Your 10-step
Journey

Create a log in and search for a home

Complete an application form and look for a property at www.curo-sales.co.uk/shared-ownership or call us on 0345 140 50 50 to find out what developments we’re currently working on. Once you’ve found a property you like, you’ll need to click apply when you are logged in.

First Come First Served

Homes are allocated on a 'first come, first served' basis, determined by the date and time of your original application. An exception to this rule applies to serving military personnel. You must be assessed promptly to confirm your place on the list. However, with re-sales, the current owner has the final say on who buys their property.

Assessments and Eligibility Checks

Once you’ve applied for a property, we will perform a two-stage affordability assessment carried out by a suitably qualified mortgage advisor. The assessments are carried out free of charge, however there may be a fee to pay on the application of your mortgage offer, this will be confirmed by the mortgage advisor.

Stage 1 Assessment
This initial assessment will verify:

• Your ability to keep up the monthly mortgage, rental, and service charge payments
• Your ability to purchase the minimum share on a new Shared Ownership home (or the share being sold on resale) and meet our policies, including the minimum monthly surplus income policy
• That the mortgage payment does not exceed 30% of your net income after all commitments, including housing costs
• That you have sufficient savings to cover the deposit for your mortgage and associated costs of purchasing a home (you will need at least 5% of the share purchase price plus £2,500)
• You have a local connection to the area (if applicable)

Stage 2 Assessment
Applicants must provide relevant supporting documents within 5 days to the mortgage advisor to retain their place on the first come first service list. Stage 2 is a more thorough assessment of your finances, including income and expenditure, and a budget planner. These checks ensure that the share you are purchasing is affordable and sustainable. With the budget planner, the mortgage advisor can verify that you meet the minimum surplus income requirements of 10% of your net income after all commitments, including housing costs.

Reviewing plans for your new home

Once you are a top applicant who has been qualified, one of our Sales Advisors will get in touch with you. You’ll have the opportunity to look at the site plans, floor plans and information on the home. We’ll explain everything you need to know about Shared Ownership and the purchasing process. We encourage you to ask any questions you may have about the scheme and the properties available. Our homes tend to be purchased off plan due to the build stage of the properties, meaning viewings are not possible until further down the line. However, if your house is built you will be able to view at this point.

Submitting a reservation form

After corresponding with a Sales Advisor, you will be able to reserve one of the Shared Ownership properties. We will provide you with a reservation form that requests your choice of plot, details of your mortgage broker, and confirmation that you are happy with the plans.

Once you have completed your reservation form, you must return it to confirm your wish to proceed. Once your Sales Advisor receives this and the buyer sign-off form, you'll need to pay a reservation fee of £300. This fee will be deducted from completion funds. Please note that Curo reserves the right to retain the £300 reservation fee to meet our legal and administrative expenses should you cancel your reservation.

Important: Do not spend money on arranging a mortgage or hiring a solicitor until your reservation has been confirmed.

Acceptance of your reservation

Now you have reserved your property you will need to instruct your solicitor and mortgage advisor so they can get the ball rolling! Once you have instructed your solicitor and provided Curo with your case handler details, we can send the memorandum of sale confirming your reservation. In addition, we will provide you with a step by step guide to help you get to legal completion. A dedicated Sales Progressor will be there for you every step of the way.

Obtaining a mortgage

Once you have your memorandum of sale, you must proceed with your mortgage application. As part of this process your lender will want to carry out a valuation of the property for mortgage purposes and they should contact Curo to arrange this. It will take approximately 3–4 weeks for your full mortgage offer to be provided.

Appointing a solicitor

You’ll need to appoint a solicitor to carry out the legal transaction on your behalf. Charges do vary, so it is worth shopping around. If you’d like some assistance in appointing a solicitor, we’ll be happy to put you in touch with solicitors who have experience in Shared Ownership. As a guide, you could incur the following costs:

• Solicitor’s fee: £1,000 - £2,000
• Disbursements, searches and VAT
• Stamp duty: www.tax.service.gov.uk/calculate-stamp-duty-land-tax

These are approximate figures and should only be used as a guide.

Exchange of contracts

Your solicitor will review the draft contract and lease, carry out a local authority search and any other searches that they feel necessary, and investigate the title of the property. Once these investigations are completed and you have obtained a mortgage offer from your lender, your solicitor will receive the final contract and Shared Ownership lease for you to sign. Once your solicitor is happy with your purchase they will agree to the exchange of contracts. Your solicitor will need your deposit in order to exchange. Depending on the build stage of your property, you’ll then either set a completion date or exchange on notice. ‘On notice’ completion happens if the completion date is subject to us receiving the handover of the property. At this point we’ll endeavour to provide four weeks’ notice of completion but where this is not possible, we’ll provide at least ten working days’ notice of completion.

Completion and Handover

Before you complete, we will send you a 'to do' list that outlines tasks to action both before and on the day of completion. Your Sales Advisor will contact you to arrange a suitable time to meet at your new home to go over the completion paperwork and answer any questions you may have regarding your home.

On the morning of the agreed completion date, your solicitor will transfer all the property funds to Curo's solicitor. Once Curo's solicitor receives the funds, they will notify both Curo and your solicitor that completion has taken place, and the keys will be released to you.