Who's found shared ownership housing good for them

tomorrowperson

I moved onto a shared ownership property back in 2003. Then I was OK financially but in need of somewhere to live as my landlord of the time was about to double my rent. I thought shared ownership seemed to make sense as I could get on the property ladder. At first I was happy with the flat. It's a nice place, in an area that I wouldn't have been able to otherwise afford. I work as a freelancer and after about a year came the times when I wasn't working constantly and still needed to pay for where I was living. This over the years has added up to a large amount of debt by way of loans and credit cards. I have myself to blame and the encouragement of the banks at the time for this. Now I am unemployed once more, in a time when so many other people are. I have been speaking to the Housing Association about renting out my flat for a year as I have the chance of working outside of London. They previously said 'no' because my lease states I can't. I looked through their guidebook and found a paragraph which states that in certain financial circumstances a tenant/leaseholder can rent out their property if they are in financial difficulties.

With that information in hand decided to contact the Housing Association again and I am currently being pushed from one person at the Housing Association to another. Nobody seems to be able to give me a proper answer as to whether I could be allowed to rent out my flat for a short a year. That would help me clear some debt and then the property market may improve and I could find a buyer for the flat.

My own experience of shared ownership is a feeling of being trapped and being unable to find a competent person that can make me feel better and less troubled by my situation and that can offer me a way out that works for me and the Housing Association. Instead, I face a Kafkaesque nightmare of officials with red stamps not really knowing what they are stamping nor indeed why. I want to clear some debt but seem to be getting no help as to how to rectify my situation. If anybody has any advice as to who I could speak to that may be able to help me it would be very much appreciated. As I say, the Housing Association seem to be unable to offer me any practical advice and I have been to see them and spoken over the phone with a variety of officers and it seems that I am way down on their list of things to do.

chickmug

tomorrowperson wrote: »

I moved onto a shared ownership property back in 2003. Then I was OK financially but in need of somewhere to live as my landlord of the time was about to double my rent. I thought shared ownership seemed to make sense as I could get on the property ladder. At first I was happy with the flat. It's a nice place, in an area that I wouldn't have been able to otherwise afford. I work as a freelancer and after about a year came the times when I wasn't working constantly and still needed to pay for where I was living. This over the years has added up to a large amount of debt by way of loans and credit cards. I have myself to blame and the encouragement of the banks at the time for this. Now I am unemployed once more, in a time when so many other people are. I have been speaking to the Housing Association about renting out my flat for a year as I have the chance of working outside of London. They previously said 'no' because my lease states I can't. I looked through their guidebook and found a paragraph which states that in certain financial circumstances a tenant/leaseholder can rent out their property if they are in financial difficulties.

With that information in hand decided to contact the Housing Association again and I am currently being pushed from one person at the Housing Association to another. Nobody seems to be able to give me a proper answer as to whether I could be allowed to rent out my flat for a short a year. That would help me clear some debt and then the property market may improve and I could find a buyer for the flat.

My own experience of shared ownership is a feeling of being trapped and being unable to find a competent person that can make me feel better and less troubled by my situation and that can offer me a way out that works for me and the Housing Association. Instead, I face a Kafkaesque nightmare of officials with red stamps not really knowing what they are stamping nor indeed why. I want to clear some debt but seem to be getting no help as to how to rectify my situation. If anybody has any advice as to who I could speak to that may be able to help me it would be very much appreciated. As I say, the Housing Association seem to be unable to offer me any practical advice and I have been to see them and spoken over the phone with a variety of officers and it seems that I am way down on their list of things to do.

I am sorry to hear of your position and the unhelpful HA. Call Shelter who are an excellent source of advice.

http://england.shelter.org.uk/