Equity Share

Equityshare or shared equity?

Housebuilder shared equity

This is the route you may go down if you are looking for newbuild on relatively easy terms. The big names are Barratt, Persimmon, Taylor Wimpey, Bellway and Redrow. Shared equity is best seen as a financing option alongisde other incentives offered by the builder. You should be aware however that many of these schemes have now run out of funds, so be prepared to queue with no certainty of a result.

Things to watch out for

The housebuilder wants a sale, so go in with a straight discount of 5-10%. However, expect them to palm you off with talk of "Only a few left", "Three sold last week", etc.
If you get talked up, ask about add-ons. Will they pay your legal fees and stamp duty? Or a 5% deposit? (sounds odd, but it helps with the mortgage). What about carpets and curtains? and a parking place?
It's a bit like buying a car. You get a lot of sales talk, but in the end the salesman wants his commission.
For the best bargains, look in the financial pages to find out which housebuilders are in trouble, then make a strategic offer close to their year-end.
What a housebuilder won't offer you is shared equity plus other incentives, because that would be double discounting.

Equityshare - what's the difference?

EquityShare gives you the buying power to bid for the property of your choice. The whole of the market is yours, unlike newbuild, which can be limited and overpriced. So genuine bargains are possible - like, say, a house that's been sitting on the market for eighteen months with an owner desperate to sell.

Put your detailed requirements to us and we will quote you an 'in principle' figure for equityshare funding. This, together with your mortgage Key Facts Illustration (KFI), will give you what you need to make an offer on your desired purchase. We aim to answer every request for funding within 48 hours.

Note however it is essential that you can provide a cash deposit of around 7% x the purchase price as the raw minimum.

To find out what you need to get going, try the EquityShare calculator opposite.