Co-Ownership?

bergarac

Does anyone know much about co-ownership in
N.Ireland?

I believe it is not available in the rest of the UK.Considering the extremely high property prices here I was considering using the co-ownership because I am a first time buyer and at the min I cant even get a mortage from a bank?I even went on to the co-ownership website read as much about it as I could,it seems ok so far but need to know from some people who used it and had the experience with it?They have a mortage calculator on there site and it worked out alot cheaper for me to go through them with my monthly mortage payments.I know you have to pay half mortage re payments and half rent to the co ownership.

If anyone could give me some feedback about them it would be very helpful.

Thanks B.

Pink.

Bergerac,

I'm sorry cant offer you any up to date info on co-ownership, but I can tell you that we used it to buy our first home 21 years ago.

We wouldn't have been able to afford it on our own, and in retrospect I'm glad that we couldn't.

We paid £21,750 for what was then a luxury appartment.

Thanks to co-ownership we only actually needed to find a mortgage for half of that. We lived there for nearly seven years, but in that time there was a slump in the market and the value of the appartment dropped to just under £20,000. Thankfully the co-ownership housing association shouldered 50% of the loss.

As I said before, I know little about co-ownership now, but it certainly helped us to buy our first home and get a foot in the property market.

I hope this is of some help,

Pink

arkonite_babe

Just noticed today that a local estateagent had a co ownership sticker in the window. It would seem that you can get advice on co ownership down that avenue. Might be worth a try?

HTH

Cottongrass

Bergarac,
I am currently having trouble getting a loan secured for the value of the house in the area I want. I've looked into Co-Ownership just as you have (website, calculator, asking around). The feedback I've received is negative, but let me qualify that with my own spin. I've heard of two people who used it to get on the market (like us). Both cases described the transition from partial owner to full owner as a long haul and troublesome. I put this down to a little-changed financial situation some years down the line when the idea was to have been on better money and have the funds to buy them out. There is only two ways to do it-
1. A windfall, or 2. A re-mortgage when your financial status looks much better.
I'm looking at the 62.5% share, but hoping for the 75% share, as some lenders now offer loans based on affordability rather then the more structured salary multiples (Halifax are one such lender). As long as you always remember that the percentage share remains constant, you know what you're getting into.
I like the clause that excludes any renovation works carried out by you from the re-valuation estimate at the time of buy-out.
I'm looking for a mortgage promise this week before submitting my application to Co-Ownership, as I've been advised that you will get an interview within 3 wks at the minute. Listen to Pink-winged's story above. I'm going for it. See you at the meet in April and we'll swop stories.

bergarac

Thanks for the replies.

If I go through with co ownership il post good and bad points.

B.

IvanOpinion

A couple of pointers to keep in mind

1. Also check out long term mortgages. Some companies (haven't looked at this for ages so am not sure who) now offer 30 and 40 year mortgages which allows the borrower to take a significantly larger multiplier of their income. Over the years as things change you can easily reduce this term. Generally they are no different to other mortgages in that you are not necessarily tied for the full term - check it out.

2. One caution about co-ownership because some people do not full yunderstand this. The government is effecitvely mortgaging a percentage of the property not a percentage of the purchase value. Therefore if/when your property increases in value so does the amount of money you have to pay to buy out the government.

Good luck in your search

Ivan

aidankelly

I'm going down the co-ownership route also. I went to The Mortgage Shop in Forestside, theres one in gt victoria st also. I found them very good in finding me a good mortgage at a competitve rate. A lot of banks wont entertain co-ownership. I would recommend the mortgage shop without doubt. Also the advice is independent and free!

crispqueen

Hiya - so pleased to see a NI forum...
Can anyone tell me if they know when the Co-ownership housing will announce the results of the affordabilty review?
I`ve read that in March their could be some reduction to the amount we can buy and changes to the ceiling price limits!!!
Thanks

talksalot81

I dont know the answer to the question but I would suggest it is worthwhile really thinking about your situation before getting involved. Co-ownership will often be a really bad choice when you balance the figures.

crispqueen

Hi - thanks for the reply and I can see what your saying, but we done it before (1990) and found it great as long as the intention is there to buy back the rest as soon as possible.(which we did in `93)
Due to selling our 3rd property last year to pay debts,we`ve now had to rent and want to get back on the property ladder this way , to give us the head start we need again until we`re on our feet again to buy back the rest.
I agree that if someone was to use it as a long term method, its not ideal but in our situation we think it`ll suit.

leftieM

crispqueen wrote:

Due to selling our 3rd property last year to pay debts

You really need this site! I hope you find some really useful information.
As someone who has recently dipped a toe in the market only to have it bitten off (metaphorically speaking) I would say that it's a really really bad time to buy a house. Not just the prices - house sales are falling through all the time so you could get up to your neck in debt just paying a few survey fees and solicitor's costs and you'd still be in a rented house.
Maybe a high percentage of sales always fell through and I've only become aware of it - I don't know that. Just be careful, if you don't have a few thousand that you can afford to lose buying may not be the best option at the moment.
However, I wish you the best of luck. Just remember, knowledge is power - if you're aware of all of the costs and possible problems then you can make the best decision for yourself and your family.
As for your question - I don't know!