Share your shared ownership experiences

suki1964 · 27 May 2015 at 11:25AM

Was great for us as we bought from the open market and the HA paid all fees as well as buying half the property. It was a scheme they were running to free up their own stock for those on the list.

We never stair cased. We stayed at 50%. First year was rent free then it was something silly like £100 a month

It only worked so well for us because we bought when mortgages were high, house prices were stagnant and we sold when house prices were rocketing and interest rates were low.

We had to sell to people who were on the HA right to buy list. We had to pay both ours and the HA legal costs. We had one open day. Five couples applied to buy and the HA allocated on need and affordability. All very painless. If we had been able to sell on the open market we could have made £20k more but we were more then happy with what we got. It enabled us to buy our forever home with a tiny mortgage which we have since cleared

We are very grateful for the foot up shared ownership afforded us

Edited to add, all repairs and improvements were down to us. The only time we had to notify the HA was when we extended as they needed to ensure we followed building regs. Obviously some improvements increased the value of the house considerably. These were dis regarded when it came to the HA selling price. So when we sold ours, the buyers were told two prices, one for the 50% share then the extra for the extension. Weird way of doing things but it meant the HA didn't gain from our work and money. Things like new kitchens and windows were in the valuation as they were replacements, things that were actually there

It's very very important to read and understand what it is you are buying and what costs you incur either when staircasing or selling

PhilSanders · 27 May 2015 at 11:43AM

ThriftyMummySam wrote: »

If your thinking of a shared ownership DONT DO IT!!!!!! I really can't emphasise that enough. My husband and I moved into a 50/50 shared ownership flat which is obviously leasehold which added to the problems. At the time it seemed like a great idea to get on the property ladder in our first home. When we first moved in late 2005 we were paying roughly £340 mortgage and £200 rent every month, however, every year our rent increased so that when we left 7 years later we were paying £360 in rent as well as the £340 mortgage - we could have rented a flat for £500 a month in the area we lived in. You may thing well at least your gaining equity - WRONG - we put down a deposit of £6000 when we moved in and when we sold up the equity in the flat that we gained was £6500. Forgetting the money side when you only own a portion there are limits as to what you can and can not do in your home as their is when you are renting and have a landlord. Yet at the same time if there was a problem, like the boiler going bust, it is not the landlords problem it is yours to sort and pay for. Then there is the sale factor - ours was a nightmare to sell. It spent 2 years on the market before we got a buyer which is bad in itself but due to the complicated sale it took 9 months for the sale to go through and this was without a chain!! I could go on about it all day but I don't want to bore you!! I will say though that going into a shared ownership property was the worst financial decision my husband and I have ever made! We were young at the time and my advice would be to go and see a mortgage advisor and see what they can offer as it may be more then you think you can get. We are now in 3 bed house and our mortgage payments are £444 per month so we are already saving more then we were in the flat!!

I agree 100% with the post above. DON'T DO IT!

Our rent (on the 50%) increased dramatically within a few years, and when we realised it was costing more than a complete mortgage we decided to sell…..this was when we discovered that you can't just go ahead and sell…..oh no. You have to get permission from your landlord to sell. You can only sell to certain people that meet a given criteria. You have to have an independent valuation on your property (after you've had an offer) and this is the maximum you can sell the property for.

We had an offer of £194,000 (from an original purchase price of £210,000), so we were already losing a lot of our deposit money, but the valuation came back at much less, so we couldn't sell it for £194,000……we ended up losing around £11,000 of our investment in the property, plus the estate agents fees, valuation fees etc etc.

Shared ownership is NOT an affordable way to get on the property ladder……not by any stretch of the imagination!

marjomatt · 27 May 2015 at 11:51AM

Four years ago, I used my voluntary redundancy money to buy my son a 1/4 share of a flat for £40k. At the time he was looking at one-bedroom flats costing £400/month. He now pays less than for all his outgoings for his two-bed flat, including rental to the Housing Assoc, TV, Electric and Council Tax. It should be possible to get the £40k+ back when he sells and even if we don't make a profit, he's saved a whack!

mustang121 · 27 May 2015 at 12:31PM

I looked at this option, but decided against it.

Perhaps its just me, but the idea of paying Rent and a mortgage sounds bloody stupid and greedy.

The rooms of the shared ownership houses I looked were incredibly small and dainty.

Bonniepurple · 27 May 2015 at 1:20PM

We are in a 25% SO house. We've been here 9 years, and it's home. I was lucky that my deposit money just covered our 25% share outright, so we only pay rent - and, at £379 a month, it's at least half of what we'd pay privately. It's meant I could return to work part time, that we could have a second child, and that my husband could go self employed. I thought about staircasing,using an inheritance, but decided that being able to remain part time and use the money as a buffer was better for us.

If you want a home, security, and your own place, go for it. If you want to use it as a stepping stone, don't.

RW3 · 27 May 2015 at 1:22PM

I’m very happy with my shared ownership property, I purchased 40% of my flat in an affluent area of London 9 years ago, it was then and even more so now, the only way I would be able to get on the property ladder on my own in the area I grew up in. Even though what I was paying with mortgage and rent combined was the equivalent of a full mortgage, you just can’t get one.

Getting my first mortgage was at times challenging and stressful but I had a great broker who dealt with all of that. Things may have improved since I bought though, I hope so. I found that when I needed to re-mortgage and also staircase it was easier to stay with my existing lender, but it should be easier for SO mortgages than it is.

My rent has increased each year and is now quite high so I’m currently staircasing to 60% with the hope of owning outright one day.

However I get cross that if you want to staircase its costs a fortune… this is supposed to be affordable housing. I’ve had to fork out nearly £700 for 2 valuations (bank and housing association wouldn’t accept the others) and HA admin fees just to START the staircasing process. My HA are helpful but SLOW…. Its infuriating that you have to go by their rules and timescales yet they hold you to deadlines which they are delaying.

If you live in London, earn an average salary and haven’t got bank of Mum and Dad and want to get on the property ladder it’s a great –better to throw half your rent down the drain than all of it and if you’re lucky like me, the value has gone up a lot.

VodkaMargarine · 27 May 2015 at 1:47PM

I have a DIYSO (do it yourself shared ownership) from the previous owners. I have to admit trying to get a mortgage was a real pain and I had to write to my MP to fight my corner to get my mortgage as both the mortgage provider and the council were messing about. I can't staircase and I will only own 50%. Without it I would not of been able to afford to rent and save for a deposit and I would still be living with my mum. I pay £300 mortgage and £200 rent which is still cheaper than renting the same type of property in my area (£750 month plus).
It would be easier if more mortgage companies got involved and took the pain out of it! I'm dreading selling, but plan to be here for quite a while!

leveller2911 · 27 May 2015 at 2:33PM

Wow, never seen so many new posters on one thread, 7 newbies in a total of 18 posts.

Bit strange that.

suki1964 · 27 May 2015 at 2:49PM

leveller2911 wrote: »

Wow, never seen so many new posters on one thread, 7 newbies in a total of 18 posts.

Bit strange that.

What's weird about it, the question is in the weekly email with the link to sign up, register and give your experience

towanda · 27 May 2015 at 3:16PM

I bought 40% of a shared ownership 2 bed over a year ago, in a lovely area on a main commuter line into London.

I bought it alone, with a tiny deposit and no help from parents. There's no way I could have afforded a giant deposit to buy a property by the normal method, particularly in as affluent an area, and would have been stuck renting.

After years of renting, paying the same or more just in rent that I'm now paying on a combined rent/ mortgage, I'm finally happy and don't have to keep moving around. There's very few limits on what I can do with the flat over and above any other normal flat leaseholder. I also don't have any intrusive landlords, inspections etc., and I can't be asked to move on a whim. I prefer being responsible for maintenance because if anything goes wrong, I can get things done to my standards and my timescales instead of waiting for cowboys to bodge jobs for the least money possible, per my private renting experiences.

My rent and service charge has increased, in total, by less than £10 year on year (quite a nice surprise after the massive annual private rental increases I've been used to).

It's by far the nicest and largest place I've lived since leaving home, I've got no plans to move for years, and I don't have any regrets at all. I had to fight a list of people to buy it, and had missed out on several other SO properties before finally getting this one, so I'm not worried about a lack of demand or buyers if/when the time comes to sell. I'm sure buying and selling does work out a lot more expensive than buying conventionally, but I hated private rental so much and am enjoying being settled so much, that as far as I'm concerned it's worth it.

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