Right to Shared Ownership application (RtSO1 form)

You can only claim the Right to Shared Ownership if you are a tenant of this property. However, as outlined in Section B below, as a tenant you can make a joint application with:

• someone who shares your tenancy. You are a tenant if your name is listed as a “tenant” in the tenancy agreement. Often “other occupants” are listed in agreement and they do not have tenant status; and/or
• up to three family members who’ve lived with you in the home for at least the past 12 months. They do not need to be tenants of the home themselves.

1. You have the right to be a tenant if your name is listed as a “tenant” in the tenancy agreement. Often “other occupants” are listed in agreement and they do not have tenant status. If you are unsure whether you are a tenant, you should check with your landlord.
2. You can only claim the Right to Shared Ownership if the property is your only or main home.
3. The agreement of any tenant who does not wish to buy must be obtained before you can exercise the Right to Shared Ownership. To provide their consent, they should sign Part G of this form. Their tenancy will end once you’ve exercised the Right to Shared Ownership.

1. You may share the Right to Shared Ownership with up to three family members over the age of 18. They must be a spouse, civil partner or wider family member, but do not have to be tenants themselves. Wider family members must have also lived in the property as their main home for at least the last 12 months.
2. If you are unsure whether someone qualifies as a family member for this purpose, you should check with your landlord. You can ask your landlord to allow family members who haven’t lived with you for 12 months to share the Right to Shared Ownership with you, but your landlord does not have to agree to this.

To be eligible for Shared Ownership, your household’s gross annual income must be £80,000 or less outside of London, or £90,000 or less in London. Gross annual income means the amount of income received per year before tax or other deductions.

Any assessment of household income for the purposes of exercising the Right to Shared Ownership should be based on the income of all members of the household whether they have joined the application or not.

An exception would be the income of children under 18 and any other household member(s) whose residence in the home is unlikely to be permanent.

Additional annual income from other sources should also be taken into account. This includes benefits, guaranteed maintenance, or other forms of income that you receive.

Capital, access to that capital, and any income generated by this capital will be taken into account. Capital assets could include savings, bonds, shares, land and any other assets or investments.

You must have been a tenant of social or affordable housing for at least three years to be eligible for the Right to Shared Ownership.

You do not need to have spent the full three years in your present home or with your present landlord. Previous tenancies in social and affordable housing, including those with a branch of the armed forces, can also count towards your qualifying period.

When your home is valued, any improvements you have made to the property will not be included in the valuation. You should use this application form to give details of any improvements you have made which you think may affect the valuation. This could include central heating, double glazing, a fitted kitchen or a new bathroom suite.

The value of improvements will also be ignored where they were carried out by either:

• your predecessor in the same tenancy (including during a starter tenancy); or
• a family member who was an assured or starter tenant of the property immediately before you under a different tenancy.

To be completed by each joint tenant not wishing to use the Right to Shared Ownership (your tenancy will end once the Right to Shared Ownership has been exercised).