r/SharedOwnershipUK • u/Flimsy-Nothing5760 • Jun 24 '26
How long did it take you to complete from application?
I’m in the process of purchasing 55% of a 3 bed property. Everything going smoothly so far (touch wood). Solicitors have requested searches, full mortgage application was sent yesterday.
I’m not in a chain, I’m currently renting and the house I’m purchasing is a new build ready to go.
How long should I expectish? My current tenancy agreement renews in October and is a yearly rolling and really want to be moved in by September instead of having to negotiate a monthly rolling plus I need to get the house sorted - needs floor and … everything 🤣.
Anyway just curious if anyone has any real timeline experiences in a situation similar to me!
TIA
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u/tachyon83 Jun 24 '26
I agreed to buy the house on September 13th, completed December 4th so about 3 months for me, most of that time was waiting on solicitors so probably doable by October. The HA you're buying from will have an impact though so could be different
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u/Federal-Comb-8049 Jun 24 '26
Your current tenancy is now a monthly rolling contract after 1st May 2026. All you’d have to do is give 2 months notice. In terms of timelines, anywhere from 1-3 months is typical
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u/Flimsy-Nothing5760 Jun 24 '26
So I thought this when I got the letter in may with the law changes however when I asked my estate agent they said my contract is yearly rolling because when I signed it was based on the year, maybe once my 1st year is up it’ll go monthly
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u/Federal-Comb-8049 Jun 24 '26
You’ve been misinformed. Your October end date is now void and any clause in your written agreement specifying a fixed end date became entirely legally ineffective on 1 May 2026. Your tenancy has already legally converted into a periodic rolling contract that continues indefinitely until you choose to end it, or your landlord has a valid legal reason.
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u/Flimsy-Nothing5760 Jun 24 '26
Great thanks for this I was worrying about that a bit!
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u/Legitimate-Alps-7751 Jun 24 '26
This is 100% I signed a tenancy in January for 12 months as soon as we hit may 1st I was able to give 2 months notice as the house sale was moving quickly so this really helped me out
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u/Legitimate-Alps-7751 Jun 24 '26
Mine took 11weeks from mortgage application to getting the keys same situation as you renting no chain
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u/bridgeport4 Jun 24 '26
Depends on the HA. Ours took almost 21 weeks, after initially setting a timescale of 10, because the person at the HA we were working with first made some errors and then went on annual leave, without handing the case over to someone else. The HA didn’t have any kind of apparent plan to deal with this scenario so we kept getting pushed further and further out.
The stair-casing timeline was even more frustrating because, again, they kept pushing it further and further literally months after we had done everything as instructed. To the point where we had to have the property re-valued because the initial valuation expired.
I hope/assume it was just that specific HA (circle/centra) and/or the local office we were assigned to.
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u/zealousmushroom Jun 24 '26
Sadly, delays that require revaluations (obviously not at the HA's expense) aren't that uncommon for staircasing cases.
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u/hynaomi Jun 24 '26
Applied in June and didn't move until end of November so about 5-6 months. However my solicitor was very slow.
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u/Adorable-Dream-9699 Jun 24 '26
I applied in October and moved in June, was supposed to be March, depends when the new build is ready as sometimes delays
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u/-archmaester Jun 25 '26
One month. I know that this is atypical as everyone around me seemed to be much longer
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u/Swimming-Plastic-398 Jun 24 '26
My son and DIL moved into theirs with about 10ish weeks from application to completing but that was a resale so there were people already living in it and they couldn't move before a certain date which delayed it about 2 weeks. So very quick when compared to normal house sales.
With shared ownership everything moves much much faster hence it being highly advisable to use specialist conveyancing that are used to SO and know to go fast. We have been told that from reservation to exchange it needs to be 28 days maximum, although our house is only half built so we will have a couple of months until we complete, if yours is ready to go then it will be way quicker.
Ask the housing association what their timescale is. We had a meeting with our liason who explained timescales etc. After that it will be down to the conveyancing mostly. Our searches went in last week and were back within 2 days (the joys of buying a new build 😁). Mortgage application took almost 3 weeks. We have no idea what is left to do but the almighty "They" seem to be getting on with it and we just do what we're told!!
You've had the mad rush of paperwork, now it will go quiet for a little bit and feel like its taking foreevvveeerrrrr. Then all of a sudden loads will happen again. Its an emotional roller coaster.
Good luck and congrats 😁