Allocation Policy

1. What is shared ownership?

Shared ownership allows the purchaser to buy a share of a property whilst paying a rent on the equity that they do not own. If they choose, Shared Owners are then able to buy larger shares until they own the property outright.

2. Who can apply?

2.1 Overview

The Housing Corporation’s criteria for Shared Ownership are that it is intended for people who cannot afford a suitable home in any other way. They also state that applicants must be in housing need and be unable to afford outright purchase, with priority being given to existing voluntary or public sector tenants, or those on local authority or registered social landlord waiting lists or key workers.

2.2 Qualifying Criteria

  • For an applicant to qualify for a shared ownership property they must meet all of the following criteria: -
  •  The applicant / s do not currently own another property.
  •  The applicant / s income is not sufficient to buy a suitable property on the open market.
  •  The applicant / s should normally have some savings to put towards the deposit and purchasing expenses.

2.3 Exceptions to Qualifying Criteria

In some exceptional instances, applicants who do not meet the above criteria may be considered. This will be on the basis that the applicant has no other reasonable housing option, which will have to be supported by substantial written evidence.

Such exceptional circumstances might be: -

  • Existing homeowners who are in the process of discharging their interest in another property due to a relationship breakdown, and whose equity interest and / or income are insufficient to support a further outright purchase.
  •  Homeowners who have outgrown their existing property but cannot afford to purchase a larger home.
  •  Applicants whose income would ordinarily be sufficient to support an outright purchase, but whose disposable income is severely restricted by commitments such as childcare or maintenance payments.
  •   Where an applicant has a large deposit but an income level that falls below the minimum requirement

3. The Allocation Process

3.1 Viewings

All suitable applicants will be invited to organised viewings of suitable properties, where they will be provided with key information relating their likely monthly out goings, repair responsibilities and local amenities.

If the applicant wishes to purchase they will be invited to complete an “expression of interest” form and return it to the office within three working days, to be considered along with other interested parties.

Circle Anglia applies a strict affordability stipulation to ensure buyers can maintain the housing costs (i.e. rent, mortgage and service charge) without overstretching their finances and putting themselves into financial difficulties. For this reason an applicant may not have their expression of interest accepted.

All applicants will be required to attend a financial interview (usually facilitated by an Independent Financial Advisor on behalf of Circle Anglia)

3.2 Selection of Applicants

Once expressions of interest have been received and approved, applicants will usually be ranked in accordance with the priority criteria set out below: -

1. Existing tenants of Circle Anglia residing within the borough of the property concerned.

2. Existing tenants of a local authority or RSL residing within the borough of the property concerned.

3. Applicants currently on the Council waiting list for housing in the borough of the property concerned (confirmation will be requested).

4. Applicants termed as key workers by the Local Authority in which the property is situated.

5. Other applicants that live or work in the borough.

6. Circle Anglia or other RSL tenants residing outside of the borough of the property concerned.

7. Applicants currently on another Council or housing association waiting list for housing (confirmation will be requested).

8. Applicants suffering racial or sexual harassment as confirmed by their local authority. Applicants whose current housing is unsuitable for medical reasons (confirmation will be required from the applicants GP).

9. Couples / family who are forced to live apart. Applicants who’s current housing is unsuitable due to overcrowding.

10. Other applicants who are first time buyers.

As many applicants will be in the same category, applicants will be selected taking into account how many of the above categories they fall into and the following: -

  • Local connection.
  • Size of property being vacated, if a social housing unit
  •  Suitability for the property in terms of household size.
  •  Current lack of security of tenure.
  •  Proximity to work.
  •  Length of time spent in housing need.

Once applicants have been ranked according to the above criteria, the properties will be offered to applicants on this basis, with every effort being made to accommodate any specified preferences for property type.

All applicants have to be registered with their local Homebuy Agent before an offer can progress.

3.3 Fraudulent Applications

In order to guard against the possibility of fraudulent applications, “expression of interest” forms will only be considered when they have been submitted accompanied by the following information: -

  • Proof of addresses (e.g. a Utility bill).
  •  Proof of identification (e.g. photocopy of passport or drivers licence).
  •  Proof of landlord (e.g. rent book or letter of confirmation).
  •  Proof of earnings (photocopy of last three months wage slips).
  •  Proof of savings (e.g. photocopy of building society pass book).
  •  The credit history of applicants may be checked with a credit-referencing agency. Applicants that have undischarged County Court Judgements against them will not be considered.

Furthermore, if an applicant is offered a property, our Solicitors will be instructed to carry out a Land Registry search on the buyer (whilst completing the sales transaction) to ensure that the purchaser does not own another property. If the check indicates another property in ownership, the offer will be withdrawn with the loss of the holding fee.

3.4 Essential Time Scales

Once an applicant has been offered a property, they will be expected to accept the offer within a week by paying a holding fee of £250, which is non-refundable but will be deducted from the purchase price on completion.

Applicants will then be expected to have exchanged contracts within four weeks of accepting an offer (unless other timescales are specified), and have completed the purchase within a further two weeks (subject to the completion of the development).

Failure to meet with this time scale could result in Circle Anglia withdrawing the offer.

4. Summary

All properties will be allocated on this basis. There will be no restriction to the number of offers an applicant can receive. Furthermore, if an applicant is dissatisfied with how the allocation procedure has been applied, they may pursue an appeal through Circle Anglia Complaints Procedure.

This policy will be operated in conjunction with the Group’s Equal Opportunity policy, so as to ensure that all applicants are treated equally regardless of their ethnic origin, sex, marital status, disability, sexual orientation, age or religious belief.