Own Home Scheme Pros and Cons

Cloister

Yeah makes perfect sense, we are currently in a 2 bed house and will be moving to a 3 bed house and our payments will decrease by about £50 for us which will be nice

Geeves1980

There's a particular house I have seen that I like, however it has what some could argue is a 3rd bedroom (I would be limited to 2).

The EA have it detailed as a study. It's measurements are 7'1 reducing to 4'1 x 6'1, so very small.

Would this scheme not allow this house as it has what could be described as a 3rd bedroom, even though it is barely bedroom? Who decides what is/isn't a bedroom-the surveyor, ownhome or the mortgage lender?

superfran_uk

Geeves1980 wrote: »

There's a particular house I have seen that I like, however it has what some could argue is a 3rd bedroom (I would be limited to 2).

The EA have it detailed as a study. It's measurements are 7'1 reducing to 4'1 x 6'1, so very small.

Would this scheme not allow this house as it has what could be described as a 3rd bedroom, even though it is barely bedroom? Who decides what is/isn't a bedroom-the surveyor, ownhome or the mortgage lender?

Again, repeating advice I have already given in this thread:

It's the surveyor that will tell you the number of bedrooms a property has. If it's upstairs and you can fit a single bed in it, chances are it will be deemed by them to be a bedroom.

There is no right or wrong answer though, and it's up to you whether you want to take the gamble, but our survey cost £525 and that's a lot of money to lose as ownhome will categorically not let you get more bedrooms than you are entitled to.

Cloister

yeah I think being upstairs could be the key here, ours has a "study" it's smaller than what you detail but it IS an extra room that you possibly could put a bed in but you won't really want to as it's downstairs and is going to be the computer room

But the details of the house actually say Study/occasional 4th bedroom. I think the key is what the house is being marketed as, I think that anyone who could say it has another bedroom would simply because it would increase the value of their home.

Hope that make sense, but as Superfran says - be careful.

mary4kids

superfran_uk wrote: »

Er, wouldn't it be better to wait your turn, like everybody else has to? Are you extremely special or something?

Remember it isn't your right to be given funding to buy a house! If you get on to this scheme you are lucky, there are still many thousands who will never buy a house. Most people would say if you want something, you should have to pay for it yourself without the taxpayers help... I am not one of those people but I do accept that this is something which is a great opportunity rather than something I am entitled too!

If you have to wait or you don't qualify, it's frustrating but thems the breaks! Gordon Brown isn't going to suddenly pull out all the stops for you or pay out of his own pocket just because you kick up a stink!

And your comment about it not being fair on the seller - you shouldn't even be LOOKING for a house yet, let alone have a seller involved. Chill the **** out!

I am starting to tire of the negative comments on here from from people who have jumped the gun and then had to wait. I for one have no gripes with Ownhome and I think many of the comments are unfair and wholy unjustified.

I applied, forgot all about it, and then when I got my letter booked an interview... forgot all about that and got on with my life in the meantime! If we're looking at timescales, I applied back last year and I'm probably going to move in July, so it's taken the best part of a year, but you don't see me complaining because I never expected it to be instantaneous. If everybody did this rather than signing up to rightmove alerts and looking round houses as soon as they've applied, the world (well, this thread!) would be a much happier place!

TL;DR version - Beggars can't be choosers.

I applied in february and didnt hear anything yet. When my turn will come. They said it was going to be 6 to 8 weeks but its been 15 weeks and still nothing. Also it is not like something I can forget. I have a disabled child who needs lots of space. From your post I understand you are not desperate like some of us.

ladybird3

When in feb did you apply? I think they're working through the feb list now as i applied around the middle of that month and just recieved my letter last week, im sure you're not far away from getting yours but clearly it does seem to differ area to area-im in north london if that helps
Everyone is desperate! But it is just a case of waiting unfortunately, its obvious they're doing everyone in turn so you'll just have to wait!
If you have a disabled child then doesnt this mean that you should get some help from the council with regards to your housing?

mary4kids

ladybird3 wrote: »

When in feb did you apply? I think they're working through the feb list now as i applied around the middle of that month and just recieved my letter last week, im sure you're not far away from getting yours but clearly it does seem to differ area to area-im in north london if that helps
Everyone is desperate! But it is just a case of waiting unfortunately, its obvious they're doing everyone in turn so you'll just have to wait!
If you have a disabled child then doesnt this mean that you should get some help from the council with regards to your housing?

Thank you. Council doesnt do housing where we live. We are on housing association waiting list but they say there is 4 bedroom house shortage where we live. Thats how I found out about this scheme. They told me to buy one.

jockosjungle

Our problem is this, maybe not explained it well enough.

I'd have to take a mortgage of 3.5 times my salary £87k
Max price in my area is £113k
Ownhome will lend me up to this amount but the co-op said only in increments of 5% so 20%, 25%, etc.
Which leaves me having to take 20%.

They will not lend me more than 20% as it will go over the scheme maximum, they won't lend me less due to it being less than 20%

It leaves us having to buy a house that costs exactly £109,871 to the penny. The choice is generally an overpriced council house or a rundown non-council house. Finding a two bedroom house that costs exactly that is actually pretty difficult and limits us to practically nothing and absolutely nowhere to haggle with.

R

nig0609

Jocko, that sounds incredibly frustrating, have you asked them to reconsider? In my area (SE england) they will offer support on a 2 bed property up to 180k? for me, a min mortgage of 65k = 3.5times salary, coop said they will lend up to 4.5times

I cant believe that you are restricted to a exact price. From what you have said you have a price range of £108,750-£113,000 (assuming min mortgage exactly 87000)

Bear in mind the 20% ownhome is not a fixed value, but a fixed %age of the property.

Having said that, does anyone know if the %age is based on the purchase price or the survey valuation?

superfran_uk

jockosjungle wrote: »

Our problem is this, maybe not explained it well enough.

I'd have to take a mortgage of 3.5 times my salary £87k
Max price in my area is £113k
Ownhome will lend me up to this amount but the co-op said only in increments of 5% so 20%, 25%, etc.
Which leaves me having to take 20%.

They will not lend me more than 20% as it will go over the scheme maximum, they won't lend me less due to it being less than 20%

It leaves us having to buy a house that costs exactly £109,871 to the penny. The choice is generally an overpriced council house or a rundown non-council house. Finding a two bedroom house that costs exactly that is actually pretty difficult and limits us to practically nothing and absolutely nowhere to haggle with.

R

This is NOT true so I will explain it as clearly as I can before you write it off completely!

There will be a minimum mortgage you have to take - in your case, assuming that £109,871 is your minimum figure and you said you can only take 20%, this is £87,896.80.

However if you take a slightly higher mortgage, which you may well be able to do, you can 'top up' this amount. If your maximim house price is £113k, you can get a mortgage of up to £90,400 for the other 80%, however please clarify this by ringing the co-op. They will be able to give you exact figures.

And from what I have seen on rightmove, you can easily buy a house for this price in your area. As I have said above, there is nothing wrong with ex-council or something you may have to re-decorate, or something a few miles outside of the area you really want to live. As long as it is structurally sound. Many people on this scheme buy flats, the scheme is not designed to get you a town centre, well decorated semi with parking, garden, all mod cons and your own butler... just somewhere affordable to live.

These are the sacrfices you make when you cannot save for a deposit.