Shared ownership homes for sale in Oxford

Shared ownership is a great way to get on the housing ladder. It’s a government-backed scheme which allows you to buy part of a home – between 10% and 75% initially – and pay rent on the rest.

You’ll still need a deposit – but it starts low at just 5% – as well as a way to buy the share (usually a mortgage), the same as if you were buying all of a property.

In Oxford we’re careful to make sure that your total shared ownership costs (mortgage and rent) will always be less than if you were renting a like-for-like property privately. We use the rent you pay to invest in council services and in developing more affordable homes for people in Oxford.

You can’t buy any home via a shared ownership scheme. It has to be built with that intention. OX Place is committed to creating beautiful, sustainable homes for the people of Oxford and we’ve created a range of shared ownership homes – from city centre apartments to bigger homes more suitable for families – in a range of areas. You can also buy a shared ownership home from the existing owner – known as a resale.

Check out our fabulous range of properties for sale and under development here.

We know Oxford is one of the least affordable places to own a home in the country. That’s why OX Place is committed to creating great-quality shared ownership homes.

If you think you’re priced out of buying a home in Oxford, shared ownership might just be the solution that makes home ownership possible.

With ownership shares starting between 10% and 25%, you could be a home-owner sooner than you think. The deposit you need will be based on the value of the share you buy, not the full market value of the home, making it even more affordable.

So, if you’re looking to buy a home with a full market value of £400,000 you can buy a 25% share for £100,000*. Then your 5% deposit is based on the 25% value, so you may only need £5,000. Did you think you’d be able to become a home owner in Oxford with a deposit that small?! That’s the joy of shared ownership.

Remember you’ll pay rent and service charges on the remaining proportion of your home, so you need to factor in both that payment and your mortgage. But we know shared ownership is a brilliant way to get more people in Oxford on the housing ladder.

Even better, if your ambition is to fully own your home at some point, that’s possible with options to increase the share of the home you own, something known as staircasing.

*Price based on 25% initial share and a 95% LTV (Loan to Value) mortgage. Shared ownership homes are bought as leasehold properties, for more information speak to our team.

If you’d like! But shared ownership actually means you’re buying a share of your home, rather than all of it at once.

You rent the remaining share from Oxford City Council. There is no sharing with another person, unless of course you want to.

You can live with whoever you like – and because it’s so affordable, shared ownership is a perfect way to get on the housing ladder if you’re buying alone.

Once you’ve bought your home, Oxford City Council will become your landlord. OX Place is a trading name of Oxford City Housing Ltd. which was set up by Oxford City Council to develop and sell shared ownership homes.

People who work in the armed forces have priority.

We make sure that you won’t be spending more than 45% of your household income on housing costs.

To find out whether you’re eligible to buy a shared ownership home in Oxford, click here to find out more.

The shared ownership scheme helps people get on the housing ladder, so if you’re already a homeowner (including owning property abroad) you can’t usually buy a home through shared ownership.

However, if you are selling your current home and can’t afford to buy a new one without the assistance of shared ownership, you may still be eligible.

For example, you might currently own a one-bedroom apartment but cannot afford to buy a bigger home, or following a relationship separation you now need to buy a home by yourself and cannot afford to do so. With the assistance of the scheme; shared ownership could be what you’ve been looking for. Get in touch to discuss your personal circumstances.

This will depend on the terms of your lease – remember with shared ownership you’re still renting part of your home.

Broadly speaking, if you have your own front door then you can have pets. But if you live in a shared ownership apartment, the rules may well be different. Check with us when looking at the different types of shared ownership homes OX Place has available.

It’s much the same as buying any other property – you’ll need a solicitor to do the paperwork and you’ll need to calculate your deposit and money for moving costs. Then you’ll need to be able to afford to pay the mortgage, rent and service charges if they apply – which will always be less than privately renting a like-for-like home.

You’ll currently need at least a 5% deposit to buy a shared ownership home. But that deposit is calculated based on the share you’re buying, not the full market value of the property.

You’ll also need savings to cover the initial purchase costs such as the mortgage and solicitor fees; this is normally around £4,000, but can change depending on who you use.

To reserve your chosen home, you’ll also need to pay a reservation fee. This will secure the home as yours until a formal offer is made, and will usually be between £250 and £500. This cost will be deducted from the total purchase price when your sale completes.

As a first-time buyer you won’t have to pay any stamp duty on your home as long as its total value is less than £300,000. If your home is worth more than £300,000 you will pay a 5% stamp duty tax on any amount over this value – not on the total value.

If you’ve owned a property before, you’ll pay Stamp Duty on the value of your property above £125,000.

Paying Stamp Duty is slightly different for shared ownership homes as you get some options about when to pay it. Usually Stamp Duty must be paid when you complete the purchase of your home. But with shared ownership you get the option to either pay the whole amount at the start, or once you own a share worth £125,000 or more. This allows you to spread the cost of paying Stamp Duty if that’s what’s best for you.

It’s important that housing is affordable. It impacts your quality of life and wellbeing. Anyone buying a shared ownership home will have financial checks carried out by Oxford City Council who you’re buying from.

At OX Place and in Oxford, we make sure that you won’t be spending more than 45% of your household income on housing costs – that’s the combination of your mortgage and rental payments in a shared ownership home. That’s because there’s that spending more than 45% of your income on housing is unsustainable and likely to cause hardship and distress. No one wants a home they can’t afford to enjoy living in.

Get advice from a mortgage advisor to see how much you could borrow, what deposit you’ll need and what your interest rate will be. Make sure they know you’re considering a shared ownership home. They’ll need to understand your financial position – your household income, any debts you already have such as loans or credit cards, as well as the money you need to pay out every month, including things like child maintenance payments for example.

They’ll use this information plus insight into your credit score to find the right lender(s) for you. How much money you have in savings to put towards your deposit will also influence the percentage share you can buy.

This will depend on the value of the home you buy, the share you purchase and the rent you’ll need to pay on the remaining share along with any service charges in apartment blocks. But here at OX Place we’ve committed that it will always be cheaper to live in a shared ownership home than an equivalent one you rent privately.

Don’t forget you’ll also need to be able to pay all the other monthly costs such as council tax, utility bills and home insurance.

You can’t usually use child maintenance payments income towards monthly costs; however it could be possible to use some other payments and benefits towards the rent on your remaining unpurchased share.

For example, if you can buy the share ‘outright’ with a cash lump sum, you may be able to use Housing Benefit towards or to cover the costs of the rent on the share of the home you don’t own. Speak to Oxford City Council, the landlord for OX Place shared ownership homes, and/or an independent mortgage advisor for full details before applying for shared ownership.

A history of missed payments or bad credit is likely to have an impact on whether you can borrow money for a mortgage. This doesn’t mean you don’t automatically qualify for shared ownership but could mean you can’t raise the money you need to buy a share.

A financial or mortgage advisor will be able to provide some advice, or you can check your own credit score online before applying, often for free.

Alongside this investment the government made some changes to the rules around shared ownership which apply to some homes built in 2021, and all new shared ownership homes built from 2022.

The new rules mean you can buy just 10% of a new shared ownership home, instead of the previous 25%. This means many more people will be able to afford a shared ownership home. You can also increase the share you own in 1% portions – it was previously 5%.

There’s also a new 10-year repairs and maintenance warranty, and longer leases on new shared ownership homes.