Schemes to help you buy a home

There are a number of schemes available to help you buy or part-buy a home you can afford, including shared ownership, and the Help to Buy schemes. There are also discounted rent schemes such as the one operated by Meridian Home Start Ltd.

Shared ownership

Shared ownership allows you to:

buy a share of between 25 per cent and 75 per cent of a home
and pay a subsidised rent (generally 2.75 per cent or less) on the remaining share.

This arrangement is sometimes described as 'part-buy, part-rent'.

There is usually also a service charge. Over time, it is possible to buy additional shares to increase the portion of your home that you own.

Eligibility for shared ownership

In order to be eligible for a shared ownership home in Royal Greenwich purchasers need to have a household income that is below £90,000. This is the maximum income that is set by the Greater London Authority. Purchasers must also be first-time buyers, or a homeowner who needs to move because of a change in your family's circumstances.

Additionally, because the average annual household income in Royal Greenwich is less than the London-wide average, we have also set local income thresholds. When marketing new shared ownership properties, for the first three months of the marketing period lower household income thresholds apply to improve affordability for local residents:

Households purchasing 1 or 2 bedroom properties must have an annual household income of less than £71,000.
Households purchasing 3 bedroom or larger properties must have an annual household income of less than £88,000.

Registered providers should make income restrictions clear when new shared ownership homes are being marketed.

These criteria are necessary as shared ownership is designed to support those who cannot afford to purchase on the open market to enter into home ownership.

Priority for home ownership properties

Only military personnel will be given priority over other groups through government funded shared ownership schemes. However, councils with their own shared ownership home-building programmes may have some priority groups, based on local housing needs.

Accessing shared ownership housing

Homes for Londoners property search

The Homes for Londoners search tool allows Londoners on low to middle incomes search for Shared Ownership, London Living Rent and other forms of affordable home ownership.

By pulling together properties from across the capital, the tool makes the process of finding an affordable home quicker, more accessible and much easier, for those who need it most.Londoners will also be able to find new private sale properties available exclusively to London and UK based buyers, as well as Help to Buy properties.

Find an affordable home in London

To find out if you are eligible and/or see what properties are available, register with Homes for Londoners. After registering you can sign up to receive property alerts and book open days.

Share to Buy

Share to Buy is a national Shared Ownership property portal, also listing Help to Buy, rental and other affordable home ownership properties. You can search for properties, or access guides and FAQs to get all the information you need
Once you have registered your details on Share to Buy, you will be able to search for available properties.
You can register with Share to buy for properties in London

Help to Buy schemes

There are two types of Help to Buy schemes: equity loan scheme and mortgage guarantee scheme. The schemes are different but both help to reduce the cash deposit the home buyer will need to pay.

Discounted Rent schemes

Meridian Home Start

Meridian Home Start is a company set up by The Royal Borough of Greenwich to offer high-quality homes for local working families to rent. These homes are available at discounted rents to help working families who would otherwise find it hard to buy or rent on the open market.
Find out more about Meridian Home Start