Yes, this is commonly known as stair-casing. You can purchase further shares in the property in multiples of 10% as your financial circumstances allow. Unless the Newbuild Homebuy property you are purchasing has a purchase restriction, you will be able to stair-case up to 100% whereby you will own the property outright.

All Newbuild Homebuy properties are sold on a leasehold basis. In the majority of leases it will state that you cannot buy further shares until you have lived 12 months in the property and you must not have been in rent arrears at any point during the previous 12 months. As you buy more shares in the property, the rent you pay to Sentinel goes down. Each time you want to buy another share, the property is re-valued and you buy the share at the current market value.

Anyone can apply who:

• Does not have any legal or beneficial interest in another property
• Has a household income of less than £60,000
• Has sufficient savings to cover legal fees, stamp duty etc
• If self-employed, is able to show three years audited accounts

Some properties are specifically targeted for Key Workers and existing tenants. The Local Authority where properties are located may also specify strict rules about how applicants must be prioritised. The definition of who is an eligible Key Worker is determined by the government and is subject to change. Please contact the Sentinel Homescope sales team to determine if you are a Key Worker.

To view currently available properties please go to the Property Search page.

Or you can call a member of the Sentinel Homescope sales team on: 01256 338800 to find out what properties will be available in the next 12 months.

You first need to choose an area where you wish to live, based on what properties are available. To do this, please look at the Property Search page. Please make a note of which county the properties you like are located in.

There are 3 stages of application:

Stage 1

All applicants must complete a Sentinel Homescope application form and return direct to Sentinel. Please ensure you tick the Newbuild Homebuy option on the front of the form and state the name of the development / property you are interested in. Please call us to request a Sentinel Homescope application form on 01256 338800.

Stage 2

All applicants must be registered and accepted by the ‘Homebuy’ Agent. Please apply direct to the relevant the Homebuy Agent. A Homebuy agent is a large Housing Association who has overall responsibility for managing all Newbuild Homebuy properties offered by all other housing associations in a county. Sentinel principally build properties in Hampshire and Surrey and therefore applicants need to register with either:

• The Hampshire Homebuy Agent www.homesinhants.co.uk, or
• The Surrey Homebuy Agent www.homebuy4u.co.uk

The Homebuy Agent will confirm in writing to you if you have been accepted onto their database. Please forward this letter to Sentinel.

Stage 3

Applicants (apart from Key Workers) may also need to register with the Local Authority, where they wish to live – onto the housing register database so they can prioritise your application in terms of your housing need. The Homescope team will advise you if this is necessary.

Sentinel will assess your application form to provisionally determine whether you are financially viable to purchase a Newbuild Homebuy property. If your financial circumstances are viable, Sentinel will then discuss your application with the Local Authority to determine whether you are categorised as a high priority for a Sentinel Newbuild Homebuy property. Successful applicants will then be contacted to discuss their application and property choice in more detail.

Unsuccessful applicants will be informed by telephone or letter and their details will remain on file to be notified of any future suitable properties.

Sentinel will not carry out any repairs or maintenance to your property if it is a house. This applies whether you purchase a 50% share or 100% of the property. Purchaser’s of apartments will have full responsibility to carry out repairs inside their home but are not responsible for external and communal areas such as stairways, communal gardens etc. There will be a service charge payable by the purchaser to cover these costs.

In the majority of cases, purchaser’s of houses will also have to pay a service charge for items like: Buildings insurance, maintenance of communal areas on estate, maintenance for un-adopted roads/ car-parking spaces etc. The service charge will not be related to the maintenance of the house.

However, as your property will be a brand new home, the developer may have a defects liability period (normally 1 year from when they hand-over the property to Sentinel) whereby they will be obliged to repair certain defects as agreed with Sentinel in the build contract.

In the majority of cases your lease will state that you are unable to re-sell your property until after 12 months of purchasing the property from Sentinel. Your lease will also state that Sentinel have ‘first- refusal’ on your property when you wish to sell it. This means that Sentinel have the right to nominate people who may be interested in purchasing your property on a Homebuy basis.

You will be advised by the Sentinel Homescope sales team what the lease states for the property you wish to purchase, regarding the conditions for ‘re-selling’ your property in the future.

After Sentinel has received your signed reservation form, both sets of solicitors take over responsibility to move your purchase to completion. This is called conveyancing. The length of the conveyancing period is dependant on a number of factors and varies from property to property. Applicants must complete their property purchase within 3 months of reserving a property, or within 10 days of Sentinel’s solicitors providing all contract papers, if sooner.

The information provided on this website is only a guide to the Newbuild Homebuy option and should not be considered to be exhaustive, as you will be forwarded more information when you apply for an application form. If you are invited to view a property with us or attend a scheme seminar, you will have the opportunity to find out more about the scheme and ask further questions. 

If you believe you qualify for Newbuild Homebuy and would like more information before applying, please contact the Sentinel Homescope sales team on 01256 338800, or e-mail homescope@sentinelha.org.uk and ask for a copy of Sentinel Housing Association’s policy and procedure documents on Newbuild Homebuy.

With Newbuild Homebuy being a government scheme, Sentinel is led by any government changes that supersede this information.

The maximum discount entitlement for tenants living in the following

Local Authority areas is:

• Hart District Council £16,000
• Basingstoke & Deane Borough Council £13,500
• Rushmoor Borough Council £16,000
• East Hampshire District Council £13,500
• Surrey Heath Council £16,000

The discount available is proportionate to the share purchased. The larger the share purchased, the larger the discount.

Examples:

purchase a 25% share in a property in Fleet – receive a £4,000 discount

purchase a 50% share in a property in Surrey Heath – receive a £8,000 discount

Purchase a 75% share in a property in Basingstoke – receive a £10,125 discount

Purchase the 100% share in a property in Rushmoor – receive a £16,000 discount

Secure and Assured tenants who currently rent a property from Sentinel where their tenancy began:

Before 18th January 2005 –are eligible to apply after 2 years from the start date of their tenancy

After 18th January 2005 – are eligible to apply after 5 years from the start date of their tenancy

Please check your current tenancy agreement to determine whether you are a Secure or Assured tenant. Please note that Assured Shorthold tenants are not eligible.

Tenants who fall into any of the following categories will not be able to purchase:

• bankrupt or have a bankruptcy petition pending
• subject to a possession order
• the subject of an on-going Anti-Social behaviour investigation, or have been found to have perpetrated anti-social behaviour in the preceding 2 years of their application to purchase
• or have been in rent arrears in the last 12 months

Yes. If an eligible tenant’s current property falls into one of the following categories, they are not eligible to purchase the home they currently rent from Sentinel:

• sheltered accommodation
• properties subject to rural restrictions
• properties specifically adapted for tenants with disabilities
• properties deemed particularly suitable for elderly tenants
• properties where an ‘initial demolition notice’ has been served
• properties that would be difficult to replace either due to type or location, e.g. four bedroom properties

Simply email leasehold@sentinelha.org.uk requesting an application form, or call the Sentinel Homescope team on 01256 338800

Sentinel will not carry out any repairs or maintenance on your property from the moment you apply to purchase your property and from there-on after. This applies to whether you purchase the minimum 25% share or 100% of the property. If you do not complete the property purchase you will revert back to being a tenant, whereby Sentinel will continue to repair and maintain your property.

You will not be able to sell the property within five years without repayingsome, if not all, of the discount back to Sentinel. The repayment will include aconsideration of the revised property value at the date of re-sale. If you own 100% of the property:

Your lease will state that Sentinel have ‘right-of-first-refusal’ to purchase the property back. This condition will stay on all future re-sales of the property for a 21 year term.

If you do not own 100% of the property (flats only) and wish to sell:

Your lease will state that Sentinel have the right to nominate people to buyyour home, or Sentinel may choose to buy the property back to rent out.

You will not have to repay the discount if you sell or give the property away under the following terms:

• Dispose to a family member who has resided in the property for at least 12 months
• Dispose to a spouse or partner
• Disposal through the terms of a will or intestacy