Guidance

The Grenfell Assisted Home Ownership Scheme: application guide for Royal Borough of Kensington & Chelsea residents

Published 24 May 2024

Applies to England

Introduction

The Grenfell Assisted Home Ownership Scheme (GAHOS) enables you to purchase a leasehold interest (‘share’) in the home that you live in currently.

The value of this share must be at least equivalent to the full value of your Grenfell home. If you would like to, you can explore the possibility of purchasing a larger share too.

The value of the different sizes of home at Grenfell are set out below. These are based on what the homes would have been worth on 1 June 2017.

If, for example, you lived in a 2-bedroom flat in Grenfell Tower, to use GAHOS, you must purchase a share in your current home that is worth at least £355,000.

Location	Number of bedrooms	Market value
Grenfell Tower	1	£275,000
Grenfell Tower	2	£355,000
Grenfell Tower	3	£400,000
Grenfell Walk	Studio	£275,000
Grenfell Walk	1	£315,000
Grenfell Walk	2	£460,000
Grenfell Walk	3	£495,000
Grenfell Walk	5	£580,000

Next steps

The information below provides a step-by-step guide on how you can apply to purchase a share in your home through GAHOS.

Please note: All the forms referenced during this guide, including the application form, will be available on Gov.uk on the day that GAHOS opens for applications. 

Legal and financial advice

You must engage a solicitor and receive advice from a mortgage adviser to help with the purchase of your share in your home.

The information below suggests when you should do this. If, however, you would like to engage a solicitor or receive advice from a mortgage adviser at an earlier stage in the process, you can do so.

Step 1: Contact RBKC

The first step in the application process is to contact RBKC to tell them that you want to use GAHOS to purchase a share in your home. You can contact RBKC’s Grenfell Housing Services Team using the information below.

Phone: 0800 456 1019

Email: grenfellhousingservices@rbkc.gov.uk

Once you have contacted RBKC, if needed, they can send you a copy of the Grenfell Assisted Home Ownership Scheme – Key Information document.

This document explains how GAHOS works. You must read this information before deciding if you want to make an application.

Step 2: Ask RBKC to confirm your eligibility for GAHOS

If you decide to make an application, you must ask RBKC to check your eligibility. You can do this using the contact details for the Grenfell Housing Services Team in Step 1 above.

After this check is complete, RBKC must send you a form called GAHOS 1 – Notice of eligibility for the Grenfell Assisted Home Ownership Scheme.

You must read this form carefully, as it contains important information about the next steps in the application process.

It will, for example, tell you if there is anything specific about your home that may mean that the application process takes longer than usual to complete.  

You are advised to keep this form for your records.

You must show this form to both your mortgage adviser and your mortgage lender so that they can confirm your eligibility for the scheme (see Step 7 below).

Timeline:

RBKC must send you your copy of GAHOS 1 – Notice of eligibility for the Grenfell Assisted Home Ownership Scheme no later than 2 weeks after you have asked them to check your eligibility for GAHOS.   

Please note: If RBKC is not the freeholder for your building (i.e. they do not own the building itself), they may need to check with the freeholder that they are able to issue you with a lease on GAHOS terms.

RBKC must inform you if this is the case as part of the information included in your GAHOS 1 – Notice of eligibility for the Grenfell Assisted Home Ownership Scheme form.

If required, this check with the freeholder will take extra time to complete. RBKC must keep you informed about their discussion with the freeholder and the length of time it will likely take to complete.

Step 3: Complete your application form

After your eligibility for GAHOS has been confirmed, you must complete an application form called GAHOS 2 – Notice of application to the Grenfell Assisted Home Ownership Scheme.

If you are unable to download the application form from Gov.uk, RBKC can send you a copy via email or by post.

Part B of the application form:

You may be eligible for GAHOS via transfer. This means that another family member who lived with you at your Grenfell home, but who does not live with you at your current address, has passed their eligibility on to you.

If you are eligible for GAHOS by transfer, you must complete Part B of your application form.

You must use this part of the application form to show who you have received your eligibility from. The relevant family member(s) must also sign the application form to show that they are happy to transfer their eligibility to you.

Part C of the application form:

You must complete Part C of your application form.

You must use this part of the application form to choose if:

• you want RBKC to remain as your landlord once you have purchased your share in your home; or if

• you want the housing association, Sovereign Network Homes, to become your landlord once you have purchased your share in your home.

GAHOS will work in the same way, regardless of who you choose to be your landlord.   

Return your completed application form to RBKC:

You must return your completed application form to RBKC using the contact details for the Grenfell Housing Services Team in Step 1 above.

It is advised that you keep a copy of your completed application form for your records.

RBKC must send you confirmation that they have received your application form. They must do this by sending you a form called GAHOS 3 – Notice confirming landlord’s receipt of an application to the Grenfell Assisted Home Ownership Scheme.

You must read this form as it contains important information about the next steps in the application process. This includes a series of financial, legal and property checks that RBKC must conduct to make sure that they can complete the sale (see Step 4 below). 

You are advised to keep this form for your records.

Timeline:

RBKC must send you a form called GAHOS 3 – Notice confirming landlord’s receipt of an application to the Grenfell Assisted Home Ownership Scheme no later than 3 working days after they have received your completed application form.

Step 4: Provide RBKC with any information they need to complete their financial, legal, and property checks

To sell you a share in your home, RBKC must complete a series of checks. These checks are the same as those that would be carried out if you were purchasing your home on Right to Buy terms.

These checks include confirming:

• your identity;
• that you do not have another property in the UK or elsewhere that you use as your main home (i.e. the home where you spend most of your time);
• that you are not in rent arrears;
• that you are not subject to a court order for possession of your home;
• that you are not subject to bankruptcy proceedings or unfulfilled credit arrangements; and
• that you are not subject to legal proceedings that might affect your purchase.

RBKC will ask you for certain information to help complete these checks. Any delay in providing RBKC with the requested information may result in a delay to your application.

Following completion of these checks, RBKC must notify you of the outcome. They must do this by sending you a form called GAHOS 4 – Notice confirming completion of landlord checks.  

It is advised that you keep this form for your records.

Timeline:

RBKC must send you your copy of GAHOS 4 – Notice confirming completion of landlord checks no later than 4 weeks after they have received your application form.  

Step 5: Engage a solicitor

You must engage a solicitor to manage the legal side of the purchase of your share in your home.

Once engaged, your solicitor must contact your landlord to begin preparing for the purchase of your share in your home.

To help your solicitor understand how GAHOS works, you must provide them with a document called The Grenfell Assisted Home Ownership Scheme – Guide for solicitors.

If you do not have a solicitor that you would like to use, the Law Society has a database that you can use to help find one: https://solicitors.lawsociety.org.uk/. This database is free to use.   

Due to the way GAHOS works, it is advised that you engage a solicitor with expertise in shared ownership and/or right to buy sales.

Step 6: Have your home valued

After RBKC has completed their financial, legal, and property checks, they must determine the value of your home.

Once RBKC has completed their valuation, they must send you a form called the Grenfell Assisted Home Ownership Scheme – Key information about the home document.

This document will confirm the value of your home.

It is advised that you keep this form for your records.

Timeline:

If your home is a flat, RBKC must complete their valuation no later than 12 weeks after they have finished their financial, legal, and property checks (see Step 4 above).  

If your home is a house, RBKC must complete their valuation no later than 8 weeks after they have finished their financial, legal, and property checks (see Step 4 above)

Accepting the valuation:

If you are happy with the valuation, you must let RBKC know by completing a form called a Notice of Valuation. Once you have returned this form to RBKC, you can move to the next stage of the application process.

A copy of the Notice of Valuation is included in your Grenfell Assisted Home Ownership Scheme – Key information about the home document.

Timeline:

You must complete and return your Notice of Valuation to RBKC no later than 4 weeks after they have confirmed the value of your home.  

Challenging the valuation:  

If you think there is a problem with your home’s valuation, you must first discuss it with RBKC. If, following this discussion, you still have concerns, you can request that an independent agency determine the value of your home. This independent agency is called the District Valuer.   

If you would like the District Valuer to determine the value of your home, you must let RBKC know by completing a form called a Notice of Valuation.

A copy of the Notice of Valuation is included in your Grenfell Assisted Home Ownership Scheme – Key information about the home document.

Once you have returned this form to RBKC, they will contact the District Valuer to begin the process.

The District Valuer will undertake a determination of your home’s value that is fair and transparent. The District Valuer must, for example, ask you why you disagree with RBKC’s valuation and give you the opportunity to submit evidence to support your view.

The District Valuer will also ask RBKC to explain their valuation and to submit evidence to support their conclusion.

Both you and RBKC must be given the opportunity to comment on the evidence that the other has submitted. The District Valuer must also undertake their own inspection of the property.

Once this process has concluded, the District Valuer must issue a report containing their final determination of your home’s value, including a summary of their reasons for arriving at this value. The report must be sent to you and to RBKC.

Please note: The outcome of the District Valuer’s determination is final, even if it is higher than RBKC’s original valuation.

Timeline:

You must complete and return your Notice of Valuation to RBKC no later than 4 weeks after they have confirmed your home’s value.

The District Valuer aims to complete all determinations within 12 weeks, though it can sometimes take longer. The District Valuer will keep you informed if there is a delay.

Step 7: Receive advice from a mortgage adviser

You must receive advice from a mortgage adviser. This advice will help you to work out if the purchase of your share in your home is affordable, both now and over the longer term.

There are two mortgage advisers who have agreed to provide advice to you free of charge: The Mortgage People and Censeo Financial.

You must choose which mortgage adviser you would like to use.

You can contact The Mortgage People and Censeo Financial using the information below.

The Mortgage People:

Phone: 0800 4880 814

Email: chirpy@tmpmortgages.co.uk

Website: https://tmpmortgages.co.uk/

Censeo Financial:

Phone: 0207 090 7290

Email: assessments@censeo-financial.com

Website: https://censeo-financial.com/

When contacting The Mortgage People or Censeo Financial, you must provide them with a copy of your GAHOS 1 – Notice of eligibility for the Grenfell Assisted Home Ownership Scheme form (see Step 2 above).

This will allow your chosen mortgage adviser to confirm that you are eligible for GAHOS.

The size of share in your home you would like to purchase:

To use GAHOS, you must purchase a share that is at least equivalent to the value of your Grenfell home (see the Introduction above), but you can purchase a bigger share too.

The Mortgage People or Censeo Financial can help you to work out what size of share to purchase, and whether this is affordable or not, based on the mortgage products available to you at the time of your application.

Applying for a mortgage:

If you need to apply for a mortgage to help with the purchase of your share in your home, The Mortgage People or Censeo Financial can also help you to find the right mortgage lender to meet your personal circumstances, using the list of mortgage lenders who have agreed to participate in GAHOS.

They will also help you to complete and submit your mortgage application.

This support is essential because it will enable The Mortgage People or Censeo Financial to highlight to your chosen mortgage lender that you are applying to purchase a share in your home through GAHOS.

Without this, the mortgage lender may find it difficult to process your mortgage application, and this could result in it being wrongly turned down.

Alongside your application, you must also provide the mortgage lender with a copy of your GAHOS 1 – Notice of eligibility for the Grenfell Assisted Home Ownership Scheme (see Step 2 above). This will allow the mortgage lender to confirm that you are eligible for GAHOS.

Please note: Mortgage lenders have their own eligibility criteria. If you do not meet these criteria, it may prove difficult to agree a mortgage with a lender.  

Your mortgage lender will also carry out their own valuation of your home.  

Information required:

To provide you with the best advice possible, The Mortgage People or Censeo Financial will ask you for certain financial information. This could, for example, include information about your income, savings, existing financial commitments, and credit history/score.

You must also provide The Mortgage People or Censeo Financial with a copy of your Grenfell Assisted Home Ownership Scheme – Key information document about the home, as this will help to show what your ongoing housing costs are likely be once you have purchased your share in your home.  

Providing you with a written overview of their advice:

The Mortgage People or Censeo Financial must provide you with a written overview of their advice. If you consent, they will also provide a copy of this overview to RBKC.

After you have received this overview, you must confirm the final size of share in your home that you want to purchase with RBKC.

As part of this process, if it has not been provided to them already, RBKC may ask to see a copy of your mortgage adviser’s written overview of their advice to you.

This will help to show RBKC that you can afford to purchase your share in your home, both now and over the longer term. 

Timeline:

You must receive advice from a mortgage adviser no later than 4 weeks after you have accepted a determination of your home’s value (see Step 6 above).

You must confirm the size of share in your home you want to purchase with RBKC no later than 2 weeks after The Mortgage People or Censeo Financial have provided you with an overview of their advice.  

Step 8: Attend a home ownership meeting with RBKC

RBKC must offer you a home ownership meeting. This provides you with an opportunity to discuss what the purchase of your share in your home will mean for you over the long term, including your rights and responsibilities under the terms of your lease.

This meeting is not obligatory, and you do not have to attend one if you would prefer not to. If you decide not to attend a home ownership meeting, you must let RBKC know and confirm that you would like to move to the next step of the application process instead.

Timeline:

If you would like to attend, RBKC must arrange a home ownership meeting with you no later than 2 weeks after you have confirmed the size of share in your home that you want to purchase.

Step 9: Receive and respond to RBKC’s formal offer notice 

RBKC must send you and your solicitor a formal offer notice. This form is called GAHOS 5 – Landlord offer notice for the purchase of a share in a home using the Grenfell Assisted Home Ownership Scheme.

This form sets out the details and conditions of your purchase. It must, for example, include:

• the value of your current home;
• the purchase price of the share in your current home that you are buying;
• an estimate of your annual service charge;
• the length of your lease; and
• any other relevant conditions of sale.

Once you have received RBKC’s formal offer and discussed it with your solicitor, you must decide if you want to accept it or not.

You must communicate your decision to RBKC by completing a form called a Notice of Intention.

Your Notice of Intention is included as part of your GAHOS 5 – Landlord offer notice for the purchase of a share in a home using the Grenfell Assisted Home Ownership Scheme form.

If you decide to accept RBKC’s formal offer, you will move on to the next step of the application process.

If you decide to decline RBKC’s formal offer, your application will be withdrawn.

Timeline:

RBKC must send you and your solicitor a formal offer notice no later than 4 weeks after you have confirmed the size of share in your home that you want to purchase.

You must accept or decline RBKC’s formal offer no later than 12 weeks after you have received their formal offer notice.

If you do not respond to RBKC’s formal offer within 12 weeks, they will send you a reminder. If you do not respond to this reminder within 4 weeks, your application will be withdrawn.

Step 10: Conveyancing

Your solicitor must conduct a series of checks with RBKC’s solicitor. This is to ensure that you have all the information you need to complete the purchase of your share and that RBKC has all the information they need to sell you a share in your home.

Timeline:

Conveyancing usually takes between 8 and 12 weeks to complete, but it can sometimes take longer. Your solicitor must update you if there are likely to be delays in the conveyancing process.

Step 11: Exchange contracts and pay your deposit

Once your solicitor and RBKC’s solicitor have all the information they need, you must exchange contracts and pay your deposit.  

This is the point at which the purchase of your share in your home becomes legally binding. If you decide not to complete your purchase after you have exchanged contracts, there may be financial consequences. You could, for example, lose your deposit.

Timeline:

Exchange of contracts should occur shortly after your solicitor and RBKC’s solicitor have completed conveyancing.

Step 12: Completion

Once you have exchanged contracts, your solicitor and RBKC’s solicitor must set a date for the completion of your purchase.

On the day of completion, you must pay RBKC any remaining money you owe for the purchase of your share in your home. Your solicitor will arrange for this money to be transferred to RBKC’s solicitor.  

Once this money has been transferred, your purchase is complete, and you are the legal owner of your share in your home.

If you have opted for Sovereign Network Homes to become your landlord following the purchase of your share in your home (see Step 3 above):   

Following completion of your purchase, RBKC will transfer ownership of the remaining share in your home to Sovereign Network Homes. Once this is complete, Sovereign Network Homes will take over from RBKC as your landlord.

Timeline:

You must complete your purchase no later than 4 weeks after you have exchanged contracts.

Delays

The process of purchasing a home, including the purchase of your share in your home through GAHOS, is a lengthy process and will take some time to complete.

If, however, you are concerned about the length of time RBKC is taking to complete any of the above steps, you can send them a form called GAHOS 7 – Notice of delay as a reminder.

Before sending this form, please check your copy of GAHOS 1 – Notice of eligibility for the Grenfell Assisted Home Ownership Scheme (see Step 2 above). This may help to explain why a delay has occurred.

Timeline:

RBKC must respond to this reminder within 2 weeks explaining the reasons for any delay, and what they are doing to resolve the situation. 

Complaints

If you have a concern about the application process, you must first raise this with RBKC through their official complaints process.

For further information on the RBKC complaints process, please visit: https://www.rbkc.gov.uk/contact-us/complaints-comments-and-compliments-0.

If this fails to resolve the matter satisfactorily, you may be able to refer your complaint to the Housing Ombudsman for further investigation.

For information on how to use the complaints process, including referring a complaint to the Housing Ombudsman, please visit: https://socialhousingcomplaints.campaign.gov.uk/.   

Timeline

The below table sets out the timeline for each stage of the application process in one place. Please use it to develop a sense of how long your application is likely to take from start to finish.

The deadlines listed represent the maximum amount of time each step should take. This means that steps will sometimes be completed more quickly.

Step	Timeline
1. Contact RBKC	N/A
2. Ask RBKC to confirm your eligibility for GAHOS	RBKC must confirm your eligibility within 2 weeks of your request.
3. Complete your application form and return it to RBKC	RBKC must confirm that they have received your application form within 3 working days of its receipt.
4. RBKC’s financial, legal, and property checks.	RBKC must complete these checks within 4 weeks of receiving your application form.
5. Engage a solicitor	N/A
6. Have your home valued	If your home is a flat, RBKC must determine its value no later than 12 weeks after they have completed their financial, legal, and property checks If your home is a house, RBKC must determine its value no later than 8 weeks after they have completed their financial, legal, and property checks. You must complete and return your Notice of Valuation to RBKC no later than 4 weeks after they have determined your home’s value. If you disagree with RBKC’s valuation and you want the District Valuer to determine your home’s value, this will take roughly 12 weeks.
7. Receive advice from a mortgage adviser	You must receive advice no later than 4 weeks after you have accepted a determination your home’s value. You must confirm the size of share you want to purchase in your home with RBKC no later than 2 weeks after you have received your advice.
8. Home ownership meeting	If you would like to attend, RBKC must arrange a home ownership meeting with you no later than 2 weeks after you have confirmed the size of share in your home that you want to purchase.
9. Formal offer notice	RBKC must send you and your solicitor a formal offer notice no later than 4 weeks after you have confirmed the size of share in your home that you want to purchase. You must accept or decline RBKC’s formal offer no later than 12 weeks after you have received their formal offer notice.
10. Conveyancing	Usually between 8 and 12 weeks.
11. Exchange contracts and pay your deposit	Exchange of contracts should occur shortly after your solicitor and RBKC’s solicitor have completed conveyancing (usually within a matter of days).
12. Completion	You must complete your purchase no later than 4 weeks after you have exchange contracts.