A Pocket home is a one-bedroom home which is discounted by 20% to the open market price, but Pocket homeowners own 100%. Pocket homes are carefully designed to meet the needs of middle income Londoners who are struggling to get onto the property ladder.

We are able to offer a discount through intelligent design and efficient ways of working, which enables us to build more homes on a development than traditional developers.

Pocket homes are designed for Londoners on middle incomes. To be eligible to purchase one, you’ll need to:

• Live or work in a London borough
• Not own any property
• Have a household income below £90,000

When a development first launches for sale, it will only be available to those who live or work in the borough of the development for an initial period; a lower income cap might be applicable in the early stages of a development too. Sometimes homes become available to people who live or work anywhere in the UK. You can check the page for each individual Pocket development for up-to-date information on eligibility and availability.

You can register your interest in buying a Pocket home by creating a My Pocket account, and we will then email you when a development that you are eligible for is for sale (you don’t need to register your interest in a particular development to hear about it).

You can check the page for each individual Pocket development for up-to-date information on eligibility and availability.

We’ll contact you based on eligibility and sometimes affordability, so if the borough where you live or work changes for any reason (for example, you move home or change job), or your income or deposit level changes, remember to update your My Pocket account, otherwise you might not hear from us. 

Pocket homes are always sold at a price at least 20% below local market value, and prices vary depending on the development and the location.

For developments which are currently for sale, you’ll find a price list on the individual development page.

For upcoming developments, we’ll release the price list when we launch for sale – usually around six months prior to completion of the development. 

No, Pocket homes are 100% ownership, but sold at a 20% discount to the local market. This means that you get to buy your home at a more affordable price, but there is no monthly rent to pay as there is with shared ownership, and no need to worry about trying to buy more shares. 

No, the First Homes scheme is a government scheme, whereas Pocket is a private developer building discounted homes. The two schemes are similar in that both offer 100% ownership at a discounted price but crucially, there are not currently any homes available in London under the First Homes scheme.

New build homes have many advantages, particularly that they are built to the latest energy-efficiency standards (reducing your energy bills) and that they offer peace of mind through a two-year defects period on your individual home and a 10-year build warranty on the building as a whole. They’re also a blank canvas for you to put your own stamp on, and there’s no buying chain to worry about.

When you buy a new build Pocket home, you’ll also get to be there at the outset of a new community of likeminded Pocket homeowners. When everyone moves in around the same time, a real sense of community is created, and we help to foster that by inviting our Pocket buyers to a welcome event when the building is just finished, to help everyone get to know each other. 

The vast majority of Pocket homes are one-bedroom homes. We occasionally have a very small proportion of discounted two-bedroom homes on a few developments, which are incredibly popular and often prioritised for families.

Pocket homes are currently only available to buy, but this may change in future so feel free to check back or get in touch to make an enquiry. 

No, Pocket developments are car free: this is usually a requirement of the local authority and also means that more space can be used to build discounted homes rather than parking spaces.

As with any new build, you will not be eligible for a resident’s parking permit.

We will, however, always provide a safe and secure area for you to keep your bike.

Pocket is the developer, but we employ a contractor to build each development. Usually, a different contractor is employed on each development.

This means that when building works are occasionally delayed this is outside of our control, but believe us when we say that we want the building to be finished as soon as possible too! 

Yes - Pocket is registered with the New Homes Quality Board to ensure the build quality of our homes and the customer service provided. For further information on the NHQB, you can visit For Homebuyers (nhqb.org.uk). 

*This applies to all current and upcoming Pocket homes except for our Addiscombe Grove CR0 development, which is covered by the Consumer Code for Home Builders.

Take a look at Homeviews to see independent reviews of our developments by verified residents.

You can also hear stories from Pocket homeowners here and follow us on Instagram for updates on our latest schemes and newest homeowners.

When you create a My Pocket account, please make sure that the information entered is correct.

The general rule of thumb is that your name should appear as it does on your passport, so whilst nicknames are fun, if you reserve a home then this information goes to solicitors and changes will slow things down.

We only use your information in the following ways:

• To send you Pocket homes marketing
• To send you Pocket company updates
• To send to IMAs (Independent Mortgage Advisors) to establish affordability and assist with getting mortgages
• To send to Local Authorities to ensure our homes are sold to the intended audience and for council tax purposes
• To send to utility companies to manage the utility bills for the home you buy (if you buy a home with us)
• To send to our managing agent so that they can contact you once you have moved into your new home (if you buy a home with us)
• To send to academic institutions for research purposes

We will not sell your data to marketing agencies in any circumstances!

We use the information in My Pocket to see if you’re eligible and can afford our developments.

We’ll contact you based on eligibility and sometimes affordability, so if the borough where you live or work changes for any reason (for example, you move home or change job), or your income or deposit level changes, remember to update your My Pocket account, otherwise you might not hear from us.

How does the buying process work step by step?

1. Create a My Pocket account
   We’ll then be in touch when we have a development for sale which you’re eligible for. 
   
   
2. Check your emails!
   When we have homes for sale which you’re eligible for, we will email you telling you exactly what to do. Sometimes emails go into junk folders so keep an eye on that.
   
   
3. Get your affordability assessment from Censeo 
   One of the next steps will be to get an affordability assessment from Censeo (an Independent Mortgage Adviser (IMA)) - this is an online form which will be assessed by Censeo to see if you can afford a home at your chosen development and if there is a mortgage lender suitable for you (it doesn’t involve a hard credit check). Once you’ve passed, you will be able to book a viewing and submit an Expression of Interest via your My Pocket account. We love organised buyers, but you can’t obtain a Censeo assessment until we have released pricing when a development has launched for sale!
   
   Be aware that the mortgage market can change, and the affordability assessment is only valid for the development you have submitted it for. If you’ve been assessed by Censeo before, whether for a Pocket home or any other home, you’ll still need to do this again. Once we have received your assessment, the salary and deposit fields in your My Pocket account cannot be changed as this would invalidate your assessment.
   
   
4. Viewing
   Once you’ve passed the Censeo assessment, you can book a viewing in My Pocket. We’re a small team and can only offer set viewing dates, so please try to be as flexible as you can with times.
   
   
5. Expression of Interest (EOI)
   After viewing you’ll have the chance to submit an EOI, which is done by choosing up to 10 homes in order of preference. We suggest that you do select 10 as this will maximise your chances of being offered a home.
   
   
6. Allocation
   Sadly, Pocket homes are sometimes oversubscribed. When we are oversubscribed, we run a lottery of EOIs to choose the lucky buyers. This lottery is weighted so that those who need our discounted price the most will have the highest chance of being chosen.
   
   
7. Offer Letter
   If you’re allocated a Pocket home, we will upload an Offer Letter in My Pocket. It will contain a clear timescale of what should happen when and what you should do next, but in summary it’s about uploading evidence of your eligibility, instructing solicitors and your IMA, plus paying your reservation fee.
   
   
8. Reservation
   Once you’ve uploaded evidence of your eligibility, confirmed your solicitor and IMA and paid the reservation fee, we will issue your reservation form. We’ll then use your signed reservation form to instruct the solicitors and they will start the legal process of home buying (called ‘conveyancing’).
   
   
9. Mortgage offer
   As Pocket homes are an innovative form of affordable housing, the banks and building societies are a little slow to keep up. We therefore really recommend you use Censeo to help with the mortgage side of things as they know exactly what to do and which lenders are available.
   
   
10. Exchange contracts
    Your solicitor will let you know what you need to do to reach exchange of contracts, and this stage is usually reached six weeks after instructing your solicitor. When you exchange you transfer 10% of the purchase price to your solicitor and once exchange has taken place, you are legally committed to your purchase.
    
    
11. Meet your neighbours at the residents’ drinks
    When the building is just finished, we will hold an event for everyone to meet each other so that you’ll know your neighbours from the get-go. Please do attend – these events are a lot of fun and the more, the merrier!
    
    
12. Move in!
    If you have exchanged contracts before the building is ready, as soon as the builder finishes the new development then the solicitors will set a completion date for you to get your keys and move in. If you exchange after the building is ready for occupation, you will exchange with a completion date set.

Our Customer Care Team will provide you with a home induction tour so that you know how it all works when you move in, and when the day of completion comes around, we’ll arrange for you to collect your keys!

For more detail on these steps, take a look at our first time buyer guide.

My Pocket is your buyer area of pocketliving.com and creating your profile means you go onto our database so that we can let you know when a home comes up that you’re eligible to buy.

Your profile is the information used to buy and what is stored as an owner once you’ve bought.

My Pocket is a self-service account maintained by you, so please make sure that you keep it completely up to date (otherwise you might not hear from us).

We have included handy features such as a borough finder to save you having to look up which local authority area you live and work in, plus a tracking system to see how your purchase is progressing once you’ve started the process of buying a Pocket home. It also houses some useful documents for your purchase, and allows you to securely upload your eligibility documents.

To book a viewing, you’ll need to create a My Pocket account and complete an affordability assessment. Take a look at the step-by-step buying process above for how to do this.

Once you’ve passed the affordability assessment, you can book a viewing in My Pocket. We’re a small team and can only offer set viewing dates, so please try to be as flexible as you can with times. 

We will get in touch with you when we have homes for sale which you’re eligible for.

This might be when we have a new development launching for sale, or when we’re able to offer a development to a wider audience (for example when a development has been marketed to those who live or work in the borough of the development for an initial period, but is then open to those who live or work in any London borough).

We usually start selling Pocket homes in a new development about six months before the building is finished, and this is when we send details to anyone with a My Pocket account who meets the initial eligibility criteria for the development. 

The income field should reflect your pre-tax salary and if you get a bonus or commission, put half of the yearly amount you earn from this element as that’s how mortgage lenders view this type of income.

If you’re buying with anyone else, combine all linked applicants’ incomes in the annual household income section and all applicants’ deposit amounts in the maximum household deposit section. This means that if you’re buying with someone else, you should both have the same household income and household deposit information in both of your My Pocket accounts. (If you’re applying as a couple then both of you should create a My Pocket account then let us know and we will link your profiles in our database.)

If you’re expecting a gift from a friend or family member, include this in your deposit amount.

Remember to keep this information up to date as we may only contact you about developments which we think you may be able to afford. 

We would hate for you to fall in love with a Pocket home only to be disappointed further down the line, so we ask everyone to complete an affordability assessment with Censeo (an Independent Mortgage Adviser (IMA)) before they can book a viewing.

This is an online form which will be assessed by Censeo to see if you can afford a home at your chosen development and if there is a mortgage lender suitable for you (it doesn’t involve a hard credit check). If we’re able to offer you a Pocket home, you can choose between Pocket’s panel of recommended IMAs or you can of course choose to instruct your own IMA.There are no financial gains to Pocket by recommending IMAs or solicitors, it just tends to make everyone’s lives easier!

Once you’ve passed, you will be able to book a viewing and submit an Expression of Interest via your My Pocket account.

Be aware that the mortgage market can change, and the affordability assessment is only valid for the development you have submitted it for. If you’ve been assessed by Censeo before, whether for a Pocket home or any other home, you’ll still need to do this again. Once we have received your assessment, the salary and deposit fields in your My Pocket account cannot be changed as this would invalidate your assessment.

Censeo receives a high volume of Pocket assessments but you should hear back within 48 hours. Censeo may have to contact you to see if you can increase your deposit if you are nearly there, or to clarify aspects of your finances.

Censeo is independent to Pocket but if you haven’t heard after 48 hours then let us know and we will follow up for you. 

There are some circumstances surrounding age, faith and disability where cash purchases can be requested.

We follow government guidelines on affordable housing being for those who cannot afford to buy in the traditional way, so generally a mortgage is required, but if you cannot obtain a mortgage for any reason then please get in touch to discuss your individual circumstances. 

Absolutely, we recognise that buying even a discounted home in London is a challenge and many of our buyers get help from parents, relatives, or friends. There is just one request – it really must be a true gift, it can’t be a loan in any way and it can’t be secured against your new home as a debt.

If you’re expecting a gift from a friend or family member, include this in your deposit amount in your My Pocket account. 

Yes. We are only able to sell to people who own no other property and you would need to have exchanged contracts for sale on any property so as to be eligible to apply for a Pocket home. Occasionally, the eligibility criteria for a specific development may require someone to be a true first-time buyer (which means that anyone who has ever owned any property would not be eligible).

Yes! Most of our buyers are sole buyers but we welcome couples, too. If you’re buying together then both of your names will need to go on the mortgage and lease. Your income must be £90k or less together and neither of you can own property, however just one of you needs to live or work in the borough of the development or in London (depending on the eligibility criteria which are applicable to the development when you buy your home).

If you’re applying together then both of you should create a My Pocket account, then get in touch and we will link your profiles in our database. When creating your My Pocket accounts, you should combine all linked applicants’ incomes in the annual household income section and all applicants’ deposit amounts in the maximum household deposit section. This means that you should both have the same household income and household deposit information in both of your My Pocket accounts.

It’s difficult to answer this question - everybody’s circumstances are different, the deposits people have vary, and the prices of Pocket homes vary. You must earn below £90k, and you will need to earn enough to allow you to borrow enough so that your mortgage plus your deposit add up to at least the value of the home you want to buy. We suggest you speak with an Independent Mortgage Advisor (IMA) about your individual circumstances and would recommend Censeo as an IMA who are familiar with obtaining mortgages on Pocket homes. You can get in touch with Censeo at www.censeo-financial.com. 

First time buyer stamp duty exemptions apply to Pocket homes, so most Pocket buyers do not pay any stamp duty at all. You can do a quick check using an online calculator, and your solicitor will also be able to advise on this issue.

If you have owned a property in the past, then you should speak to your solicitor about how much stamp duty might be payable. 

Of course, although as Pocket homes are an innovative form of affordable housing, we really recommend you use recommended suppliers (we’ll recommend Independent Mortgage Advisers (IMAs) and solicitors in your offer letter when you get into the purchasing process) who are familiar with Pocket and the process of buying a Pocket home.

There are no financial gains to Pocket by recommending IMAs or solicitors, it just tends to make everyone’s lives easier!

If you choose to look elsewhere, then we would recommend using an IMA rather than going directly to a mortgage lender, as an IMA has access to all mortgage lenders and can find the best fit for you.

Pocket homes are an innovative form of affordable housing and so not all mortgage lenders offer suitable mortgages, but there are plenty of options available from familiar banks. We will offer more guidance on the type of mortgage you’ll need as part of the purchasing process. 

Solicitor fees: You should obtain quotes from our recommended solicitors (or any other solicitor you may choose) and these quotes should include the solicitor’s fee, the Land Registry fee, search fees, and any expenses plus any VAT. You should check with your solicitor whether their quote includes any additional costs payable at completion.

Mortgage fees: Most mortgage products have associated fees – these can be fees for the valuation or a mortgage product admin fee (sometimes called an arrangement or product fee). There may also be a fee payable to your IMA.

Your £500 reservation fee, paid to Pocket, is taken off the overall cost of buying your Pocket home, so this is not an additional cost.

You will also want to budget for any costs of moving, and then perhaps some more exciting spends – such as your new furniture and decorative pieces for your new home!

We usually launch a development for sale around six months prior to it being ready for occupation. If you are buying a home before the building is finished, we’ll keep you updated on build progress and when we expect you to be able to collect your keys and move in.

Building works are occasionally delayed, and sometimes extra time is needed to ensure that the finished building meets our expectations, but believe us when we say that we want the building to be finished as soon as possible too! 

Pocket administrates the resale of all Pocket homes to ensure that they are resold to people who need them. Drop us an email at resale@pocketliving.com to request a list of the current resale homes available across existing Pocket developments. 

Yes, we welcome well-behaved pets! To formalise this, you will need to obtain consent via the managing agent.

As well as your mortgage and service charge each month (there is no rent to pay on a Pocket home as we offer 100% ownership rather than shared ownership), you will need to budget for your council tax bill and utility bills.

Homes are banded for council tax once they are finished, so we may not have information on what band your home will fall into at the time of your purchase, but if this information is available then of course we will share it with you. How much your utility bills will be will depend on your individual usage, but new builds are very well insulated and so bills should be cheaper than if you were to buy an older property.

Bear in mind that once your two-year defect period has elapsed, you’ll need to budget for maintenance of your home, such as servicing your heating system annually and generally keeping your home in good condition. 

A Section 106 Agreement sets out all of the agreements made between a developer and a local authority when planning permission is granted to build homes. In the case of Pocket homes, the Section 106 Agreement means that the home is only available to buy for people who meet the eligibility criteria (see “Am I eligible to buy a Pocket home?” above). The eligibility criteria stay with Pocket homes into the future, meaning Pocket owners are obliged to try to find a similar buyer when they are ready to sell their home.

You can sell your Pocket home after you have lived in it for at least one year. You will need to try to find a buyer who meets the eligibility criteria applicable to the development (as you did when you bought your Pocket home): this will usually mean that they have to live or work locally, have a household income below £90,000, and cannot own any other property.

Pocket will be able to give you more detail and guide you through the process when the time comes, and you can reach out to the Resale Team at resale@pocketliving.com.

Pocket homes are designed to be lived in by the eligible people who purchase them, but we understand that occasionally, a Pocket homeowner might need to sublet their home.

You can seek permission to sublet your home once you have owned it for a year and in extenuating circumstances. If you are looking to sublet, then get in touch and we will send you further information which sets out the process for requesting consent.

Yes, selling to an eligible person is all part of owning a Pocket home. It is separate to whether you have a government equity loan or not, and separate to the status of your mortgage. 

There is an in-depth snagging and de-snagging process between the contractor and Pocket before you move in, however slight variations are very normal and to be expected.

If you find any cosmetic decorative issues in your home then these should be raised as soon as possible, as it is often difficult to determine their cause after you have moved in. Before you move into your new Pocket home, you’ll be invited to a home induction tour, and (if you are buying a home covered by the New Homes Quality Code) you can arrange for a suitably qualified inspector to carry out a pre-completion inspection at this point, using the template pre-completion inspection checklist, should you wish to do so.

If you have a fault with any of your appliances, these come with their own warranty which you should activate when you move in and then report any issues directly to the manufacturer.

If any genuine defects arise during your two-year defect period, Pocket and the contractor may be responsible for remedying them.

After your two-year defect period, you will be responsible as a homeowner for all repairs in your home although you’ll still be protected against major defects in the building by your 10-year building warranty. 

Pocket homes can only be purchased by local people who don’t already own their own home, and Pocket checks the eligibility of every incoming purchaser. 

You will need to seek permission to sublet your Pocket home, and Pocket verifies the eligibility of anyone who rents your home from you. When an owner wants to sell their Pocket home, they have to try to find an eligible buyer (checked by Pocket).

Pocket also carries out an Annual Verification Process to ensure that the owner of each Pocket home is living there. 

Yes, all Pocket homes have a 10-year building warranty. Our building warranties are usually provided by NHBC or Premier Guarantee – if you’re in the process of buying a Pocket home, you can check with us which warranty will apply to the development at which you’re purchasing. Building warranties such as these protect homeowners in case there are structural problems with the building as a whole, rather than applying to individual homes (your individual home will be covered by a two-year defect period).

Your Pocket home is a blank canvas for you to put your own stamp on, and decorate to your unique tastes. You are free to decorate as you wish but be sure to check the guidance provided in your homeowner guide.

Structural alterations will require the written consent of the freeholder. You should also consult a qualified person before starting any works that could affect the structure of your home or the building.

A managing agent will run the communal areas of your building and charge this to residents through the service charge. You also have lots of input through a Residents' Management Company, called an RMC, which all Pocket homeowners become a member of. A few of the owners in a development can even become Directors of the RMC and will feed back your views on how you want your building to be run to the managing agent. The managing agent also arranges buildings insurance and handles solicitors’ enquiries if you sell your Pocket home.

Your service charge is paid to the managing agent and covers all the costs of running the communal areas of your building. This includes costs such as: cleaning and maintaining the communal areas (including gardening); maintaining and servicing shared systems, such as security systems and lifts; and utility costs for communal areas. Buildings insurance is also paid for through your service charge (but you should consider taking out your own contents insurance).

The service charge is reviewed annually based on actual spend, and could increase or decrease based on how much it costs to maintain the building. All Pocket homeowners become a member of the Residents' Management Company, which allows more homeowner input into how the building is run. 

On all new Pocket homes, ground rent will be set to a peppercorn ground rent. This means that it is a nominal amount each year, usually £1.

Of course! Our friendly teams are available on weekdays between 9am – 6pm. We receive many e-mails and phone calls and we are a small team, but we’ll come back to you as soon as we can. Please do read all of these FAQs before dropping us a line as you may find your question is already answered here.

If your question is about buying a home, e-mail sales@pocketliving.com. If you’ve already bought it’s customercare@pocketliving.com and if you are looking to enquire about selling or subletting your home, it’s resale@pocketliving.com.