If you’ve already looked into shared ownership mortgages, you’ll know how quickly it can get complicated. As specialist shared ownership mortgage brokers, we know the scheme inside out, and it’s our job to make the complicated seem simple. Whether you’re buying your first share or staircasing, we’ll find the right deal for your situation and handle every part of the process.
We’re proud to officially be the number one mortgage advisor in Somerset and the South West for customer service, as well as the second best in the entire UK! Fingers crossed for one better next year 🤞
With access to more than 28,000 mortgage products from over 100 different lenders, we’ll be able to secure you an interest rate that keeps the most money possible where it belongs: in your pocket! 💷
We’ll support you with as much of the home buying process as we can by handling paperwork, recommending and dealing with solicitors, and even negotiating with estate agents on your behalf. 🏠
Because we always have your best interests at heart, you need to know that your home may be repossessed if you do not keep up repayments on your mortgage.
There may be a fee for mortgage advice. The actual amount you pay will depend on your circumstances.
The fee is up to 1%, but a typical fee is 0.3% of the amount borrowed.
Shared ownership is exactly what it sounds like: you buy a share of a home (typically between 10% and 75%) and pay a subsidised rent on the rest. It’s designed for people who can’t quite stretch to buying a property outright, but are tired of throwing money at rent with nothing to show for it or just want to move out of their parent’s house.
The real appeal behind it? You get your name on the deeds, you build equity, and you can buy bigger shares over time as your finances grow. Think of it less as a compromise, and more as an intelligent first step onto the property ladder.
Shared ownership mortgages are a niche area. Not every lender offers them, and the eligibility rules can be surprisingly complex. Getting it wrong can cost you time, money and unnecessary stress.
As a specialist shared ownership mortgage broker, we know the scheme inside out and will identify the right lenders from the outset, find you the most competitive rate, and provide full support with all the paperwork to help ensure your application is watertight. We also handle all communication with housing associations, so you can focus on the most important part:moving into your new home.
I recently had the pleasure of working with Janek on the purchase of my first home. As a first-time buyer stepping into the unknown, I had many questions and Janek answered every single one clearly and patiently. Janek was incredibly supportive throughout the process, always willing to work around my busy schedule and never once making me feel rushed. He made the whole experience far less stressful than I expected.
Jack Tucker
First-Time Buyer
Absolutely amazing service from start to finish. They replied to every message so quickly and made the whole experience feel really personal. I originally found the whole process of getting a mortgage intimidating, but they made everything so easy to understand. Right up to the day of the sale, we received weekly email updates, which was incredibly reassuring. Truly outstanding service.
Adele Sanford
Home Mover
I would highly highly recommend The Levels and will be recommending to anyone I know in the future! I feel so thankful and lucky that Nikki was my mortgage advisor, I couldn’t have asked for anyone more better! Nikki provided me with a lot of support and always kept me updated all the way through my application. Nikki was extremely patient with me and made sure I was financially stable before I agreed to anything.
Yasmin Knott
First-Time Buyer
Louis goes above and beyond. He’s polite, patient and explain things clearly and concise. He provides reassurance, especially when you’re new to the process. He’s flexible and has worked around family to support meetings at times that suit us. Louis has helped us more than anyone else in our moving house journey and I could not recommend him enough! Thank you so much for all your support.
Molli Jones
Home Mover
The levels were professional, responsive and I trusted them completely to guide me to make the best decision for myself. I will highly recommend them to anyone looking for help with a mortgage. I cannot praise Luke enough, he was friendly, excellent at communicating and made me feel at ease throughout the whole experience. Luke was always at the end of the phone and the Teams calls we had felt relaxed, productive and informative.
Kate New
Home Mover
Customer service is at the heart of everything we do; yes, it’s a cliche, but we couldn’t think of a better way of saying it, so it’s made the cut.
When we hire advisors, the one thing that matters above all else is that they get it: buying a home is a huge moment in your life. You’re not a number on a spreadsheet, and they want to make sure you never feel like one.
From your initial questions to negotiating house prices, dealing with solicitors and everything in between, they’re with you all the way, so there will be a lot less stress sitting on your shoulders. The awards we’ve won tell us exactly how much that means to our clients…
There’s no single path to homeownership. Whether you’ve been gifted a deposit, have a small one saved up, or nothing put away at all, we’ll find a route that works for your situation and help you take that first step onto the property ladder.
The key is having the right people in your corner. We have access to lenders you simply won’t find by searching the market yourself, including some you may never have even heard of. With over 100 different lenders and more than 28,000 mortgage products at our fingertips, we do all the comparing for you, so you can forget the endless research.
What you get instead is clear, tailored advice that saves you both time and money.
Book a free, no obligation chat with one of our specialist shared ownership mortgage brokers to start your journey. We work around you, so if standard working hours don’t fit your schedule, we can also do evening and weekend appointment.
It always helps to know what to expect before you take the next step. So, with that being said, here’s exactly what to expect when securing a shared ownership mortgage with us…
We’ll kick things off by introducing ourselves and walking you through exactly how we work and what you can expect from us. Then the focus shifts to you: your situation, your goals, and what you’re looking to achieve. From there, we’ll lay out a clear and honest picture of what it’ll take to make it happen.
This is where everything start to take shape.
We’ll come back to you with a clear, tailored plan, covering exactly how much you can borrow, the rates and monthly payments you can expect, and a full breakdown of any additional costs involved.
With your Mortgage in Principle in hand, you’ll now be ready to start viewing shared ownership properties and making offers with complete confidence.
Once you’ve found your dream home and agreed a sale price (which we’ll support you with), we’ll reconnect to finalise everything. We’ll revisit the numbers, make any necessary adjustments, and move forward with your full shared ownership mortgage application.
We’ll also make sure you have a suitable solicitor in place and start looking at setting all the right insurances up.
Once your application is submitted, we don’t just step back and wait. We stay in close contact, track everything that needs to happen, liaise with the solicitors, and keep you updated every step of the way right up until the keys to your new home are in your hands.
Our job doesn’t end the moment you get the keys and finally sink into that new sofa with a well-earned takeaway and glass of prosecco in hand.
We’ll constantly monitor your mortgage and let you know if a better deal becomes available that will save you money. If you have any questions about your mortgage, we’ll always be just a call away.
Absolutely! You’ll start by purchasing a share between 10% and 75%, but you’re not stuck there. Over time, you can buy additional shares through a process called ‘staircasing’, and each time you do so your mortgage repayments increase slightly while your rent decreases.
In most cases, there’s nothing stopping you from staircasing all the way to 100% and becoming the outright owner of your home.
Unfortunately not. Shared ownership is only available on properties specifically built for the scheme by a housing association using government funding. This means you can’t simply make an offer on any property you find and buy it on a shared ownership basis.
Not at all! ‘Shared’ simply means you share ownership with a housing association, not your living space. Your home is entirely yours to live in!
It depends on whether repairs are internal or external, and which shared ownership model your home falls under.
Under the old scheme, all internal repairs are your responsibility regardless of your share. The newer model is more generous, offering a 10-year repair warranty where your housing provider contributes to essential repair costs.
New-build home also come with defect and structural warranties for added peace of mind.
Still have questions?
Reach out to us anytime for assistance.
It’s well worth exploring our huge range of mortgage tools. Our Homebuying App and weekly email, are particularly useful for supporting you along this exciting journey.
Learn all about how we can help protect your future home from unforeseen problems, such as being unable to pay your mortgage due to injury or illness keeping you off work.
