Older Persons Shared Ownership scheme (OPSO)

People aged 55 or over can buy into a special older Persons Shared Ownership scheme (OPSO) which is aimed at people approaching retirement age.

This scheme is based on the Shared Ownership scheme and the buyer uses a mortgage or savings to buy shares of 25% – 75% of the home. They then pay rent on the remaining percentage that the housing association owns.

Just as with the Shared Ownership scheme, the buyer can purchase more shares in the property through ‘staircasing‘. The difference between OPSO and the normal Shared Ownership scheme is that once the buyer owns 75% of the property, they cannot purchase any more shares. However, they will also no longer have to pay any rent while living at the property from then on.