united-kingdom real-estate homeownership
Buying a &#39;first&#39; home while having fractional ownership of another (UK)
<p>The United Kingdom offers a <a href="https://www.gov.uk/guidance/first-homes" rel="nofollow noreferrer">special program</a> for first-time home buyers who meet certain qualifying criteria.</p>
<p>Does a person who previously purchased a minority share (e.g. 20%) of a house qualify for this program? If not, is there a way for this person to become eligible?</p>

<h2>No and no.</h2>
<p>The definition of a &quot;first-time buyer&quot; for the purposes of the First Homes program is given by paragraph 6 of <a href="https://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/2003/14/schedule/6ZA" rel="nofollow noreferrer">schedule 6ZA of the Finance Act</a>, which provides that:</p>
<blockquote>
<p>In this Schedule “first-time buyer” means an individual who—
(a) has not previously been a purchaser in relation to a land transaction the main subject-matter of which was a major interest in a dwelling [...].</p>
</blockquote>
<p>A &quot;major interest&quot; is defined by <a href="https://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/2003/14/section/117/2018-04-01" rel="nofollow noreferrer">Section 117 of the Finance Act</a> to include an &quot;an estate in fee simple absolute or a term of years absolute&quot;, subject to a few limiting statements that are not relevant here, without any limiting provision about how <em>much</em> of that interest is required to count as major. Accordingly, the common interpretation is that no matter how small it is, an equity share of a property counts as a &quot;major interest&quot; if it's a share of a freehold or leasehold.</p>
<p>Under the law as it stands now, there is no way to become eligible once someone has acquired a major interest. It does not matter if that person then sells their share, because an individual is eligible only if that individual &quot;<em>has not previously been</em> a purchaser [...]&quot; (emphasis added).</p>
