Enquiry Pack – Resales Selling your home with Southern Housing Group Thank you for your recent Resales enquiry. As a shared owner with Southern Housing Group (SHG) or Southern Home Ownership (SHO), we recognise that circumstances change and you may need to sell your share in your home at some stage. We’ve put together this guide to help you through the process and make the process as simple as possible.

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Introduction Any Shared Ownership home purchased through SHG must be sold through us in the first instance. You can choose to sell your share at any time, and your shared ownership lease gives us an 8 week nomination period to find a buyer for your share. We hold a database of people who are looking for a Shared Ownership home already, and we’ll do our best to find you a buyer quickly. This is so we can assist other first time buyers to buy a home with shared ownership. During this period you may not instruct an estate agent. When selling your share, you’ll need a RICS (Royal Institute of Chartered Surveyors) valuation. The valuation will confirm how much your home is worth, including any improvements you’ve made, and will determine the value of your share. Once you’ve confirmed you’re happy with the price, we’ll put together your sales details. We’ll arrange for a marketing adviser to take photographs, create a floor plan and provide an Energy Performance Certificate (if required) for your home.

How it works Your valuation Your lease will require you to obtain an independent RICS qualified Surveyor report to determine the value of your home. SHG has a panel list of Surveyors, who are not part of the Group, but are qualified to complete the type of valuation your lease requires. The initial valuation reports cost £180.00 including VAT. If you want to arrange your own valuation report, we’ll provide you with a set of guidelines to ensure that your Surveyor is correctly accredited, please contact us to request these. Your valuation is valid for 3 months from date it takes place, and will need to be renewed if you haven’t accepted an offer on your home before it expires. You would also need to renew it if you don’t have a valid report before you complete on your sale. However, if you have a buyer in place, we can accept your valuation for up to three months from acceptance of the offer.

Agreeing a marketing price We’ll usually receive your valuation report within five working days from the date they visit. When we receive it we’ll contact you to confirm your price. The valuation figure will determine the marketing value. Your home is valued as if it were to be sold on the open market, at current market value, and we’ll confirm your share value to you. We’ll market your home at your current valuation and won’t invite offers. If a buyer does make an offer, we are legally required to advise you, however please be aware you’re unable to sell for less than the surveyor’s valuation.

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If you are unhappy with the Surveyor’s valuation, we will ask you to provide details of three comparable properties and their sold prices from the last three months, so we can put forward an appeal case for you. If you’re still not happy, you can appeal to the District Surveyor. The District Surveyor decision will be final and you will also need to bear the cost associated with this.

Marketing your home Your 8 week nomination period will start from the date we receive your confirmation to proceed and EPC confirmation. We’ll then aim to get your home on the market within three working days of this. We’ll advertise your home on Southern Home Ownership’s website www.shosales.co.uk and also on www.sharetobuy.co.uk if you’re in London. Your home will only be allocated if a suitable buyer is found. If we’re unable to allocate a buyer after the first two weeks, we’ll market your home on a first come first served basis. We offer an enhanced marketing package to assist in selling your home. Our enhanced service is designed to help sell your home as quickly and as smoothly as possible, it provides an Estate Agent style offer, ideal for those looking for the simplest and effective way to sell. Our enhanced package costs 1% + VAT of the full value of your home and includes: • • • •

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Colour photographs A floor plan with room dimensions An EPC (if required) Advertising: o Our website www.shosales.co.uk, o The affordable home ownership portal for your area (www.sharetobuy.co.uk (London) or www.helptobuyese.org.uk (outside London)) o Property portal www.rightmove.co.uk (after the first two weeks). Co-ordinating your open days and viewings Qualifying viewers to ensure they are eligible. Sales progression – We’ll progress the sale to ensure it progresses as quickly and as smoothly as possible. Fortnightly updates

If you opt not to take the enhanced marketing package, we will market your home based on the nomination fee detailed in your lease. You’ll receive photographs, a floor plan and an EPC (if required), and we’ll advertise your home on our website www.shosales.co.uk and the affordable home ownership portal for your area (www.sharetobuy.co.uk (London) or www.helptobuyese.org.uk (outside London)). We are also able to advertise your home on Rightmove for an additional fee of £300.00 for up to six months. This fee is payable up front and is in addition to the nomination fee. You may instruct us to advertise your home on

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Rightmove at any point during the marketing, however if it is within the nomination period, just the share will be advertised on Rightmove. You’ll also be required to pay for a legal pack from our Leasehold team once your home is sold, to provide your buyer’s solicitor with the information they need. This costs £100.00 + VAT.

Energy Performance Certificate (EPC) It’s a legal requirement to have an EPC when you sell your home; this provides a rating for how energy efficient your home is. It’s your responsibility to provide the certificate, but if your home is less than 10 years old, you may already have a current EPC. You can check this online at https://www.epcregister.com. To start marketing your home, you must either provide us with a copy of your EPC, or we will need proof that you have instructed someone to complete it. You then have 28 days to provide us with a full EPC.

After the Nomination period If we fail to find you a buyer within the 8 week nomination period, you may wish to place your home on the open market with an estate agent. We will continue to market your home unless you instruct us otherwise, and in addition, you have two further options for selling your home on the open market:  You could market just your share, in which case your buyer must be eligible for shared ownership. You’ll need to make sure that your estate agent is aware of this and arranges for the buyer to complete an application form and is approved by us before you accept an offer. If your estate agent finds a buyer, you’ll be responsible for paying their fee. We won’t charge you 1% + VAT, but an administration fee will be required.  You may choose to offer your home at 100% of the value. This will involve back-to-back staircasing as the buyer will fund you to purchase our share to enable you to sell 100%. We won’t charge you 1% + VAT, but an administration fee will be required. If you didn’t pay any stamp duty when you bought your home, you may be liable for stamp duty on the additional shares you’re selling. Your solicitor will confirm this to you. You’ll need to make your agent aware that you must sell for the valuation price. If you sell for less, you will need to make up the difference to the valuation price. If you sell for more, we may have the provision in the lease which entitles us to claim the difference between the valuation and the agreed sale price. When you’ve agreed a sale, you’ll need to let the estate agent know to send us a memorandum of sale as soon as possible so we can instruct our solicitor. If you’re looking to display a for sale board through an estate agent, you are welcome to do so. However if you live in a flat, you must display it in your window. You cannot install it to the exterior of the building or on any communal grounds.

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If your home is sold for 100% on the open market, this will mean staircasing and selling. We will not charge our full marketing fee but there will be a charge of £180 + VAT for dealing with the administration of the sale and final staircasing.

Finding a buyer We have a Selection and Allocation policy to find a suitable buyer from everyone who have expressed an interest in buying your home after they’ve viewed, using the standard Shared Ownership criteria. We’ll also refer them to a financial adviser to ensure they can afford to buy your home. The successful buyer is made an offer, which includes a reservation form for them to complete and return to us within five working days. This confirms that they wish to buy your home, and provides us with details of their solicitor. They also pay a £500 reservation fee. Once they’ve paid their fee and returned their form, we’ll issue details of the sale to the Solicitors.

You’ve sold! Congratulations! You’re now on your way to selling your home. When you sell your Shared Ownership home, you are dealing directly with your buyer and their solicitor. The buyer is purchasing the share you own and SHG are retaining their interest in the home. Your solicitor will handle the legal work required to sell your lease to your buyer. Your buyer’s solicitor will ensure the mortgage is in place and review the legal work, ready for exchanging contracts, which is the time the sale becomes legally binding. We aim to exchange within 12 weeks of the contracts being issued but this can be longer dependent on how quickly the solicitors handle the transaction, how quickly the buyer’s mortgage offer is issued, and whether you’re making an onward purchase.

Completion You’ll need to make sure you leave any keys and fobs, and relevant information about your home, for your buyer on completion. You should also make sure you read your meters when you leave. We’ll ask our Customer Accounts team to update your rent account to show the new buyer of the property, any credit on your account will be refunded to you. You must remember to cancel your direct debit with your bank. W e’ll request payment of any outstanding rent, insurance and service charges (in some cases we may have to refund you for rent paid in advance). The marketing/nomination fee will also be requested at this point. All monies are requested via your solicitor and deducted from the sale proceeds. VW 0416 V1

Additional information 

If you didn’t pay stamp duty on your original purchase and sell 100%, you may be liable for stamp duty on the additional shares being sold. You should check with your solicitor as to how much you may be required to pay.

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Before selling your property you must ensure you’re not in rent or mortgage arrears. SHG reserves the right to refuse the sale of your property if you are in arrears. If there are any existing or foreseeable financial difficulties, we advise you to speak to our Customer Accounts and Payments Team on 0300 303 1771.

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You are fully responsible for maintaining your home and carrying out any repairs. This includes essential safety checks such as gas, pipe work, electrical and boiler checks. It is likely that a new buyer will request a current gas and electrical certificate. If you haven’t had a recent inspection carried out, we recommend you arrange for this to be done.

The conveyancing process Buying and selling can be complicated procedure and SHG will seek to guide you through the process every step of the way. The order of events varies but our guide gives you an overview of what the solicitors do on your behalf: 

Once a buyer has been found for your home, you should let your solicitor know immediately. They’ll need to obtain the title deeds for your property (normally from your mortgage lender) and prepare the draft contract to send to your buyers’ solicitor. They’ll send you some forms to complete including a fixtures and fittings form and a sellers information form.

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Your buyer's solicitor will check through the paperwork and raise enquiries. Their solicitor will also request searches, including a Local Authority search (whether there are any developments in the area that might affect the property), Environmental search (matters affecting the land on which the property has been built), Drainage/Water search.

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The enquiries sent to your solicitor will include questions about neighbourhood disputes, boundary disputes, planning permissions, rights of way, restrictive covenants, guarantees, utilities, items included, lease details term, Management Company, service charges etc. You may be required to answer certain questions on these matters. If you own a flat that is not managed by SHG, the managing agent may be required to answer some of the enquiries for which they may charge a fee.

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If you pay service charges and the year end accounts have not been finalised, your solicitor will request retention to be held to cover any possible shortfall. This could be retained for up to 18 months until the accounts for the current year have been reconciled.

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Once the enquiries have been answered and the buyer’s solicitor is satisfied, the buyer will be asked to sign their contract and pay a deposit in readiness for exchange.

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A copy of your contract is sent to you for signature. Once your buyer’s deposit has cleared and both parties have signed the contract, the solicitors will exchange and set a completion date to be agreed by all parties. At this stage, the sale is legally binding.

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Once contracts have exchanged, the buyer’s solicitor prepares a draft transfer. This document transfers the title of the property from you to the buyer. Once both sides have agreed on the draft, you both sign the document.

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On the day of completion, your buyer’s mortgage funds will be transferred to your solicitor along with any additional balance due. Once the funds have been received, this is completion. You can then arrange to hand over your keys to your buyer directly.

Buying another Shared Ownership home London Second Steps was created to assist existing shared owners in London whose property no longer meets their needs, to move to a more suitable property. Second Steps is exclusive to SHG Shared Owners living in London, and not only lets you buy another Shared Ownership home, but gives you choice from the open market. This means you can choose a home in any London borough through an Estate Agent. For more information, and to apply for the scheme, visit www.mysecondsteps.co.uk.

Outside of London To be considered for another Shared Ownership home, you must first re-apply through your local Help to Buy agent. You can apply on-line at www.helptobuyese.org.uk. You’ll need to note on your application the amount of equity that you can transfer from your current home into your new one. A local estate agent should be able to provide a rough guide as to the current value of your home. Your equity will be the value of your share minus any outstanding mortgage. You will also need to find a buyer for your home before you can buy a new one, so will need to instruct us to sell your share as soon as possible.

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What does moving cost? There are costs involved in buying and selling and listed below is not exhaustive but provides a rough guide to what these fees might be. You should always explore this yourself to gain a true idea of the costs:  Valuation fee on current home £150.00 + VAT  Energy Performance Certificate £50.00 + VAT  Mortgage valuation on your purchase £450.00 + VAT (can be higher for a Homebuyer’s report)  Registration of your mortgage £35.00  Bank charges £40.00  Solicitor fee for selling your share £750.00 + VAT  Solicitor fee for buying your new home £750.00 + VAT  Disbursements £80.00  Land Registry fee £200.00  SHG’s leasehold management pack £100.00 + VAT  External Managing Agent enquiries £350.00 + VAT (where applicable)  Searches £200.00 (Amount may vary depending on area)  Stamp Duty Land Tax (variable) £2,000.00 (Varies depending on scheme/price)  Marketing/nomination fee payable to SHG for selling (As per your instruction)  Mortgage deposit If you are just selling, not all of the above costs will apply. If you have any queries regarding the sales process, please contact the Resales team below.

What happens next? If you have any further questions, contact our Resales experts on 0300 555 2171 or email [email protected]. If you wish to sell, to arrange your valuation, complete the form at the end of this pack and return it to [email protected] or by post to Resales Team, Southern Housing Group, Fleet House, 59-61 Clerkenwell Road, London EC1M 5LA.

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Valuation Instruction Form Thank you for your recent Resales enquiry. In order to commence the process, please complete this form and return to the Resales team by email to [email protected] or by post to Resales, Southern Housing Group, 59-61 Clerkenwell Road, London EC1M 5LA.

Name/s: _______________________________________________________________ Address: _______________________________________________________________ Email: _________________________________________________________________ Telephone: _____________________________________________________________

Please select one of the following two options:  I/We would like you to instruct an independent RICS chartered surveyor from Southern Home Ownership’s (SHO) panel of Surveyors to value my/our home.

 I/We would like to arrange our own independent RICS chartered surveyor to value my/our home.

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I/We understand that if I/we arrange our own valuation report, that the Surveyor must be correctly accredited. (A set of guidance notes is available upon request).

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I/We agree to the payment of £150.00 + VAT if instructing a Surveyor from SHO. To arrange payment for your valuation fee, please follow the process as detailed below.

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I/We understand that SHG are instructing an independent valuation on my behalf. The sale price of the share will be based on an open market valuation, including any home improvements you’ve made.

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I/We give permission for my/our contact details to be passed onto the surveyors who will contact me/us to arrange access to my/our home for the survey at a convenient time and date.

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I/we understand that the valuer will contact me/us directly within five working days of SHO instructing the valuation. The report will be returned to SHO and will be issued to you with an offer within ten working days. I/we understand the valuation can only be undertaken during normal office hours of 9am to 5pm, Monday to Friday.

To arrange payment for your valuation fee, please follow the process as detailed below: Direct Bank Transfer I/We have paid by direct bank transfer to the bank account below: SHG Nat West Chancery Lane & Holborn Bank Account No: 01209876 Sort Code: 60-40-04 When making payments direct to SHG Bank Account you must quote the address of your home, followed by Resales as a reference. Failure to do this could cause delays in processing your valuation.

Information for the Surveyor: Current share percentage your own: ______% Type of home: House / Apartment / Other* Please specify ___________________________ Number of Bedrooms: ________________________________________________________ Floor level (if an apartment): ___________________________________________________ Parking (only if included in your lease, not if you rent a space): Yes / No Any points of interest: Garden/Communal space/Gym _______________________________ Did you buy from new: Yes / No Approximate age of your home: _________________________________________________ Is there a communal heating system? Yes / No

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Please sign below to confirm you would like us to proceed. Name: ___________________________________________________________________ Signature: __________________________________________________________________ Name: ___________________________________________________________________ Signature: __________________________________________________________________ Date: ___________________________________________________________________ (If this is a joint application, both must sign and date this form)

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