Staircasing down

In exceptional cases of extreme hardship, it may be possible to staircase downwards (also called Flexible Tenure).

If you have bought your home with us on a New Build HomeBuy or Shared Ownership scheme and you are in financial difficulty we strongly recommend you seek professional advice as soon as possible, before your situation worsens and your home is put at risk.  You should alert your mortgage lender and seek advice from our in-house Advisors or an independent debt counselling agency, eg, the Citizens Advice Bureau.

After very careful examination of your financial situation, and approval by our Directors and Board, we would allow a lump sum payment to pay off some or all of your mortgage debt. For example you might staircase down from a 50% share to a 25% share, or in exceptional cases, we may pay off the whole mortgage and it may be possible to become a tenant. Flexible tenure is not a given right or entitlement for shared owners.

You will need to provide us with:

• A financial statement prepared by our in-house Welfare Benefits Advisor or the debt counselling agency to show your current income and expenditure, as well as your entitlement to any state benefits so that we can assess whether it will be possible to buy back shares in your property.
• A copy of your most recent mortgage redemption statement
• A completed Flexible Tenure application form and evidence to show that other short and long term options have been exhausted. These include loan rescheduling, or selling and moving to a cheaper property within a reasonable travel to work area.

Flexible Tenure can only be considered for those who have exhausted all other options and require this assistance as a last resort.  We can only help people whose financial difficulties are connected with their inability to pay their mortgage and/or rent, not those who have accumulated debts through unsecured loans or credit cards. Our assessment will include consideration of your ability to meet future repair and maintenance liabilities.

To be eligible you must:

• Be a Radian shared owner
• You must be classed a vulnerable and in housing need by the local authority

You cannot:

• Be a full owner occupier
• Be a former shared owner who has bought their property outright
• Have bought a property through a discount or incentive scheme such as Right to Buy, Right to Acquire, the Tenants' Incentive Scheme
• Have bought through Open Market HomeBuy (shared equity) scheme.

You will need to check whether you are entitled to any welfare benefits. Click here for more details.  You may also wish to contact one of our specialist Independent Financial Advisors (IFAs).

To apply for Flexible Tenure, please download and complete the application form.

Further Information:

Call: 0800 232 1319
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