Selling your Shared Ownership home
If you are currently living in a Shared Ownership home and wish to sell your property then please follow the steps below:
Your lease sets out that bpha will have the right to sell your property for a period of time, this is known as the nomination period. It will also set out the fee that is payable to bpha for selling your home within the nomination period, this is known as the nomination fee.
You must serve notice to bpha when you decide to sell your home. Notice should be served before you place your property on the market with an estate agent.
If you do not inform bpha that you are selling your property you may be subject to higher costs during the sale.
When considering selling your home you will need to be sure of the following points:
- Your rent account should not be in arrears, unless we will have assurance from a solicitor that the arrears will be paid upon completion of your property sale
- If you are aware that the property is in negative equity you must make contact with your bank or building society to arrange how you will pay the shortfall back on the share you own
- If you are acting on behalf of the shared owner, you will be required to provide third party consent or legal documents evidencing your right to act for them
- Ensure you have consent for any alterations to the property.
When you are ready to sell you will need to provide a valid Energy Performance Certificate (EPC). This can be obtained on the EPC register www.epcregister.com
Your home will need to be valued by a RICS accredited independent chartered surveyor and a copy of the market valuation report will need to be made available to bpha. You will need to have a valid RICS accredited market valuation in place at the point of exchange of contracts.
You will be required to undertake online identity checks.
Following this you will receive a nomination agreement from bpha setting out the terms of business.
Once the nomination agreement has been signed bpha can start putting together the marketing materials for your property.
If we are not successful in finding you a purchaser within the nomination period, you can choose to continue marketing with bpha, or you can instruct an estate agent. Instructing an estate agent to sell your home outside of the nomination period removes your obligation to provide a RICS accredited market valuation.
If your prospective buyer wishes to buy the whole of the property it is essential that you let us know, because although the process is similar, it will also involve the sale of the share that still belongs to bpha. Please be reminded that this process may encounter additional costs and is known as back-to-back staircasing.
All costs relating to the sale of your home are your responsibility, including Estate Agent and solicitor fees.
If you are considering selling your property due to financial difficulties, please contact your Housing Officer to discuss your circumstances as they may be able to assist you and refer you to our Money Advice team.
For more information call us on 01234 674059  or email resales@bpha.org.uk.
