Housing Association / Shared Ownership

SJ_Jones

Is there anything on here that gives a simplified explanation of how these schemes work? I've tried looking it up on the internet, and nothing makes sense.

I believ this is the only way I'd be able to afford a mortgage of my own - but I just don't understand it fully. Can anyone help?

Thanks

robin_banks

There are two schemes;

Mychoice Homebuy
Shared ownership.

Loads of threads concerning these schmes generally negative tbh.

SJ_Jones

Thanks - I know they exist, but I just don't understand all their jargon... I want a "Buying a house though a housing association: For Dummies"

Maybe MSE can provide an article... :rolleyes:

Pee

If you google shared ownership buying property from Housing Association they come up with lots, one site is directgov. That looks pretty easy to understand.

dmg24

SJ_Jones wrote: »

Thanks - I know they exist, but I just don't understand all their jargon... I want a "Buying a house though a housing association: For Dummies"

Maybe MSE can provide an article... :rolleyes:

Unless it involves 2-4-1 pizzas, it is unlikely!

I had a very positive experience with shared ownership, albeit nearly ten years ago. I would still advocate buying on some of the older developments, but I would not touch any of the new build schemes.

A simplified explanation of shared ownership is that you get a mortgage for half the value of the property, and you pay a reduced rent on the other half. However, there are many variations on this, and each development/ HA will have different terms in the lease.

lauraaurora

Get on to the list for your local housing association - do this by phoning them up and enquiring how you get on the list.

Once on the list, the HA sends you through property details which tells you how much the house is, and roughly how much you'd pay a month.

If you see a property you like on that list, contact the HA and make an appointment to view the property.

If you like the property, see a mortgage advisor - the HA will probably recommend one which is worthwhile because that advisor will know which lenders do Shared Ownership mortgages. You basically need a lender to agree to lend you 50% (or more, sometimes less) of the value of the property.

If you can borrow what you need then it's pretty much the same as buying a property the normal way - get a solicitor, pay stamp duty if the property is in that bracket, etc.

Then, when you move in, you pay your mortgage as normal to your lender, and then rent on the other percentage of your property to your HA.

To give you a rough idea, 3 years ago we bought a SO property for £96,000 (house value was then £188,000) so we pay £550 a month to our mortgage lender and £300 to the HA - this includes rent and service charge ie. they look after our communal areas. This benefits the flats far more than those of us with houses, and they subsequently pay quite a bit more for this). We also pay council tax, electricity, water etc. etc. as normal.

Lugh_Chronain

If you are paying rent and service charges as well as paying for the mortgage aren’t you entitled to maintenance from the HA in the same way as a full paying tenant?

This might be worth checking out if this is the case as it might save you quite a bit of money hopefully.