Shared Ownership or Help to Buy, Wales: Which Suits You

If you are trying to buy a home in Wales and the open market is out of reach, two Welsh Government-backed routes are worth understanding. Shared Ownership lets you buy part of a home, usually 25% to 75%, and pay rent to a housing association on the share you do not own. Help to Buy, Wales is a shared equity loan of up to 20% of the purchase price of a new-build home, on top of a repayment mortgage and a 5% deposit.

They are not competing versions of the same thing. Shared Ownership is a way of owning a home in stages, with rent alongside a mortgage. Help to Buy, Wales is a loan secured on a new-build home that you repay when you sell or at the end of the arrangement. Which one fits depends on whether you want a new build, how much you can put down, and whether you are willing to pay rent on part of your home.

The two schemes also have different deadlines and different eligibility rules. Help to Buy, Wales applications must be submitted by 31 March 2027¹. Shared Ownership in Wales has no equivalent closing date in the guidance, but availability depends on what housing associations and developers are offering in your area².

What each scheme actually is

Help to Buy, Wales is a Welsh Government scheme that provides a shared equity loan to buyers of new-build homes⁶. The Welsh Government describes it as an equity mortgage you put towards the cost of buying a newly built home⁷. The loan covers up to 20% of the purchase price, you fund at least 80% through a repayment mortgage and a minimum 5% deposit, and you take out a first charge repayment mortgage with a qualifying lender⁴. It is open to all home buyers, not just first-time buyers, who wish to purchase a new home but may be constrained in doing so⁸.

Shared Ownership is different in kind. You buy a share of a property and pay rent to a landlord for the share they own; it is also called part-buy⁹. The purchaser pays rent to a housing association for the proportion of the home they have not purchased¹⁰. Shared Ownership accommodation is provided by housing associations¹⁰. The size of the share is usually between 25% and 75%¹⁰, though some homes let you start with just 10%².

The two schemes also sit in different parts of the market. Help to Buy, Wales is only for new builds from a builder registered with the scheme⁴. Shared Ownership homes are bought from a participating landlord³, and availability depends on what housing associations and developers are offering in your area².

Fees, charges and eligibility

The costs and the rules differ enough that they often decide which route is open to you.

Help to Buy, Wales. You need a minimum deposit of 5% of the purchase price and must be able to fund at least 80% of the property price through a combination of a repayment mortgage and that deposit⁴. The home must have a maximum price of £300,000 and come from a builder registered with the scheme⁴. It must be your only home, you must not sub-let any part of it, and you must not be renting your existing home while buying a second home through the scheme⁴. The scheme is not available on the purchase of houses sold on a leasehold basis¹¹. For leasehold properties in the third phase, which began in April 2021, future ground rents are restricted to zero⁸.

Shared Ownership, Wales. You must be unable to afford to buy a property suitable for your family size on the open market¹². You must be a British or EU/EEA citizen, or have indefinite leave to remain¹². You must not currently own another home, including anywhere outside Wales, unless a court order forces you to remain on the deed of a property where your children reside¹². The home must be your principal or only home and you may not sub-let all or part of it¹². Shared Ownership, Wales is not available to assist buy-to-let investors¹². Excluding your mortgage deposit and Land Transaction Tax, you will likely need at least an average of £2,500 of savings to cover the costs of buying¹².

How the costs work over time

The two schemes cost you money in different ways, and the difference matters most in the later years.

With Help to Buy, Wales, there is no interest on your equity loan for the first five years¹. If you repay the entire loan within those first five years, you pay zero interest¹. After that, interest applies. The repayment amount is calculated as a proportion of either the current market value, established through an independent RICS valuation, or the sale price of your property, whichever is higher⁷. That means if your home rises in value, the amount you repay rises with it. You can pay off at least 10% of your home's current value, or pay the full amount in one go¹.

With Shared Ownership, you pay a mortgage on your share and rent on the rest. The greater the share you buy, the less rent you pay to your housing association; if you own 100%, you pay no rent at all¹³. Each month you will usually pay your mortgage payment, your rent and a service charge for things like cleaning shared areas². You can buy more shares over time, known as staircasing, in additional amounts of at least 10% of the value of your home, with the final staircasing also at least 10%¹².

Who each scheme is designed for

Help to Buy, Wales support is available to all home buyers, not just first-time buyers, who wish to purchase a new home but may be constrained in doing so⁸. In 2024-25, 603 property purchases were completed using a Welsh Government Help to Buy, Wales shared equity loan⁶. Of those, 90 completed purchases, or 15%, were by former owner-occupiers who used the scheme⁶. In 2023-24, 84 completed purchases, or 16%, were by former owner-occupiers¹⁴.

Shared Ownership, Wales is aimed at people who cannot buy on the open market. You must be a first-time buyer, a newly forming household, or relocating for work purposes to an area where property prices do not allow you to buy a home suitable for your family size³. You must be buying a share in an eligible home from a participating landlord³.

The practical difference is that Help to Buy, Wales can work for someone who already owns a home and wants to move to a new build, provided they are not renting out their existing home and buying a second home through the scheme⁴. Shared Ownership is closed to anyone who currently owns another home, with a narrow exception where a court order forces you to remain on the deed of a property where your children reside¹².

How to apply and what you need

For Help to Buy, Wales, you must reserve with a Help to Buy, Wales registered homebuilder¹⁵. You must use a solicitor or conveyancer who has undertaken Help to Buy, Wales training¹⁶, and in order to access a Help to Buy Wales loan, customers must instruct a conveyancer who is listed on the scheme's website¹⁶. The scheme is administered by Help to Buy (Wales) Ltd, which manages it on behalf of the Welsh Government⁷.

For Shared Ownership, Wales, the buyers' guide should be read before completing the application form¹⁷. The guidance covers how the scheme works, eligibility and how to apply¹⁷.

If you later want to change ownership of a Help to Buy, Wales home, a new mortgage offer from a qualifying lending institution registered with the scheme is needed, and a new Equity Mortgage is entered into¹⁸. Change of ownership can be considered in certain circumstances and is subject to an affordability assessment¹¹. If you choose to switch lenders to get a better deal on your repayment mortgage, you need permission, and further borrowing is only for permitted purposes such as repaying the equity loan, structural alterations on medical grounds, or Transfer of Equity¹⁵.

Service, complaints and arrears

Help to Buy, Wales sets out how it handles customers who fall behind. Arrears are outstanding management fees, outstanding interest payments, and any other outstanding amounts relating to other charges or interest payments¹⁹. Customers whose accounts go into arrears will be provided with information about the arrears before any attempts are made to recover them, and a reasonable amount of time to make good the arrears¹⁹. Before pursuing a customer, the scheme will take reasonable steps to verify the accuracy and adequacy of the data relating to the account¹⁹.

A Default Notice will be issued 180 days after an Equity Mortgage goes into arrears where there has been no engagement or co-operation from the customer, or where the customer has not satisfied any arrears management agreements made¹⁹. The Default Notice provides 28 days' notice to make good the arrears¹⁹. The overriding objective of arrears management is to help customers get back on track with their repayments¹⁹. Customers in arrears experiencing financial difficulties will be referred to a source of free and independent debt advice¹⁹. Help to Buy, Wales works closely with the debt advice agency PayPlan, though you can use any free debt advice agency¹.

If you feel you have been treated unfairly, you can let the scheme know; further details are on the customer information Complaints sheet²⁰. Customers will be treated in accordance with the principles of Treating Customers Fairly, with due consideration given to forbearance and breathing space as appropriate²¹.

Protection and where it stops

Help to Buy (Wales) Ltd is authorised and regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority for credit related activities not covered by an exemption¹⁸. Although only some of the accounts under the scheme are FCA-regulated, the scheme states it will treat non-regulated accounts with equivalent standards to FCA-regulated accounts¹⁹.

The scheme also sets out how it handles customers who may be vulnerable. Any consumer can become vulnerable at any time in their life, for example through serious illness, bereavement or loss of income²². Particularly vulnerable customers are those who might not have the mental capacity to make financial decisions²². The overriding objective of handling vulnerable customers is to seek to provide them with the same access to products and services as is available to all customers²².

For Shared Ownership, the protection comes from the nature of the lease and the landlord's obligations, and from the rules on staircasing and selling. You can sell at any time but must tell the company that owns the rest if you own less than 100%². You cannot rent it out or keep it; you will need to sell your share if you want to leave². If you want to staircase, you will need the permission of the company that owns the rest of the home².

Where the schemes stop protecting you is when you stop meeting the conditions. Sub-letting a Help to Buy, Wales home is not permitted⁴. Renting out a Shared Ownership home is not permitted². Falling into arrears on either scheme can ultimately lead to a Default Notice and recovery action¹⁹.

If you are already struggling with your mortgage

Separate from both buying schemes, Help to Stay, Wales is a shared equity loan to help you cover your mortgage costs if you are a homeowner in mortgage difficulty at risk of losing your home²³. The scheme can provide eligible applicants with a shared equity loan to help reduce your mortgage payments to an affordable level²⁴. It can offer free financial advice and a shared equity loan to help make your monthly mortgage payments more affordable¹⁷. The loan is secured against your home²⁵.

If your property is jointly owned, all owners must give consent and sign the application form before the scheme can proceed²⁶.

For free, impartial help with money worries, you can contact MoneyHelper or a debt advice charity. Help to Buy, Wales itself refers customers in arrears to free and independent debt advice¹⁹.