Buying more shares
The terms and conditions, and everything you need to know.
The Terms and Conditions
LiveWest Homes Limited, are the housing association who own the freehold and/or headlease of your shared ownership property. Staircasing is a provision contained within your lease. It is not a statutory right. Therefore, how many shares you can buy and how frequently this can take place, will be dependent on the terms of your individual lease.
You are entitled to speak with an independent financial advisor who can support with confirming how much you can borrow and to discuss how buying mores shares will impact your finances. We have a list of independent mortgage and financial advisors which you can use for guidance.
There are further regulations which may apply to your property, which may include, but may not be limited to, local authority planning agreements and over-arching Homes England Guidance.
LiveWest adhere to the principles of the Homes England Capital Funding Guide on all of our shared ownership properties, whether they are grant funded or not, to ensure that we treat all shared owners equitably.
LiveWest will seek payment for the administration of any staircasing transaction to the sum of £250 + VAT, unless we are offering a time limited incentive.
You will be responsible for the payment of a valuation fee for a RICs accredited valuation; this is payable by you directly to the surveyor. A valuation is usually only valid for three months from the date shown on the report and must be valid when you complete your staircasing transaction. Some providers may offer six-month valuations, which you will need to check before you appoint them.
You will be required to pay for your report to be extended for a further three months if it expires before you complete your transaction. If you fail to complete after a further three months, then you may need to pay for a new valuation. Some providers may not charge for the first extension to the valuation, which you will need to check before you appoint them. Your valuation must be in date at the point of completion.
When you have chosen which chartered surveyor you would like to use, please make the payment to them directly and arrange an appointment for them to attend.
When you have made payment and arranged the appointment, please complete the form, to give us their details to tell us about any improvements that you have made to your home. If you miss this step and have an incorrect valuation, LiveWest will not accept it.
LiveWest expect you to appoint a solicitor who will communicate effectively and deal with your staircasing in a proactive and timely manner. It is advisable to use a solicitor who has experience of dealing with shared ownership sales. It is important to check in with your solicitor regularly to understand where you are in the process and what next steps need to be completed.
You will be responsible for your own legal costs, which include the fee for LiveWest’s solicitor to draft the freehold Transfer (where applicable), which is £250 + VAT, unless we are offering a time limited incentive. We will ask you to confirm which solicitor you will be using.
You are required to complete anti-money laundering checks with LiveWest through a system called Credas, which is a third-party verification software, prior to any transaction proceeding. We will not be able to instruct solicitor until this step is completed and your check has been cleared. We might need to ask you for further supporting evidence in addition to the Credas check.
If you have only recently completed on your initial purchase, the Land Registry might not have dealt with the registration of your title yet. Your solicitor will be able to give you an idea of how long it might take to be completed.
Often, solicitors will suggest that it is best to wait for the title registration to be completed before you buy more shares. However, you are entitled to take a view on this and proceed to buy more shares anyway. The registration of the additional shares would have to happen following the first title registration.
Before you decide whether to proceed on that basis, please take independent legal advice and ensure that you are happy to proceed on that basis.
Local authority planning agreements are legal restrictions which LiveWest cannot amend or remove for you, as they are set by the local authority in charge of the area in which you live.
In some cases, there are mechanisms within these legal contracts which enable them to cease on acquisition of 100% of the property. However, there are cases where these local authority planning agreements will continue to apply to the property even after you have bought 100%.
If your property is restricted to a maximum 80% staircasing restriction, LiveWest cannot change this for you and the restriction will remain in perpetuity.
Very few LiveWest shared ownership properties have a mandatory buy-back clause in the lease, which simply means that if you buy 100% of the property, you must offer it to LiveWest as first refusal, when you sell it.
Your home is at risk if you do not pay your mortgage, rent or service charge. Please contact us straight away on 0300 123 8080 if you are struggling with your finances and we can help to support you.
Contact us today
If you have any questions about the Staircasing process, please get in touch with a member of our Staircasing team today.
01392 814 637 - Select option 1 for Staircasing.