Eligibility and local connection

To be eligible for shared ownership you must:

• be aged over 18
• have a household income of less than £80,000
• be unable to afford to buy a suitable home on the open market
• not already own a property, if you do own a property, you must be in the process of selling

You will must also:

• be able to raise a deposit and afford the on going housing costs

Local connection

Some shared ownership homes will be subject to a local connection requirement. This will be clearly identified in the sales information.

This means that initial priority in the sale of the shared ownership home will go to applicants with a local connection.

District connection

To have a district connection you will:

• be a resident of the district for the last 2 years, or
• have been a resident of the district for 10 years in the past, or
• employed for a period of at least 5 years in the district area

Rural connection

For some shared ownership homes in rural parishes, you will need to have a connection to that parish.

As a minimum you will:

• be a resident of, or employed in the parish for a minimum of the last 2 years, or;
• have lived in the parish for more than 2 years in the last 15 years, or;
• have parents, siblings or adult children living in the parish for the last 5 years or more

Rural exception sites

Some shared ownership homes in rural areas may have additional requirement set out in the development's legal planning agreement.

For further details on local connection requirements see our Local connection guide (PDF) [2MB] .