Can you negotiate on the Purchase Price on a Housing Association New Build?

protocolboy

Hi All
Does anyone know if you can negotiate the price on the purchase cost for the new build homes on Shared Ownership?

I am a first time buyer and spoke to one place today that said the price is fixed as they are a charity/government scheme allowing people to get the foot on the ladder so negotiating not possible

Is it true or was I just fobbed off?

Thanks
DEAN

robin_banks

I pulled out of a shared ownership, there was a massive difference between my propesctive lenders valuation and the HA's price.

Shared ownership properties are massively overpriced, and they do not negotiate on price but not for the reasons you suggest. HA's need to cover their costs, and these things are not selling which in normal circumstances would lead to the price dropping.

I fully expect many shared ownership developments will be mothballed.

poppysarah

Don't look at them. They'll make you blind to the fact that house prices are too expensive for people to afford.

Incisor

protocolboy wrote: »

Hi All
Does anyone know if you can negotiate the price on the purchase cost for the new build homes on Shared Ownership?

I am a first time buyer and spoke to one place today that said the price is fixed as they are a charity/government scheme allowing people to get the foot on the ladder so negotiating not possible

Is it true or was I just fobbed off?

Thanks
DEAN

Avoid these schemes. Shared ownership contains pitfalls for the financially unwary and although month by month, it may cost you less than renting, even if you keep up all your payments and make them on time, you may end up tens of thousands of pounds in debt.

Make sure you understand how you could end up in debt from shared ownership before you proceed any further.

hethmar

The trouble is the HA will have bought a block of flats at a set price to sell on as shared ownership so they would be losing money if they dropped the prices.

geoffky

you have just found out why these places are a pure ripoff and scamm...dont go there

devon_guy

Incisor wrote: »

Avoid these schemes. Shared ownership contains pitfalls for the financially unwary and although month by month, it may cost you less than renting, even if you keep up all your payments and make them on time, you may end up tens of thousands of pounds in debt.

Make sure you understand how you could end up in debt from shared ownership before you proceed any further.

How exactly can you end up tens of thousands of pounds in debt???

Incisor

devon_guy wrote: »

How exactly can you end up tens of thousands of pounds in debt???

Go to this thread: http://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/showthread.html?p=16249267#post16249267 and read my post no6 for a start. Sorry to refer you around, but I could write the same explanation about 4 times a week to different posters who do not understand shared ownership - so much so that I begin to think it should be a sticky post on the forum. If you still don't understand, then post your own shared ownership scenario here and we'll show you how it could go wrong.

[It is not a dead cert that it will go wrong, but if you go for shared ownership - or even if you are a 100% ownership First Time Buyer - you need to understand that even if you pay everything in full and on time, you could still end up with a substantial debt]

devon_guy

Ahhhh well that's a different scenario to mine. I'm not buying a percentage of a property and then *having* to buy the rest in x amount of years time. Anyway I love my flat and it's cheaper to pay rent and mortgage on it than the equivalent rent on its own would be by about £200 a month.

poppysarah

Until the rent goes up, until you want to change somethg in the flat and have to get their permission and jump through hoops to comply with all their rules, and then to contribute towards the maintenance of the building, future repairs, or want to sell or rent.
Half a flat is worse than no flat.

Incisor

devon_guy wrote: »

Ahhhh well that's a different scenario to mine. I'm not buying a percentage of a property and then *having* to buy the rest in x amount of years time. Anyway I love my flat and it's cheaper to pay rent and mortgage on it than the equivalent rent on its own would be by about £200 a month.

So what is your exit strategy? How do you sell out? Bear in mind that in a few years time there will still be a surplus of flats at low prices and one under shared ownership will not be so attractive to people who can afford or will aspire to 100% - shared ownership only tends to arise at this point in the house price cycle.