How to buy more shares in your home

How to buy more shares in your home

Staircasing Staircasing is the process of you purchasing additional shares in your property, you can either purchase additional shares in increments all the way up to potentially 100% ownership or you can purchase the remaining share in one transaction. Please refer to your lease for terms that apply to your specific minimum percentage and your entitlement to increase your shares to 100% ownership. Your lease contains information on how you increase your ownership. It is important to consider carefully all the costs involved in staircasing before you go ahead. We strongly advise you discuss the procedure and likely costs with your solicitor before you go ahead with the transaction. The association will only consent to the staircasing if your rent and service charge account is up to date. If arrears are on your account you will be required to clear these before the transaction can proceed. Remortgaging If you are not increasing your ownership to 100% and you are applying for a new mortgage or increasing your present mortgage, we will need to approve it before completion. You will need to make sure you apply for a repayment mortgage. one The Resales team will arrange for a recommended surveyor registered with RICS (Royal Institution of Charted Surveyors) to carry out a survey of your property. To enable us to do this please complete the enclosed Valuation Request form. If you have made any alterations or improvements to your property that may affect the value, please complete the section titled Alterations or Improvements on the valuation request form, with any changes that have been approved by A2Dominion. It will take a maximum of 5 working days from receipt of your completed Valuation Request form by the Resales Team for the valuer to be instructed. During this period checks on your rent and service charge account will be carried out to verify your details and ensure your account is up to date. two The Resales Team will instruct either Aspect or Frazer s Surveyors, once all the checks on your account have been completed. The surveyor instructed will be dependent on the area you live. Frazer s charge 192.00 for valuations which require your property to be inspected and 50.00 for a desk top update. Their prices include VAT. Aspect charge 234.00 for a valuation with inspection 90.00 for a desk top updateinclusive of VAT. Within 3 working days of receipt of your completed valuation request form a member of the Resales Team will contact you to take payment for the valuation by credit or debit card. Once the payment has been collected we will provide the surveyor with your contact details to arrange an appoinment with you for the survey. three Once we receive a copy of your valuation report we will issue the Confirmation to Proceed form which will have the purchase price of the additional shares you wish to buy. This will be sent within 5 working days of the Resales Team receiving the valuation report. If you wish to proceed, you would need to complete the form attached and send that into the Resales Team.

four We will then instruct our solicitor within 5 working days of receiving your completed staircasing confirmation form. The instruction will be issued to our solicitors and a copy will be sent to you. Under the terms of your lease, the staircasing transaction must be completed within 3 months of the date the surveyor inspected your property. If the staircasing is not completed within the specified time limit the property will have to be re-valued and another fee will be payable by you. If an update is required please be aware that the price of your property may go up or down depending on market conditions. In this event the purchase price of your additional shares will be re-calculated. You will need to instruct a solicitor to progress your staircasing transaction therefore you should budget for legal expenses. five You will need to instruct your solicitor to commence legal proceedings on your staircasing. A2Dominion s solicitors and your solicitors will then manage the process through to completion. What happens once I complete? If you have bought 100% of your property you will no longer have to pay rent. You are now classified as a Leaseholder if you own an apartment or a Freeholder if you own a house. If you do not pay us a service charge you will have no more dealings with us. However, when you want to sell your property you will have to offer the property back to A2Dominion as we have first refusal to buy it back, subject to your lease. This is so we can keep it within the low cost home ownership sector. If A2Dominion wish to exercise their right under the terms of the lease to purchase back your property it will be bought back based on its current market value as per a valuation carried out by a surveyor registered with the Royal Institution of Charted Surveyors. If A2Dominion do not wish to purchase back your property we will confirm this to you in writing and at that point you will be free to sell your property on the open market. If you have not staircased to 100% we will write to you within 5 working days of the solicitors notifying us your staircasing has completed to confirm your revised rent and service charges that you pay from then on.

Your questions answered Q How do you work out the purchase price of the shares? A When you staircase you buy the extra shares at the current market value of the property. For example, if you want to buy an extra 25% and your property is valued at 100,000, the purchase price will be 25,000. Q What is the smallest share I can buy? A You may increase your ownership in separate stages, or in one stage, to 100% (depending on what your lease will allow). You have to buy at least 10% of the unsold equity each time. Q What if I have made improvements to my property? A When you apply to staircase, please tell us about any improvements you have carried out. Please remember that you need our permission before carrying out any improvements to your new home. After receiving your application form we will write to you to confirm which improvements we will take into account when the property is valued. Q What improvements will we take into account? A We will consider improvements such as double glazing, new fitted kitchen or bathroom, installing central heating, loft conversions and conservatories. If you want to make an improvement to your property you must contact Leasehold Services and ask for their permission before you start work. General maintenance, repair and redecoration are not treated as improvements. If you were asked to carry out any work when you originally bought the property, this is also treated as maintenance and repair. Q What costs will I be expected to pay for staircasing? A As well as the valuation fee and valuation update (if needed), you will also be responsible for all legal costs connected with the staircasing transactions. Q Will I still have to pay A2Dominion for my buildings insurance after completion? A If you own a house and have bought 100% of your property A2Dominion may still be required to provide building insurance cover, which means you will be required to contribute to this cost. Please refer to your lease to see if this is applicable to you, your solicitors should also be able to advise you on this. If your solicitors are unable to advise you on this please contact our Leasehold Team on 0800 432 0077 for further advice. You will need to arrange for your own building insurance cover if A2Dominion are no longer required to provide this. However, if you live in an apartment and pay service charges and have bought the full 100% of your apartment, you will continue to pay your monthly buildings insurance to us, through your service charge. For all enquires please call: 0800 432 0077 Email: staircasing@a2dominion.co.uk www.a2dominion.co.uk/newhomes

Valuation Request Form Please return to :- A2Dominion, Resales Team The Point 37 North Wharf Road London W2 1BD Or you can email it to: staircasing@a2dominion.co.uk To enable the Resales Team to instruct a surveyor please complete the form below in full. Name Address Email address Home number Work number Mobile number I currently own: % I wish to purchase: % Alterations and Improvements:- Please list any approved changes you have made to your property here. Please only include improvements which were approved by A2Dominion s Leasehold Team. If you cannot provide evidence of the improvements they will not be taken into account. Please continue on a separate sheet if necessary. SIGNED DATE

Contact details A2Dominion Group The Point 37 North Wharf Road London W2 1BD t: 0800 432 0077 e: resales@a2dominion.co.uk w: www.a2dominion.co.uk A2Dominion Housing Group Ltd (an exempt charity registered under the Co-operative & Community Benefit Societies Act 2014 Soc. No. 28985R, HCA Reg. L4240). Registered Office: The Point, 37 North Wharf Road, London, W2 1BD. Details correct at time of going to print April 2015