Low cost home ownership - Helping people on low incomes and first time buyers become home owners
Shared Ownership and Shared Equity are the two main types of low-cost home ownership schemes run by the Government to help people who cannot afford to buy on the open market to purchase their own homes. They are designed to help people who are first time buyers and people who are on low incomes become home owners.
Shared equity is when you buy a house in your name but the government and/or builder have equity in it. For example you could have a mortgage for 85% of the property value and the government and/or builder have 15% equity in it. This 15% is paid back to the Government or builder when the house is sold or within a set number of years, such as 10 years.
Shared ownership is when you buy a share of a house and pay rent on the rest. This is usually with a housing association. You can own, for example 50% and the housing association own the other 50% for which you pay rent on.
Both shared equity and shared ownership are part of the Governments Low-cost Initiative for First Time Buyers (LIFT) scheme. The link below to the Scottish Governments website will give more information on such schemes.