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Buying more shares in your home

Find out how staircasing works, the costs involved and how our team can support you

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Want to own more of your VIVID Shared Ownership home?

If you are already a shared owner and you would like to increase the share that you own, this is often referred to as ‘staircasing’. There are some clear benefits to buying more shares in your home, the main one is that the more of the home you own, the less rent you will need to pay to us each month.  

We know that this could be new to you and that’s why you can ask our experts to answer any questions that you may have when it comes to buying more of your Shared Ownership home. To get you started, here is some useful information to read before you begin the process.

  1. Firstly, contact our team via leasehold@vividhomes.co.uk to get hold of a staircasing pack. You’ll then need to arrange a valuation of your home, talk to a financial advisor to check it’s affordable for you to buy more, and appoint a solicitor to do the legal bit if you do go ahead.
  2. If you’re able to buy more so 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 be applicable. If you live in a house and want to have the freehold once you own 100%, 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.
  3. When you buy more shares in your home you’ll have to pay valuation fees, legal fees, mortgage arrangement feels and possibly Stamp Duty depending on how much you end up owning. Some freeholders may also be responsible for monthly service charges/management fees. Remember your mortgage lender might also have their own charges in addition, so always get these checked too.

You’ll normally be able to buy a minimum of 10% more in your home, or if you can afford to, buy the rest of the home so you then own 100% (or anything in between!) The value of the additional share you buy will be based on the RICS full market value of your home at that time, not the original purchase price. Remember your mortgage lender might also have their own charges too, so best to get these checked too.

Normally there’s no restrictions on when you can buy more of your home, but remember there will be costs to pay such as solicitors fees, so it’s often best to buy as much as you can afford from the start.

For more information and the application form, click here

Want to find out more?

If you’ve got more questions or want to buy more shares, email us at sales@vividhomes.co.uk