on this in your Home User Guide when you move in.

We advise you not to store bulky or precious items in the lot space as it wont be boarded out for storage and filling this space can affect the airflow and create damp issues. In apartments, you legally only own up to ceiling height and therefore access to the loft space is for access to services / maintenance purposes only.

In new build Shared Ownership, yes pets are welcome.  For older properties (resales) Please always check your lease for any restrictions regarding pets as you will usually be asked to request consent from us beforehand.

It is your responsibility to pay for the repairs of your home. Your contract / lease defines this.  The good news is that your home comes with a 10 year warranty (sometimes 12), for any major structural damage. This is called an NHBC or LABC warranty.  Please note any excess that needs to be paid for any work undertaken will be your responsibility to pay.  Please also note that the excess limits increase per annum.

We don’t currently have electric vehicle (EV) charging points installed in the parking spaces for most of our homes. In some cases, for example where you have driveway parking adjacent to your home, it may be possible to install a charging point at your own cost. Please get in touch with us to discuss your property, as we’ll need to check if it’s possible and give you permission to make these changes if your parking space is suitable.

You can work this out by looking at the site plan, which will either be in the brochure or sent to you by email. The conveyancing plan for your new home will also tell you this information.

As a shared ownership leaseholder it’s up to you to service your boiler. You need to do this at least once a year. It'll say this in your lease.

Turf is a gifted item (not part of your purchase price) and so won't be covered under the defects warranty. Turf can get drier in the summer months, especially during extremely hot weather spells. We will always request to have turf laid after you move in during extreme weather conditions so that you can water it daily, however that's not always possible. If turf is dry when you move in, we recommend you watering it once, twice daily, and reseeding where you think its appropriate.

Usually, yes. We call this staircasing! You'll need to check any conditions or restrictions around staircasing in your lease.  

For more information about staircasing, take a look at our 'Staircasing' leaflet here