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Shared ownership mortgages
We specialise in mortgages for energy efficient, affordable housing for borrowers looking to purchase a shared ownership property.
Key Features
- We provide a straightforward, individual mortgage service for shared ownership borrowers
- Our current Standard Variable Rate is 4.65%
Representative example:
A mortgage of £95,300 payable over 25 years on our Standard Variable Rate, currently 4.65%, would require 300 monthly payments of £537.85.
The total amount payable would be £161,895 made up of the loan amount plus interest (£66,055) and a mortgage application fee of £300 and a valuation fee of £240 (assuming a purchase price of £200,000)
The overall cost for comparison is 4.80% APRC representative - We’ll consider lending up to four times joint or sole income subject to loan to value and an affordability assessment
- Energy efficient homes are rewarded with discounts off our Standard Variable Rate - see details below of how our C-Change sustainable homes discounts work
- You can borrow up to 95% of the property’s value or purchase price (whichever is the lower) of the share being purchased
- An early repayment charge may be payable if you repay all or part of your mortgage within the first two years
- A non-refundable mortgage application fee of £300 is payable in addition to a mortgage valuation fee
- A maximum mortgage term of 30 years is available, subject to eligibility
- Mortgages are available on a repayment basis only.
Our approach to lending for shared ownership mortgages
We’ll lend up to 95% of the current value or the purchase price (whichever is the lower) of the share being purchased on a repayment mortgage, subject to eligibility.
Our standard of service
The Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) has laid down detailed rules about the service we must offer on regulated residential mortgages. Under these rules, we will provide you with advice and recommendation on which of the Society's products is most suitable for you, based on your needs, preferences and affordability. Where a mortgage is not regulated by the FCA (as shown on the 'Key features' tab), you will be provided with full information about the mortgage products available from the Society so that you can make an informed decision as to which is suitable for your requirements.
What we lend on
We consider energy efficient property or flats for our shared ownership mortgage, however we only lend on flats when they are no more than 4 storey buildings.
Our mortgages are available across England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland.
Further reading
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Customer project
Jenny’s story: A simple, beautiful, and light urban Passivhaus
Project type: Self-build
In her mind’s eye, Jenny wanted a self-built home that was simple and beautiful, plain but not austere, low energy and low tech, built with sustainable materials wherever affordable, with high ceilings and flooded with light from every direction. She achieved this, and much more, as well as a certified Passivhaus, with the support of Fran and ...
ReadSee all projects -
Customer project
Nina and Phil’s story: Big love for a smallholding
Project type: Woodlands
Frustrated by the ethos and stresses of many modern businesses, Nina and Phil wanted to do things differently. Their dream of running a sustainable, low impact smallholding began in 2007. After viewing several parcels of land, the couple identified an inspiring fifteen-acre plot in Kildwick, high above the town of Silsden in West ...
ReadSee all projects -
Customer project
Rob and Karin’s story: the first certified Passivhaus Plus in the UK
Project type: Self-build
Rob and Karin set out to build a comfortable family home which would improve their quality of life as well as reducing their carbon footprint. They chose the Passivhaus Plus standard for their build, which combines the Passivhaus approach to minimise their home’s energy requirements with energy generation, so that the home produces more energy ...
ReadSee all projects -
Customer project
Irene and David’s story: Converting to Passivhaus
Project type: Conversion
After living happily in a Victorian house on the outskirts of Ripon, North Yorkshire, for 20 years, Irene and David were ready for a change. “We loved the house, but it required a lot of maintenance and was costly to heat.” Their new house, in contrast, is an energy efficient converted stable block, just a seven-minute walk from the centre of ...
ReadSee all projects
Ecology Building Society was rated as an ethical Best Buy for our mortgages and savings accounts by Ethical Consumer magazine in its product guide rankings (July/August 2016 issue).
As a building society with a unique mission to build a greener society, we only lend on projects and properties that support our aims through their reduced impact on our environment. Making your home energy efficient is a major way you can support tackling climate change – while saving on your energy bills. We reward borrowers whose properties are energy efficient, and therefore have lower C02 emissions, and help them save money on their mortgages with our C-Change discounts. We call our discounts ‘C-Change discounts’ simply because we’re aiming to make a ‘sea-change’ of difference to our climate with each property or project we fund.
The level of our C-Change sustainable homes, C-Change retrofit or C-Change energy improvements discount that applies is based on the Energy Standard rating achieved on the self-build, renovation, conversion or energy improvements when the work is completed. The discount is applied from the date we receive evidence that the work has been completed and the required Energy Standard rating has been achieved.
Normally you will be purchasing a property that is already fully completed and to qualify for our mortgage the property must be classified as an energy efficient property. You will need to provide us with evidence that the property achieves one of the Energy Standards ratings in the table below.
How we work out your Variable Mortgage Rate:
Standard Variable Rate (SVR) minus C-Change discount = Variable Mortgage Rate
| Energy Standard | Ratings | SVR (Standard Variable Rate) | Discount % | Variable Mortgage Rate |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Passivhaus | Passivhaus | 4.65% | 1.25% | 3.40%. The overall cost for comparison is 4.80% APRC representative. |
| Energy Performance Certificate (EPC) | A | 4.65% | 0.75% | 3.90%. The overall cost for comparison is 4.80% APRC representative. |
| Energy Performance Certificate (EPC) | B | 4.65% | 0.50% | 4.15%. The overall cost for comparison is 4.80% APRC representative |
| Code for Sustainable Homes (CSH) | Code Level 4 | 4.65% | 0.75% | 3.90%. The overall cost for comparison is 4.80% APRC representative |
| Code for Sustainable Homes (CSH) | Code Level 5 | 4.65% | 1.00% | 3.65%. The overall cost for comparison is 4.80% APRC representative |
| Code for Sustainable Homes (CSH) | Code Level 6 | 4.65% | 1.25% | 3.40%. The overall cost for comparison is 4.80% APRC representative |
| Association for Environment Conscious Building (AECB) | Silver | 4.65% | 0.75% | 3.90%. The overall cost for comparison is 4.80% APRC representative |
| Association for Environment Conscious Building (AECB) | Gold | 4.65% | 1.25% | 3.40%. The overall cost for comparison is 4.80% APRC representative |
Residential mortgage valuation fees
| Value of property not exceeding | Fee |
|---|---|
| £100,000 | £180 |
| £150,000 | £210 |
| £200,000 | £240 |
| £250,000 | £270 |
| £300,000 | £300 |
| Up to each £50,000 thereafter add | £30 |
Please note these fees apply to residential and buy-to-let applications.
In all other instances, the fee required will be determined on a case-by-case basis.
A more detailed inspection, such as a Homebuyers Report can often be provided by the same valuer at a fee to be negotiated. Please advise on this point when submitting your application. Depending on the nature of the property, the fee required may on occasion differ from this scale. Valuation fees include VAT.
Application Fee
A non-refundable mortgage application fee of £300 is payable in addition to a mortgage valuation fee.
Early repayment charge
An early repayment charge may be payable if you repay all or part of your mortgage within the first two years.
Our services, fees, tariffs and charges
The Society reserves the right to amend existing services and charges, or to introduce new ones.
Any change to charges will only reflect the increased operational costs of providing the service. You will always be notified before any changes are implemented.
For further details and tariff information please see Our rates and charges leaflet.
If you're interested in joining Ecology as a borrower, we'd love to hear from you.
Because we take an individual approach to every mortgage, we like to discuss your application with you over the phone to make sure it fits our criteria and to answer any questions you have.
You can contact us on 01535 650 770, or you can email us via our enquiry form. We receive a lot of enquiries through our website, so there may be a delay before we can respond to you. If your enquiry is urgent, please contact us by phone.
When you get in touch with us, it's helpful if you can provide us with some basic information about your project:
- what you want to do (especially the environmental aspects of your project)
- how much you'll need to borrow
- how you intend to finance it.
For residential mortgage enquiries, please contact one of our mortgage advisors to discuss your project and your mortgage requirements. You can find out more about the process by downloading The application process: a step-by-step guide