Smart Own

You can buy a share of up to 75% of your home based on your level of affordability. Checks will be carried out to understand your eligibility and affordability.

Your rent payment
You pay rent for the share you don’t own – the bigger your share, the smaller the monthly rent payment. The monthly amount you will pay depends on the value of your home and the size of the share that you initially decide to purchase. Rent will be paid on the unpurchased share of your home to LGAH at a rate of 2.75%. Your rent payment increases every year by the Retail Price Index (RPI) +0.5%.

Your service charges
These go towards the costs of looking after communal areas of your building, insurance, repairs, maintenance and gardening.

How much are they?
Service charges are different for each development because they depend on the services that are included. Your solicitor will explain how it works for the Shared Ownership home you choose. Before you buy your home we will also give you estimated monthly costs and a full breakdown so you can plan ahead.

The usual costs of running a home
Shared Ownership homeowners pay the normal household bills, such as water, energy and broadband, as well as council tax and contents insurance. You also need to pay for repairing and replacing things inside your home. If you buy a resale home, there may also be ground rent to pay. We will let you know all the details if there is.

A leasehold management fee will be charged by LGAH as set out in the Shared Ownership Information Guide which will be provided to you. That a Management Fee is payable as part of the payments due under the lease. The Management Partner duties will also be set out in the Shared Ownership Information Guide. Details of LGAH’s fee will be set out in the documentation you will receive before reservation.

LGAH will insure the building and a sum of money in respect of the cost of the insurance will be included in your service charges (the Key Information Summary of Costs of the Shared Ownership Home sets out the sum), however you will need to arrange contents insurance and ensure this starts on or before the date of legal completion.

When you buy your new Crest Home with Smart Own, LGAH will grant you a 990-year Shared Ownership Lease. This lease will set out the terms and conditions and what you can and cannot do in the home.

Yes, Stamp Duty Land Tax – or just Stamp Duty – is a tax that homebuyers pay when they buy a home, or share of a home, worth over a certain amount. That means there could be Stamp Duty to pay on the home you buy. With Shared Ownership there are two different ways to pay:

Option one – you pay Stamp Duty on your new home’s full market value on the day your sale completes.

Option two – you just pay Stamp Duty on the share you are buying for now. But you may have to pay Stamp Duty in the future if you buy a bigger share.

Ask your solicitor to explain more about whether Stamp Duty applies, what your options are and how the cost would be worked out, so you can decide what’s best for you.

Under shared ownership you will be living in and enjoying the home and the remaining share will be owned by LGAH so there will be some terms and conditions you will need to comply with. These will be set out in detail in your 990-year Shared Ownership Lease but could cover a variety of matters including:

• Who is responsible for repairing the property
• What pets or other animals you can keep at the property
• Whether you can take in lodgers or sub-let the property

In the same way as buying 100% of a home, if you do not keep up with the payments of your mortgage on the share of the home that you buy, your home may be repossessed. The amount you pay each month will depend on the mortgage interest rate and the size of the share you buy. Mortgage payments can change over time – for example if interest rates go up.^±

Additional shares can be purchased at any time, this is known as staircasing. You will be able to staircase in 1% tranches which is limited to the first 15 years of the lease, or you can opt to buy more shares in 5% tranches or greater. When you buy more shares in your home, your home is re-valued and you buy the shares at the current market value, at the time you are buying the shares. Most homes allow you to staircase up to 100% ownership.

As you are buying a share of the home, otherwise known as a share of the equity, it’s important to understand that the value of those shares may go up and down in value as the market value of the home goes up or down. This may mean if you want to buy more shares they may be more or less expensive than the cost of the original shares. This in turn may affect the mortgage rate you can avail of when you seek to buy more shares.

1. Your landlord under the shared ownership Lease will be Legal & General Affordable Homes Limited ("LGAH").
2. Under the shared ownership Lease, you will be responsible for paying a specified rent (as defined in the shared ownership lease and being the rent payable in respect of the share retained by LGAH in respect of the home), service charge, a management fee and buildings insurance contributions to LGAH, or their appointed managing partner, in addition to any estate wide service/rent charge as apportioned to the home to which all houses on the Development are to contribute towards. Please note that the amount of any estate wide service/rent charge is outside of the control of LGAH and will be set by the relevant estate management company each year. Any payments due under the terms of the shared ownership lease will be subject to annual review/increases in accordance with the terms of the shared ownership lease. Details of the current anticipated charges and costs are set out in Key Information Documents provided.
3. You will be required to attend a financial assessment with an independent financial advisor who is appointed by LGAH and provide to them all requested documents/information needed in order for them to complete the assessment. This assessment is to check whether you are eligible and qualify for the Smart Own scheme and what share of your new home you can afford. Following qualification, you are free to use a financial advisor / mortgage advisor of your choice.
4. As you will be purchasing the Property on a shared ownership basis, you must meet all eligibility criteria whereby:
   1. You must be at least 18 years old.
   2. Outside of London your annual household income must be less than £80,000. In London, your annual household income must be less than £90,000.
   3. You cannot own another home. Shared Ownership purchasers are often first time buyers but if you do already own another property (either in the UK or abroad), you must be in the process of selling it.
   4. You should not be able to afford to buy a home suitable for your housing needs on the open market.
   5. You must show you are not in mortgage or rent arrears.
   6. You must be able to demonstrate that you have a good credit history (no bad debts or County Court Judgements) and can afford the regular payments and costs involved in buying a home.
5. Please note that you will be paying a monthly mortgage payment, the specified rent, together with any other payments as set out in the shared ownership lease. YOUR HOME MAY BE REPOSSESSED IF YOU DO NOT KEEP UP REPAMENTS ON YOUR MORTGAGE. Please ensure you can afford all payments before you enter into the contract to purchase the home.
6. We recommend that you appoint and speak to a solicitor who specialises in shared ownership schemes and seek advice from your own mortgage advisor.
7. The details in this brochure are correct at the time and date of going to press but may be subject to change. The details do not form any part of the contract or agreement.
8. Any offer is subject to contract and status. Offers are on selected plots only and are subject to availability. Offers advertised cannot be used in conjunction with any other offer on the same plot unless expressly stated otherwise.
9. Neither Crest nor LGAH will be liable for the refusal of a mortgage based on the borrower’s individual circumstances which leads to the loss of any reservation fee.
10. These terms and conditions do not affect your statutory rights.