Shared Ownership

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 Shared Ownership 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 Shared Ownership 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 Shared Ownership 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 Shared Ownership 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.homebuy.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 Shared Ownership 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 Shared Ownership 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 Shared Ownership 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 Shared Ownership 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 Shared Ownership 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 Shared Ownership.

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