Our Low Cost Home Ownership scheme, or LCHO, helps first time buyers through a shared equity scheme or shared ownership scheme. It offers new build properties on a shared basis. These are built by our external partners in a variety of locations across Cardiff.
For the latest resale properties, head to the Cardiff Council website
This means you will finance the greater share of the property via any savings or a mortgage, and CCHA will finance the rest. The exact amount of the greater share will differ based on the specific property but, typically, it will be 70%. For example, if the market cost of the property is £120,000, a shared equity arrangement of 70% – 30% would result in a purchase of £84,000, with CCHA financing the remaining £36,000.
You will repay the remaining amount that was financed by CCHA when you sell the property, or buy it outright. This will be based on the market value at the time, not for the amount it was purchased for.
It is the same as the Shared Equity scheme but, sometimes, an ownership opportunity becomes available. When this happens, you begin to pay a discounted rent on the percentage of the property you don’t own. This allows you to steadily purchase the remainder of the property and potentially achieve 100% ownership, depending on the terms of the lease.
Sometimes, existing owners decide to sell their properties bought through this scheme. We call these ‘resales.’ If you are a property owner already and are considering selling, there are two key steps. Firstly, please let us know so that we can request Cardiff County Council find a potential buyer from their list of applicants. Secondly, if a buyer cannot be found through this pool, you’re free to sell your property on the open market and repay CCHA the agreed share of the purchase price.
(You can view the list of resale properties below!)
Don’t worry! We know it can seem like a confusing process when first reading about it. You can find further information through the First Homes website , including the eligibility criteria and how to apply to be on the list of applicants.