Shared Ownership advise please?

poppysarah

You pay for all repairs on an overpriced property you don't own all of. Resale is hard. The schemes may limit you to one go at it so you'll never be able to afford to upgrade

RoxieW

As a shared ownership owner I didnt find my property overpriced - it was in line with same houses on street full ownership (in fact, our third bedroom is bigger due to HA guidelines). Yes, you do have to pay for repairs but you are also free to decorate, upgrade, do what you like without asking for permission. Resale in our experience isnt hard. We have to give the HA one month to find a buyer off their waiting list. After that you can market through estate agent and demand will always be high - no matter how far house prices drop there will always be those on a lower income or with only one wage earner looking to get on the ladder. When we were considering selling we had two full asking price offers within a couple of weeks. This was this year in a tough market. We set the price - not the HA.
People on this board always go on about it being a con but in our experience it has been great. Yes you gain half the profits but it's also half the risk - something that we're glad at at the moment - the rent on the other 50% is also tiny - less than half than comparable 50% private rent. SO allowed us to actually live in a nice house in a nice area - something that we wouldnt have been able to afford otherwise.
Saying that, if its only 1 x your income I cant see why you would want to use this scheme? In fact, you may struggle if it is a HA SO scheme because they assess you to determine that you couldnt afford to buy a similar 100% house which you clearly could afford.
Best of luck.

Conrad

The default will probably rule out having the mortgage in both names.
S/O lenders are very fussy.

I find S/O properties are sold for much higher prices compared with the price you get as an ordinary buyer dealing direct with a developer.

MasterBell_2

what about shared ownership that are resales not new builds,
sorry to piggy back on to thread
but its half the risk,

heranaway

I got a shared ownership, most young people find it impossible to buy a property on the open market, prices falling or not...still expensive and if you live in london you go no chnce unless you have a wallet full of cash!

Regarding your credit score, I'd check your credit score with Experian as it will give you both an indicator and then speak to a mortgage adviser, I highly reccomend Halifax but just be honest about all your details.

Cheers

cats!

There is less legal protection with SO as the leaseholders (i.e. the HA) treat you as a leaseholder, not a freeholder. This was decided in a recent court ruling surrounding a repossession.

There can be problems with resale; for 99% of buyers it is a millstone around their neck.

There are enough warnings about the pitfalls with this type of scheme, you have been warned!

Jvic28

poppysarah wrote: »

You pay for all repairs on an overpriced property you don't own all of.

I haven't had to pay for any repairs to my SO flat as it's a new build and under guarantee from the developers. Obviously this won't last forever but being a new build I hope there won't be too many repairs to worry about.

cats!

What's the maintenance / service charge for your SO flat? Have all the residents formed their own residents management group or does an outside company do it?

Jvic28

Who are you talking to cats!? Me? We pay £100 a month service charge which obviously covers communal arrears, CCTV, Concierge etc. I think that's pretty reasonable. A service charge would have to be paid if I owned the flat outright or rented anyway.

brit1234

Stay away from shared ownership they are a nightmare and con:

1. You share the blocks with housing association tenants some of which will be criminals and cause anti social behaviour.
2. Prices are extremely overvalued and build quality is poor.
3. Service charges are inflated and rents rise above CPI inflation
4. It is far harder to sell, you have to jump through hoops for ages before you can market with a normal estate agents. It is well known most people will stay well clear of shared ownership so your pool of people to sell to is smaller.
5. House prices are falling fast, get a normal flat at auction for 50% off instead.