What is Shared Ownership Protection?
20/12/2017
2,525
11 min read
Shared Ownership Protection is the leading co-ownership agreement on the market. You and anybody else who jointly owns your property with you create a document which is legally binding and notarised by a solicitor, and it sets down how you will own your property, from calculations of individual ownership share to any house rules you agree to abide by.
The document also sets down the procedure to follow if a joint owner wants to leave the arrangement and addresses other situations, for example what will happen if someone defaults on making agreed mortgage repayments. Shared Ownership Protection is commonly used when people are going into joint ownership and will be living together, however it is equally beneficial when people group together to buy to let a property.
The document also sets down the procedure to follow if a joint owner wants to leave the arrangement and addresses other situations, for example what will happen if someone defaults on making agreed mortgage repayments. Shared Ownership Protection is commonly used when people are going into joint ownership and will be living together, however it is equally beneficial when people group together to buy to let a property.
Call 0333 344 3234 to ensure you protect your stake in a shared property.
Who is Shared Ownership Protection designed for?
It protects all would-be mortgage sharers, whether they are partners, friends or family. It combines both a Declaration of Trust as well as a Cohabitation Agreement.
The Declaration of Trust element is about setting down who owns what percentage of the property and takes into account how this can vary over time. You may, for example, have paid less deposit than a sharer but if you make greater monthly mortgage repayments than them, this should be recognised in a growth in your share of ownership the longer you choose to co-own your property.
*Fixed Fee – No Sale No Fee – On all Major Lender Panels
The Cohabitation Agreement sets down how co-owners will agree to live together and includes any House Rules which you agree together to help you live harmoniously. You might mutually agree, for example, that partners, children or pets can be brought into the household, or not, or whether smoking is to be permitted or not.
Once the Shared Ownership Protection (Joint Ownership Agreement) has been agreed and has been signed by all joint owners, you can't change it unless all signers agree and the document is duly notarised again. The document is material of relevance should a dispute goes as far as the courts.
Does it work differently for Buy to Let customers?
Buy to let joint owners will not be living together in the property so House Rules are not relevant to the document in this case. Instead, the Protection's Letting Rules cover all matters associated with tenants and renting which you and your joint owners have agreed. These can include matters such as New Tenancy Agreements, managing the property. monitoring of tenancy, how tenants are found and who conducts due diligence on them, who collects rent and how frequently rent is collected.
What if you and another joint owner can't agree Shared Ownership Protection terms?
We fully appreciate that buying a property with anyone is a serious matter so it follows that completing your Shared Ownership Protection is equally serious. You are in safe hands though: we've spent the time to work out numerous scenarios which might occur when people jointly own a property and the document has been fully checked and re-checked by many highly experienced lawyers.
Shared Ownership Protection is the best legal protection against things going wrong in the long run. The very act of planning the best ways to live harmoniously, making it crystal clear how ownership is calculated at any point, how anyone can leave the arrangement and completing a joint ownership agreement can only help increase your chances of happy co-ownership.
What if someone breaks the agreed House Rules?
We have created a Dispute Resolution Procedure, addressing this possibility, which you can find in the Protection document. We always encourage people to resolve any problems between themselves in the first instance.
The Dispute Resolution Procedure sets out a Dispute Resolution Letter in which joint owners can set out their dispute formally and request a meeting with joint owners involved to talk about any issues and attempt to solve them.
If joint owners cannot resolve a dispute, they have an Alternative Dispute Resolution Service to help them. The ADRS allows for any disputing party to ask SAM Conveyancing to appoint a solicitor trained in mediation to look at the facts of a dispute, allowing all sides to contribute material information for consideration. The solicitor then issues a written judgment which is final and binding on all parties in the dispute. The costs of the ADRS are borne by the joint owners in dispute.
Nothing can stop joint owners from taking each other to court to resolve a dispute, but we counsel against this if at all possible to avoid potentially exorbitant costs, stress and shattering relationships.
What does it cost?
An average cost for a Joint Ownership Agreement from a solicitor would range from £1,000 to £1,500; however Shared Ownership Protection costs from £240 (Incl VAT).
Basic Deed of TrustThe basic deed of trust suits longer term relationships where the purpose is simply to note the joint owners’ separate shares of the property and what to do when the property sells. It isn’t suitable for shorter term relationships. | Silver Deed of TrustBest suited for couples or family who want to protect more than just their deposit contribution. While it addresses the beneficial ownership, it also focuses on what mortgage repayments you make, what contributions you put towards repairs and renovations during your ownership and procedures for what happens if you fail to keep up with mortgage/bill payments. | Gold Deed of TrustBest suited for friends or non-standard trusts requiring a bespoke drafting service. Includes a 1 hour call at the outset, the drafting of a bespoke deed of trust including bespoke clauses drafted by our legal advisor and then an hour call afterwards to run through how the deed works. |
Standard Clauses Include: | Standard Clauses Include: | Optional Clauses: |
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£240 Inc VAT* | £349 Inc VAT* | £799 Inc VAT* |
Basic Deed of TrustThe basic deed of trust suits longer term relationships where the purpose is simply to note the joint owners’ separate shares of the property and what to do when the property sells. It isn’t suitable for shorter term relationships. Standard Clauses Include:
£240 Inc VAT* | Silver Deed of TrustBest suited for couples or family who want to protect more than just their deposit contribution. While it addresses the beneficial ownership, it also focuses on what mortgage repayments you make, what contributions you put towards repairs and renovations during your ownership and procedures for what happens if you fail to keep up with mortgage/bill payments. Standard Clauses Include:
PLUS
£349 Inc VAT* | Gold Deed of TrustBest suited for friends or non-standard trusts requiring a bespoke drafting service. Includes a 1 hour call at the outset, the drafting of a bespoke deed of trust including bespoke clauses drafted by our legal advisor and then an hour call afterwards to run through how the deed works. Standard Clauses Include:
£799 Inc VAT* |
Protect your share when jointly owning a property: get Shared Ownership Protection. Call us on 0333 344 3234 or email us at help@samconveyancing.co.uk.
*Fixed Fee – No Sale No Fee – On all Major Lender Panels
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