When you buy a home through Shared Ownership, you may find that a local connection to the area is required. This is mainly in rural areas or smaller villages and market towns where land is specifically designated for local, affordable housing rather than private development. Below, we explore why local connection requirements exist, common local connection criteria and some other details around eligibility.
What is a Local Area Connection?
Before we jump into specifics, let’s look at what a Local Area Connection is in the first place. It might sound complicated but it simply means you need to ‘live, work or have family’ in an area where you’d like to buy.
In most cases, ‘area’ means the local authority in which the property is located. Your housing association or developer will always mention if a Local Area Connection is required and which local authority it applies to.
Why do local connection requirements exist?
Across the UK, many rural areas including smaller villages, market towns and parishes have specific areas controlled by ‘Section 106 Agreements’.
You may sometimes hear these areas described as ‘rural exception sites’ or ‘protected areas’.
These areas are specifically designated as protected to ensure that local people can buy homes in undersupplied places where they’re currently living, working or have family.
It’s less common to find these areas in built-up areas where there’s a larger supply of property.
What is the local connection criteria?
The local connection criteria can differ from development to development but usually follows specific points including:
You live or work in the area: This is fairly obvious. You need to be either working or already living in the local authority where you’re looking to buy.
Your family lives in the area: This is similar to the above but means you may need family who also live nearby. Family may include parents, children, brothers or sisters.
You used to live in the area: Some local authorities may designate a Local Area Connection if you lived nearby or if you moved because there wasn’t any affordable housing.
Local priority: In some cases, housing associations are required to try and sell homes locally but you may be able to reserve a home even if you’re further away.
Required allocations: In some cases, the local authority tries to allocate homes from a list of applicants.
Size: Some properties have restrictions based on the buyer. For example, if you don’t have children, you may only be able to buy a property that has one bedroom more than you need. In this case, a couple with no children would be restricted to either a one-bed or two-bedroom property.
When you try to purchase a home through Shared Ownership, you’ll usually be given a breakdown of the Shared Ownership requirements during the application process. Based on the guidelines above, some common Local Area Connection questions include:
- Was the applicant born in the area and lived there for a significant amount of time?
- Has the applicant moved to the area but lived there for a significant amount of time?
- Did the applicant previously live in the area but move away due to a lack of affordable housing?
- Has the applicant worked in the area for a significant amount of time?
- Does the applicant have close relatives (adult children, siblings, parents) in the area?
The necessary time associated with these points depends entirely on the local authority but is usually around several years.
Local connections work on priority. They’re given to applicants that have the strongest connections to the area. If properties are still available, allocation is steadily opened up to nearby areas and, potentially, entirely local authorities.
The fundamental point is that homes should be occupied by people as local to the area as possible, to ensure fairness and opportunities for existing residents.
If you want to know more about the local connection requirements for a specific development, you can email sales@platformhg.com.
What other requirements do I need to think about?
While not all developments require a local connection, remember that shared ownership eligibility is also based on specific criteria, particularly around your income and your buyer status.
You can read more about Shared Ownership and its eligibility requirements here.
