What are my rights and responsibilities as a Shared Ownership owner, and what are yours as Bolton at Home?

Please refer to your lease for your exact responsibilities.

We are responsible for:

  • Arranging building insurance**
  • Keeping the exterior fabric of your home in good repair and condition for 10 years from the date of build — please tap the "What is the Shared Ownership Repairs Allowance?" tab below for more information.

You are responsible for:

  • **Paying the building insurance contribution.
  • Keeping the interior of your home in good repair and condition — please tap the "What is the Shared Ownership Repairs Allowance?" tab below for more information.
  • Having your gas regularly serviced and tested.
  • Not subletting your home.
  • Not causing annoyance or inconvenience to neighbours.
  • Not carrying out any trade or business from your property.
  • Not making any alterations/improvements to the property without consent from Bolton at Home.
  • Paying any rent and/or service charges.
  • Using your home as a single private property for residential use only.
  • Insuring the contents of the property.

What is the Shared Ownership Repairs Allowance?

As a shared owner, you have the right to claim up to £500 per year for eligible internal home repairs.

You can do this for the first 10 years after the home was built. 

If you need to claim back the cost of a repair to your home, please contact us to check the repair is eligible and ensure the works are carried out by a Trustmark Trader.

We will require:

  • A brief description of the work.
  • Details and evidence of costs.
  • Before and after photos.
  • Copy of annual servicing certificate (if necessary).
  • Access to the premises for inspection of the repairs (if necessary).

Forms and further information:

If you'd like to learn more about the Shared Ownership Repairs Allowance, please contact us on 01204 328000 or email leasehold@boltonathome.org.uk.

Making improvements to your Shared Ownership home

Under the terms of the lease, you will require our permission to carry out any non-structural alterations and improvements.

Until you own 100% of the share amount, you can't:

  • Make any alterations or additions to the exterior of the premises.
  • Make any structural alterations or structural additions to the premises.
  • Erect any new buildings on the premises; or
  • Remove any of the landlord’s fixtures from the premises.

We do not need to know about minor work such as decorating.

Which alterations and improvements can I make to my Shared Ownership home?

Permission is required for:

  • Replacing window frames.
  • Works affecting any services to the property, for example, electric, gas, drainage, or water.
  • Installation of central heating/replacement of boiler.
  • Any change to the internal layout of your property.
  • Rewiring.
  • New kitchens and bathrooms.
  • Installation of aerials or satellite dishes.

Permission is not required for:

  • Replacing glass in windows.
  • Changing internal doors.
  • Internal decoration.

How do I get permission to make alterations to my Shared Ownership home?

  • Call: 01204 328000
  • Email: leasehold@boltonathome.org.uk
  • Write to: Leasehold Management, Bolton at Home, 2nd Floor Valley House, 98 Waters Meeting Road, Bolton, BL1 8SW

Please note that there is a fee payable for permissions and this will need to be paid in advance. For details on fees associated with property alterations or improvements, tap here.

Making changes to your Shared Ownership lease

Extending your Shared Ownership lease:

To apply to extend the lease, please complete the lease extension application form. Before you can proceed, we would advise you to obtain the services of a solicitor.

Leasehold extension application form.pdf [pdf] 185KB

Tap here for more information on the typical costs required to extend a lease.

If you'd like further information about extending your lease, please contact us on 01204 328000 or email  leasehold@boltonathome.org.uk.

Subletting (renting out) your Shared Ownership home:

You cannot sublet (rent out) your Shared Ownership Home.

Selling your Shared Ownership home:

You can sell your home at any time.

If you haven’t staircased to 100% of your home when you wish to sell, you will be required to sell your home on a Shared Ownership basis.

Please contact us on 01204 328000 or email  leasehold@boltonathome.org.uk to discuss further.

Staircasing (buying further shares) — purchasing a further 1% share:

Staircasing is when you buy additional shares in your property. The greater the share you buy in your home, the less rent you will pay.

Once a year we will send you details of the cost of 1% and you will have an option to purchase. If the timing isn't right for you to buy an additional 1%, you can contact us for an updated 1% at another time.

Staircasing (buying further shares) — purchasing shares of 5% and up:

Staircasing is when you buy additional shares in your property. The greater the share you buy in your home, the less rent you will pay.

The cost of your new share will depend on how much your home is worth when you want to buy the share and an up-to-date RICS valuation will need to be arranged.

There are no restrictions in the majority of cases, however, we would recommend in the first instance that you refer to your lease.  

Please contact us on 01204 328000 or email leasehold@boltonathome.org.uk to discuss further.

What is a Transfer of Equity, and when might I need to transfer the equity of my property?

Transfer of Equity is a term that refers to changing the ownership of the property.

There may be time when you want to remove or add a name to the lease for your home. Here's what you need to do if you wish to change the ownership in your property, either to joint or sole names.

When might I need to transfer the equity of my property?

There may be many reasons why you may wish to transfer the equity of your property. This may be down to a change of circumstances where one person is no longer living at the property, or when a partner moves in.

There is no legal requirement to add a partner to the ownership of a property if they have moved in.

If you live in a Shared Ownership property, any new tenants will be subject to eligibility and affordability checks before they are added to the lease. We can refuse to add new tenants if they do not meet the criteria for Shared Ownership. 

Please note, there will be a fee payable in advance to change names on a lease.

You can tap here to view latest details about the fee for transferring equity (i.e. changing the names) on a lease.

Changing from joint names to a sole name:

To approve a change of ownership in the property to a sole name, you must:

  • Complete an application form and return this to us.
  • Provide confirmation of your mortgage lender’s approval (if applicable).
  • If you own your share outright, with no lender involved, we may ask for other supporting documents such as payslips and bank statements to show affordability.
  • Instruct a solicitor to carry out the legal work and complete the transfer for you.
  • Your solicitor will notify us of completion, and we will update our records.

Please note, if a Court Order dictates an owner needs to be removed from the deeds of the property, we are obliged to do this without going through an application process.

Changing from a sole name to joint names:

To approve a change of ownership in the property into joint names:

  • Complete an application form and eligibility form (with applicant’s details) and return this to us.
  • Provide confirmation of your mortgage lender’s approval to the transfer.
  • Where applicable, the new owner will be asked to confirm their eligibility for Shared Ownership, and we will send the joint application for an independent affordability check, where you will have to provide payslips, bank statements, and ID.
  • Instruct a solicitor to carry out the legal work and complete the transfer for you.
  • Your solicitor will notify us of completion, and we will update our records.

We're here to help. If you'd like more information on transferring the equity of your property, please get in touch.

Speak with us about your lease

Smartphone displaying the Bolton at Home logo.

We're here to help:

If you'd like more information on your lease, you can call us on 01204 328000 or email: leasehold@boltonathome.org.uk. You can also write to us at:

Leasehold Management,
98 Waters Meeting Road,
Bolton,
BL1 8SW.

Be involved:

As a leaseholder, we value your comments and suggestions about how we run the service and how we can improve it.

We'd love to hear from you. If you're interested in getting involved with our service, please don't hesitate to get in touch.