Thinking of selling your shared ownership property
Selling your Shared Ownership home is slightly different to selling an open market property. We’ve summarised the process in five steps, below!
- Step 1 - The first thing you will need to do is to let us know. We require written confirmation of your intention to sell. Please email development@cornerstonehousing.net. Once we have your request we will send you a letter outlining the process.
- Step 2 - All Shared Ownership properties must be bought and sold at a fixed price set by a Royal Institute of Chartered Surveyors (RICS) valuer. Please note the valuation is only valid for three months and you may have to get this updated after this period. You will be required to arrange and pay for the valuations.
- Step 3 - Before your property can be marketed you must supply us with an Energy Performance Certificate (EPC). You will need to arrange and pay for the EPC and it may be possible it carried out at the same time as the valuation.
- Step 4 - Send us your Valuation Report, EPC. We will then send you a form to sign setting out the agreed sale price and requesting the contact details for your solicitor.
- Step 5 - We will advertise your home on our website.
From the date of receiving the information in Step 4, we have an eight week period of exclusivity in which to find a suitable buyer. If we find one during this time we charge a fee of 1% plus VAT of the full market value.
If after this period a suitable applicant has not been found, then you are free to sell on the open market through an estate agent. However, the property can only be sold at the RICS approved valuation price and we need to check the buyer meets the shared ownership eligibility criteria.
Click here to read our quick guide of selling for shared ownership.
Frequently Asked Questions.
Selling a house can be expensive and Shared Ownership is no different.
The costs include:
- Valuation fee
- EPC fee
- Nomination fee (1% + VAT with Cornerstone)
- Administration fee (if applicable)
- Private management company fee to answer enquiries (if applicable)
- Legal fees
Once a buyer has been found, they usually have 12 weeks to complete the purchase, but if you are both buying a new home you may need to be flexible with these times. Cornerstone are not typically involved in agreeing dates and these are negotiated between you and the buyer. We would advise that you liaise with your solicitor regularly in order to progress the sale with your buyer’s solicitor in good time.
If you have serious concerns that your home has been under- or over-valued, we can approach the surveyor on your behalf. However, we will need three comparable valuations of similar properties that have sold within the last three months to query the valuation. We can also put you in touch with the surveyor directly.
You can begin looking for another house whenever suits you, but you should avoid making an offer on another house until a buyer has agreed to purchase your property. You and the buyer will then be able to agree timescales for completion of the purchase.
If it is outside the nomination period and you wish to re-market your property, you may go to an Estate Agent to and we will continue to look for a buyer for your home. Alternatively, you can choose to market exclusively with us.
