Staircasing
As a shared owner you can buy more shares in your home, this process is called staircasing. The more shares you own, the less rent you pay.
You can purchase as little as 10% or purchase the full remaining share in your property, giving you opportunity to have 100% ownership of your home (some properties are exempt from outright purchase, just check with our team first).
Follow the link for more more information.
Your repair lease
You will need to pay for repairs and maintenance no matter what share you own of your shared ownership home.
Some costs might be covered by the building warranty, or by Flagship Homes if your home has an ‘initial repair period’. Check the ‘key information document’ for the home to see if it has an initial repair period. Your sales advisor will give you a copy of this document before you reserve your home.
For more information on what repairs are included, please follow the link to the Government website.
Our joint responsibilities in your home
The lease is a legal contract between you, and us, which sets out our joint responsibilities. As a shared owner you have a leasehold interest in the property and Flagship Homes is the landlord.
When you purchased the property your solicitor would have given you a copy of your lease. If you have a mortgage on the property your mortgage lender may also hold a copy, and you can obtain a copy from the Land Registry.
A shared ownership lease typically lasts for 99 and 125 years from the date the first person bought a share. The length of the lease decreases over time.
Click below to read to read more on our responsibilities.
We're committed to the mortgage charter
Selling your home
When you decide the time is right to sell your home, we’ll do what we can to help you along the way so that selling your shared ownership home goes as smoothly as possible.
We will:
FAQ's
See below for some of the most frequently asked questions about all things shared ownership.
All repairs are your responsibility unless classed as a defect within the defect liability period.
Rent is reviewed annually. It will increase in line with RPI or CPI + 0.5%/1% on an upwards-only basis. Please refer to your lease.
There are charges payable by you for the services Flagship is obliged to provide under the terms of the lease, such as grounds maintenance work. We have a legal obligation to provide certain services where you live and to maintain any communal areas. You’re required to contribute towards the cost of providing these services as per the terms and conditions of your lease. We arrange the buildings insurance for your home on your behalf, and this cost will be included in your service charge.
If you‘re considering sub-letting your home, please get in touch with our aftercare team as this is
reviewed on a case-by-case basis.
You can make any decorative changes to your home once the defect period has passed. For more extensive work such as installing an EV charger or shed in your garden, you’ll need to request permission from us. There may also be a fee for this so please fill in the permissions form on our website to find out more.
Contact NHBC or your buildings insurance provider to see if you are able to make a claim.
Your solicitor will have advised you of any covenants, and it’s your responsibility to follow these.
Anti-social behaviour
We want our customers to be able to enjoy their lives and communities without being anxious about crime or disorder. We aim to provide and uphold secure and safe communities that people want to be a part of. However, from time to time the actions of others can have a negative impact on us and can start to affect our day to day lives.
As a customer, you have the right to report any anti-social behaviour to us or other agencies. We will listen to you and take our responsibility seriously to tackle and resolve these behaviours as best we can.
Contact our aftercare team on 01603 255444 (option 2) to find out how to report this.
A little kindness goes a long way
There are some behaviours which can be inconvenient or irritating, but we do not consider them to be anti-social behaviour. We wouldn’t become involved in matters like these and would expect our customers to resolve them between themselves.
Some examples of issues like these include:
Disagreements or disputes over parking
Children playing or disagreements between children
Falling out with your neighbour
Household activities such as noise or cooking smells
Differences in lifestyle, beliefs or cultures
We encourage our customers to politely speak to each other to resolve disagreements and disputes.
