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.

Qualification and eligibility checks

Once you’ve applied for a property, we need to verify:

• Your ability to keep up the monthly mortgage, rental and service charge payments.
• 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).

This will be carried out by an independent financial advisor. Some properties may require a connection to the local area.
This requirement applies to some affordable housing schemes to ensure that local people have access to homes in the area.

First Come First Served

Homes are allocated on a ‘first come first served basis’, based on the date and time you originally applied for the home. The exception being serving military personnel. You will need to be qualified quickly to confirm your place on the list.

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’ll be given the opportunity to reserve one of the Shared Ownership properties. We’ll provide you with a reservation form which requests your plot choice, details of your IFA (independent financial advisor) and confirmation you are happy with the plans. You’ll need to return this form to confirm you want to proceed. Once your Sales Advisor receives this and a form from your IFA, you’ll need to pay a reservation fee of £300; this will be deducted from completion monies. Curo reserves the right to retain the £300 reservation fee to meet our legal and administrative expenses should you cancel your reservation.

Nb. Do not spend any money on arranging a mortgage or instructing a solicitor until we have confirmed your reservation.

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’ll send you through a ‘to do’ list to action both before and on the day of completion. Your Sales Advisor will get in touch with you to arrange a suitable time to meet you at your new home to go through the completion paperwork and any questions you have on your home. On the morning of your agreed completion date, your solicitor will send all the property funds over to Curo’s solicitor. Once Curo’s solicitor receives all the funds they notify Curo, and your solicitor that completion has now taken place.