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Family Moments

Our Approach.

At Open Door by Halton Housing, we believe in providing a fair and considerate approach when assessing your application to buy from us. We do this to make sure you can comfortably afford to manage mortgage and rent payments.

First come, first served

To make sure we’re being fair, we have a First Come, First Served policy for allocating Shared Ownership homes that we sell at Open Door by Halton Housing.

This means that the person or people who complete the relevant checks first are the ones who get to buy the homes. We think this is fair to everyone and gives people a reasonable chance of buying a home.

How this works:

  • You must pass a full financial assessment. Until you have, we can’t put your name on a home because there’s still some uncertainty about whether you can go ahead with the sale. The first people who are signed off with metro finance, and are in a proceedable position, are the ones able to put their name down on a new Shared Ownership home.  

  • The affordability assessment is carried out on our behalf by Metro Finance, a regulated and qualified mortgage advisor. Metro Finance will complete your sign off free of charge. They specialise in shared ownership mortgages, and a fee will only become payable if you continue your mortgage application with them. 

  • Once you’ve passed the initial assessment with Metro finance, you must provide them with all the required documentation and obtain a valid Agreement in Principle to get full sign-off from the mortgage or financial advisor.

  • The allocation process is done in order of the customers who have completed the assessment and provided all the documents needed by the advisor. This is date stamped by Metro finance for assurance.

  • When you’re allocated a home, you must complete the reservation paperwork and pay a £500 deposit to secure the home for 12 weeks.

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As per the Capital Funding Guide, the exception is when Armed Forces personnel apply, and in circumstances of under supply, priority must go to serving military personnel and former members of the British Armed Forces discharged in the last 2 years.

Minimum deposit

Every applicant is expected to be able to provide at least 5% of the share value from their own resources, with a minimum £4,000 deposit required. Customers will need to be able to provide evidence of the source of these funds where requested.

Financial checks

We've partnered with the friendly team at Metro Finance who are one of the leading mortgage advisors in the UK and are fully regulated to complete financial assessments on our behalf. They will also help you find a suitable mortgage lender should you need one.

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While we look at your credit history, we understand that sometimes life throws curveballs that can affect your financial situation. If you've experienced credit challenges, we encourage you to share any exceptional circumstances and supporting evidence. We'll thoughtfully review this information to determine if it helps to offset any concerns.

However, if you're currently dealing with bankruptcy, an IVA, or a debt relief order, we won't be able to offer you a home. This is because these situations typically involve outstanding debts to multiple creditors, and it’s important to prioritise settling these obligations. Using extra funds for a deposit instead of addressing these debts might increase your risk of financial complications.

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Halton Housing are committed to supporting applicants to purchase an affordable home; however, we must also ensure that home ownership is sustainable for buyers, and to avoid any potential risk of repossession or future negative impact, the following principles will be adhered to regarding adverse credit that applicants may have at point of application:

  • No CCJ’s or defaults that remain unsatisfied within the last 2 years, unless communication defaults.

  • No CCJ’s or defaults within the last two years, satisfied or unsatisfied over £300.

  • No unsatisfied CCJs or defaults of more than £1000 registered at any time.

  • IVA’s or Bankruptcy discharged three years ago are acceptable, or registered over 6 years ago and satisfied, with no further issues.

  • Debt Management plans that have been repaid are acceptable.

  • No mortgage or rent arrears in the previous 12 months.

  • Previous repossession over three years ago is acceptable, provided no outstanding debt to lender and no other credit issue in the previous 3 years. (Requires letter from repossession lender to confirm no outstanding debt).

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If there are exceptional circumstances that explain the adverse credit and evidence can be provided to verify this, Halton Housing will use its discretion to decide if the reasons and evidence provided are sufficient to mitigate the risk.

Mortgage lenders

Typically, most buyers will get a mortgage. We want you to feel confident in choosing the mortgage lender that best suits your needs. While we don’t dictate which lender you should use, we do aim to ensure that your mortgage arrangements are both affordable and sustainable for you.

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We understand that mortgage interest rates and deals can vary based on individual circumstances and deposit sizes. Sometimes, this means that you may only qualify for mortgages with interest rates higher than the average for Shared Ownership. This can happen for a variety of reasons, such as employment situations or credit history. Even if you meet the affordability and sustainability criteria, starting with a higher mortgage rate can make you more vulnerable to future changes in base rates, which might pose additional risks for both you and Open Door by Halton Housing.

High-Interest Rate Lenders

Open door by Halton Housing will not dictate which mortgage lenders customers use. However, we will look to ensure that arrangements are affordable and sustainable.

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We will pay particular attention to any mortgage rate that is 2% above the average rate for the closest equivalent mortgage (considering loan to value, length of fixed rate term) of five mainstream Shared Ownership lenders (e.g., Leeds, Halifax, Nationwide, Santander, Barclays). If a customer's mortgage rate is 2% above the average rate, they will be made aware of the situation and next steps discussed.

Cash Purchasers

Any customers eligible for Shared Ownership and looking to pay cash rather than take out a mortgage, will also be signposted to an independent, IFA accredited, specialist Shared Ownership Financial Advisor as part of the application process. An affordability assessment, the completion of a budget planner and ‘sign off’ from the financial adviser will be required. The following will also apply to all cash purchases:

 

  • Credit files will be required for all cash buyers.

  • HH adverse credit policy detailed above, will be always adhered to. This includes partners and spouses of cash buyer applicants, who must also meet our adverse policy.

  • The reason for needing to be a cash buyer cannot be because a customer is unable to obtain a mortgage due to adverse credit.

  • If buying cash due to age, the assessment will also consider future income changes.

  • For any customer buying less than a 25% share a minimum of 20% net income surplus is required.

  • The budget planner must be based on the household composition and include realistic figures for all expenditure, backed up by bank statements where necessary.

  • Outgoings must also be realistic, with ONS data for expenditure used in some instances.

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