House prices in Swindon have risen by over 75% in the past five years leaving many people struggling to compete in the housing market.  In recognition of this, Swindon Borough Council has accelerated its development programme of Low Cost Home Ownership (sometimes known as Shared Ownership) to assist more people in making that difficult first step onto the housing ladder.

Over the past 10 years or so (prior to Jan 2005) about 650 Shared Ownership homes have been provided, and it is anticipated that that there will be a further 312 provided over the next three years to 2008.  These figures do not include the elements of Low Cost Home Ownership to come out of the town centre regeneration or the Southern Development Area, which could amount to an additional 600 properties.

The number of available Low Cost Home Ownership properties within the Swindon Borough Council area will vary from year to year.  The majority will be Shared Ownership houses and flats provided by a variety of housing associations.

Shared Ownership is a ’part buy, part rent’ arrangement typically on a 50%/50% split, with opportunities to increase the share owned, right up to 100%.  The rent paid to the housing association for the unpurchased element reduces as greater shares are bought.  No rent at all is paid if 100% ownership is achieved.

The Housing Department manages a specific database of applicants interested in home ownership in order to find purchasers for all the Low Cost Home Ownership houses and flats provided by our partner housing associations.

Anyone with a genuine need for this form of housing, a connection with the Swindon area and who cannot afford to buy a home on the open market, could be considered.

Further Information

Further details are available in a leaflet, which can be obtained by clicking on the link below. It is available as a downloadable pdf. file:

Low-cost Home Ownership (62Kb)

Registration of Interest Form

To register your interest, you need to fill in the Registration of Interest Form. This can be obtained from the Housing Needs Department (see below). It is also available as a downloadable pdf file and online:

PDF Version - Low-cost Home Ownership Registraton of Interest Form (117Kb)

Online Version - Low-cost Home Ownership Registraton of Interest Form

Home Ownership Opportunities

For home ownership opportunities, please follow this link

For further information contact:

Housing Needs Team
Housing Department
Swindon Borough Council
Civic Offices
Euclid Street
Swindon
SN1 2JH

Harinder Mann
Shared Ownership Officer
Tel. 01793 464397
E-mail: hmann2@swindon.gov.uk