Calculator will help show role of part-and-part-mortgages
Just Mortgages and Gen H have expanded their existing partnership with the launch of a new tool that will help support shared ownership clients in achieving full home ownership.
Gen H has built and launched a bespoke, interactive calculator to support Just Mortgage advisors in showing shared ownership customers how a part-and-part mortgage could allow them to buy out their housing association’s share entirely, exiting the scheme and switching to full homeownership with Gen H.
In such an instance, a portion of a part-and-part mortgage is structured on an interest-only basis. This helps to reduce the monthly payment and bridge the affordability gap that may have forced the customer down the shared ownership route in the first place. They can switch to a part-and-part mortgage with just a 5% equity share in their property.
Answering the challenges of staircasing
The companies say that the calculator helps address the challenges customers face in staircasing and achieving full home ownership – particularly with the rise in property values. Rather than staircasing with its associated costs and administration, customers are able to overpay on their new part-and-part mortgage to reduce their interest-only balance. Customers can request to make overpayments from their Gen H dashboard and have them approved in minutes.
John Doughty, chapter managing director at Just Mortgages, said: “Shared ownership has been instrumental in helping more people realise their dream of home ownership. Its success can really be counted in the number of first-time buyers, single buyers, divorcees and even families that have finally been able to get on the ladder. This calculator from Gen H helps make clear a simple path to full home ownership that many may not be aware of.”
Peter Docker, chief commercial officer at Gen H, said that for many long-term shared ownership households, property appreciation and salary growth has not directly translated into an ability to staircase.
“What is undoubtedly a great stepping stone into home ownership has in practice become a stumbling block towards full ownership. Our part-and-part criteria allows us to unlock that full ownership option for more households – effectively staircasing through overpayments all while avoiding legal fees, valuation costs and housing association sign-off in the process.”
