Key Considerations

Loss of Capital

The value of the capital you invest in a home through Wayhome can go up or down, meaning you may not get back the full amount you put in when you leave the arrangement. Your capital is at risk. Past property price trends, whether for a specific home or area, don’t guarantee future returns.

Limited downside risk

While there is some downside risk with Wayhome, it is more limited compared to a traditional mortgage. With a mortgage, if property values drop significantly, beyond the value of your equity, you could lose all of your investment at that moment. With Wayhome, you always retain your equity share, though its value will rise and fall in line with the home's market value.

Availability of properties

Subject to market conditions there may not be a sufficient number of properties that meet both your requirements/preferences and/or the requirements/preferences of our funding partners.

Illiquid Investment

With Wayhome, you're investing in residential property, which is an illiquid asset. This means that if you decide to exit the arrangement, it may take time to access your funds, as selling a home isn’t always a quick process.

Nature of the Investment

The Wayhome arrangement is a brand new offering which has not been tested in the financial services market. This means it cannot be compared with any other existing products on a like for like basis.

Tax

Your tax responsibilities will change when you buy with Wayhome. Because you’re a member of an LLP, you’ll need to register for and submit a Self Assessment tax return, even if you haven’t had to before.

You’re responsible for managing your own tax affairs, which may include capital gains and/or income tax. Tax treatment depends on your individual circumstances and could change in the future. We don’t provide tax advice, so we strongly recommend speaking to a qualified professional to ensure you understand your obligations. It’s up to you to file your tax return correctly, on time, and pay any tax owed.

Repossession

When you buy with Wayhome, you’ll enter into both a partnership agreement and a rental agreement. These agreements require you to make monthly rent payments. If you fail to keep up with these payments or breach the terms of your agreements, your home could be at risk of repossession. Full details of your obligations will be outlined in your agreements, so it’s important to review them carefully.

Advice

Wayhome doesn’t give investment advice or provide analysis or recommendations regarding the purchase of homes through the Wayhome arrangement.

Jurisdiction

The information and services on our website are not intended for use in any jurisdiction where doing so would violate local laws or regulations. Some products and services may not be available in certain locations or to all customers. This is not an exhaustive list of potential risks, and if you have any doubts, we strongly recommend seeking independent financial or legal advice.

Buying your home

Whenever anyone buys a home there are always associated costs. We call them‘ buying costs’.

The costs you’ll need to cover are:

1. Stamp Duty Land Tax
2. Legal fees
3. Property survey

For each of these costs(Stamp Duty, legal costs and the property survey), you pay proportionally according to how big a deposit you start with.

For example, if you start with a 5% deposit, you only pay 5% of these costs. Our funding partners pay for the rest to help get you started on the property ladder.

Stamp Duty

Stamp Duty is a tax paid to the government by the buyer whenever a property is purchased and is calculated based on the home's value.

When buying a home with Wayhome, you’re purchasing in partnership with our funding partners, so the transaction is classified as a corporate purchase rather than a personal one. This means the government applies the higher Stamp Duty rate to the purchase, and you’re unable to benefit from any first-time buyer relief

However, you only pay Stamp Duty in proportion to your ownership. For example, if you start with a 5% share of the home, you only pay 5% of the total Stamp Duty cost.

Home prices are divided into bands with each band being charged at a different rate.

These figures are correct as of 1st April 2025

*Wayhome only buy homes up to a value of £500,000

** There are additional rules where individuals buying residential property own another home. Individuals who meet the definition of first-time buyers under the government’s rules, do not pay Stamp Duty on residential property up to a value of £125,000.

As an example, on a £300,000 home with Wayhome, the total Stamp Duty due to the government would be £20,000. If you own 5% of the home, you only pay 5% of the Stamp Duty, your proportional share would be £1000.

The Stamp Duty treatment depends on your individual circumstances and may be subject to change by HMRC in future. We don’t provide tax advice and you should seek this independently from a qualified professional before investing.

Legal fees and property survey

These other costs are also shared proportionally according to ownership.

Typically, you’ll need to pay for:

In this example, these estimated costs add up to £5,000. If you own 5%, you would only pay £250.

Wayhome doesn’t charge you any product fees when you buy your home.

Buying more of your home

For each of these costs you only pay proportionally according to how much of the home you own. For example, if you start with a 5% deposit, you only pay 5% of these costs. The funding partners pay for the rest.

Every time you make a staircasing payment(to buy more of your home), you’ll pay back a proportion of the initial buying costs, for example if you’re buying another 1% of your home, you’ll pay back 1% of these costs.

When you buy more, your rent for the next month decreases accordingly.

Wayhome doesn’t charge you any fees to buy more of your home

Maintenance costs in your home

As the Residential Member(s) of the partnership you’re the only ones with the right to live in the home. It’s yours to make your own, feel free to put your personal touch on it.

There are some costs that you’ll be responsible for; others that are shared with the funding partners; and some that are covered by insurance.

Costs you’re 100% responsible for:

• Day-to-day maintenance including but not limited to, general wear and tear, such as maintaining adequate ventilation to prevent mould, repairing boundary fences, replacing carpets, and replacing white goods.
• Ground rent: For leasehold properties, you’re responsible for paying any ground rent while any service charges are split proportionally. Ground rent is paid to the owner of the land/building, while service charges cover the maintenance of common areas like landings, stairs, and outdoor grounds.

Costs you share with our funding partners pro-rata:

• Service charges: For leasehold properties, service charges are shared proportionally based on your ownership share. These cover the maintenance of common areas like stairwells, gardens, and shared facilities. However, you're solely responsible for paying any ground rent, which is paid to the freeholder of the land or building.
• Exceptional Maintenance: In any home there are significant items that wear down over time and are not covered by insurance e.g. replacing a boiler. When these items come up you will need to pay your pro-rata share, and the funding partners will pay their share.
• Home Support Costs: You'll contribute to insurance through a monthly payment of £4.50, added to your rent. This fee covers your share of the Home Emergency Plan and Buildings Insurance.
  • Building’s Insurance Policy: This insurance covers the cost of repairing damage to the structure of the home and will cover things like fires and flooding. It will not, however, cover any of your furniture or belongings in the home – for that you need your own contents insurance policy.
  • Home Emergency Insurance: This insurance policy covers the boiler, central heating, plumbing, drains and electrics in your home. It includes an annual boiler service by a Gas Safe engineer and 24/7 call outs 365 days a year for no additional charge.

Your share of the maintenance costs goes directly to the maintenance provider, not to Wayhome. We don’t add any extra fees or charges for your home’s maintenance.

Potential increases to your monthly rent

Rent only goes up once a year at the rate of inflation. Inflation is measured by the government and is usually talked about as a percentage. The inflation index used is the Retail Price Index(“RPI”).The Retail Price Index can be viewed here.

Imagine the rent in your first year is £1000 per month. If at the end of the first year inflation is 3% then the rent in your second year would be £1030 per month.

If you feel like your rent has become higher than the rent for similar homes in the same area, ask us for a rent review. You can do this every 5th year. We will review your rent and let you know if it needs to be adjusted but be aware the rent could go up as well as down.

Remember, you only pay rent for the portion of the home you don’t own.

Legal responsibilities

While your home is exclusively yours to live in, the Wayhome arrangement includes an Assured Shorthold Tenancy(AST) agreement for the portion of the property you rent. This means that, as part of the LLP structure, we are required to carry out the same health and safety checks that any landlord would conduct to ensure your home remains safe for you and your family. If you owned a home outright with a mortgage, these checks wouldn’t be necessary.

The checks include, but are not limited to:

• Annual physical inspection by a RICS-certified surveyor
• Full electrical safety check(EICR) every 5 years
• Smoke alarm checks
• Replacement Energy Performance Certificates(EPCs) when they expire(valid for 10 years)
• Gas safety inspections

As the Residential Member, it’s your responsibility to allow access for these checks, ensuring the LLP remains compliant with landlord obligations.

If you want to buy all of your home

The Partnership Agreement between you and our funding partners gives you the right to buy the whole home at any time, as long the current value of the home is equal to, or greater than the original purchase price.

If you choose to buy the whole home, there are a few costs you will need to account for. Some you are 100% responsible for, and some you share with our funding partners.

Costs you’re 100% responsible for:

Sales Valuation - If you would like to buy all of your home, you’ll need to cover the cost of getting your home valued. It needs to be done by a surveyor certified by RICS(Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors). A valuation typically costs about £350 but this may change over time.

Outstanding buying costs - Each home has an Early Buyout Period of either 5 or 10 years. If you buy us out before the end of the Early Buyout Period, you'll need to repay the remaining upfront buying costs like Stamp Duty, property survey and legal fees.

For example, on a £300,000 home,‘buying costs’ might total £25,000 (including £20,000 Stamp Duty and £5,000 legal and survey fees). If you owned 10%, you would have already paid £2,500 of these costs.

If you bought the remaining 90% within your Early Buyout Period, you’d need to pay the remaining £22,500. If you were to buyout the home after this period you wouldn’t need to repay these ‘buying costs’.

Stamp Duty - When you buy 100% of your home the name of the owner on the deeds will change from the LLP name to your personal name. Because of this, you’ll have to pay Stamp Duty again, as the government treats it as a new purchase. However, this time you’d be charged as an individual purchaser and not as a corporate purchaser, but you will not be able to claim first-time buyer relief.

Any costs that arise from buying the home - This includes costs like your own solicitor fees, mortgage lender fees, survey fees required by the lender, and any bank fees.

Costs you share with our funding partners pro-rata:

If you purchase 100% of the home from the funding partners, the Partnership must be closed, which will incur legal and accounting costs. We’ll support both you and our funding partners throughout this process.

For example, if closing the Partnership costs £750 in total, and you own 10% of the home, you would only pay £75 of this cost.

If you want to sell your home

You’re able to sell your home at any time.

The funding partners will have the right to decide whether they want to buy you out and find new people to move into the home in place of you; or whether they’d rather sell the home with you on the open market. They get 3 months to make this decision.

If you choose to sell there are some costs to be paid. Some costs are fully your responsibility, while others are shared with our funding partners.

Costs you're 100% responsible for:

1. Sales valuation – If you decide to sell, you must cover the cost of a valuation by a RICS-certified surveyor, typically around £350(subject to change).

If our funding partners choose to buy your share they will buy it from you at the market valuation, you won’t incur any additional costs.

Costs shared with our funding partners(pro-rata):

If the home is sold on the open market, some costs are split based on ownership share, including:

1. Solicitor fees, estate agent fees, Energy Performance Certificate(EPC) costs, and bank fees.
2. Closing the Partnership – This may involve legal and accounting costs, estimated at £750. If you own 10%, you would pay £75.

If you decide to sell, you will need to cover the relevant costs as outlined above. Wayhome does not charge any extra fees when you leave.

Please note: The Partnership Agreement ensures that as long as you’re up to date on paying your rent and are not in breach of your contracts, no one can ask you to leave your home. We want you to feel safe and secure.

Other costs

If you decide to seek ndependent legal advice at any time, before entering the Wayhome arrangements then you will be responsible for any cost. We have a panel of legal advisors who are familiar with the Wayhome arrangement and the approximate cost of their assistance would be £425-495 plus VAT, we can pass on their details if you are interested or you can choose your own advisors.

If you pay your rent on time and take care of the property, there shouldn’t be any additional costs. However, if you fall behind on rent or fail to maintain the property, you may incur legal fees or other costs to address rental arrears or disputes.

Wayhome’s arrangement differs from traditional home buying. You own a portion of your home through a partnership with our funding partners, holding both legal and beneficial ownership. Under the partnership agreement, you agree that the home will be your sole residence. Therefore, provided you meet the government’s criteria at the time of sale, you should not be liable for capital gains tax on your share.

However, tax treatment depends on your individual circumstances and may change in the future. We do not provide tax advice, so please consult a qualified professional before selling your interest in the partnership.