A potential buyer must demonstrate that they can afford to maintain the costs of buying a shared ownership home, but cannot afford to buy a home, that meets their needs, on the open market.

All potential buyers will be required to undertake a financial assessment by a qualified mortgage broker. This broker will be nominated by the housing association, but you do not have to use them to arrange your mortgage if your application is successful.

You should not be charged for this financial assessment.

The assessment is used to determine the surplus income that a potential applicant would have left after considering their income and outgoings, assuming they have purchased a specific share in a specific property, where the property value, rent, service charge and likely mortgage costs are known.

Each housing association must publish a Surplus Income policy which states how much surplus income they require you to have and this will determine the size of share that you are expected to buy.