One default - shared ownership - Joint Equity - HELP

dizzy2274

Hi
I am currently in renting and looking into buying a house. I earn 21k and have a deposit of £16k.

I have one default on my credit file which I have only recently discovered, it was with a mail order company for £31.00!! It is now settled and showing a such on my file.

Just wondering what sort of mortgage would be suitable for me? would the default affect my chances with high st banks?

also, i have been looking into possible shared ownership and looking at the housing associations in my area there do not appear to be any 3 bed houses available. So discovered a company called Joint Equity who work apparently in the same way as a housing association, has anyone had any experience with this or similar company?

Would really appreciate any advise, feel abit out of my depth here.

Thanks for reading.

sproyk

Hi Dizzy2274,

Myself and my partner are about to use Joint Equity but feel the same as you. We are way out of our depth and are concerned about Joint Equity.

Have you found out any more about the company or maybe even used them?

Any advice would be very helpful to use as we are about to pay our £250 deposit.

Dave.

poppy10_2

It's a scam - avoid

dizzy2274

Hi Poppy 10

Thanks for the reply, are you speaking from personal experience? Please elborate?

dizzy2274

Hi Sproyk

Take it you have read Poppy 10 comment - just on that I would do abit more research before you pay any money to Joint Equity.

lauraaurora

dizzy2274 wrote: »

Hi Poppy 10

Thanks for the reply, are you speaking from personal experience? Please elborate?

Poppy10= Broken (but un-informative) record.

Poppy10 has the amazing ability to tell everyone who ever asks about shared ownership that it's a scam, but without going into detail. SO works for some people in some situations. We are one of those couples. It may not work for you. Go and see an IFA for some professional, objective advice.

Laura and Clive

katehesk

There is a scheme run by new build developers and the government jointly called 'homebuy direct' where you take out a mortgage for 70% of a properties value and the government and developer (Eg. Morris Homes) would each contribute 15% each and it's basically to allow first time buyers to purchase new homes. It's only available on new build properties but it's worth a google.

Joint_Equity

Hello Board, This is a general reply from Joint Equity Ltd.

We offer people an alternative to renting when they do not have enough deposit or salary to be able to get a mortgage of their own.

However, we tell everyone that we are a little bit more expensive than buying on your own so we add a couple of steps in the buying process to ensure you are making the right decision.

You have to speak to a Mortgage Broker to see if you can get a mortgage direct. Even if you can it might not be a solution you want as the amount of mortgage might be too low, but we want you to check first.

Secondly before we will let you begin the mortgage application we absolutely require you to have advice from a Solicitor of your choice regarding the Joint Equity scheme and the contract between you and your Investor Partner. The contract is a Deed of Co-ownership and has a precise legal status and you must understand what it means for you and the Investor Partner. The contract is written in simple language and there is explanation boxes throughout but there is no substitute for you to sit down with someone independent to talk it over with. It may mean he will advise that Joint Equity is not right for you and we will be sorry to lose you but it is the right thing to do.

Buying a home is the biggest investment most people make and it can seem a daunting task, but our Joint Equity Owner team are here to help all through the buying process, but we do not stop there we are with you while you live in your home and when you want to sell.

We do not call the owner and investor Partners for nothing you are Partners in co-owning your home. But don't worry the Investor is not landlord and it really is your own home. But importantly Joint Equity is also a Partner and we also sign your Contract. You can download the Contract as soon as you register as an Owner Partner which is free and carries no obligation.

We do ask for a £250 commitment deposit which is refunded if something goes wrong before the mortgage application and when you complete the purchase. What can we say to convince you we are a straight company? We hold your commitment deposit in a Clients Account and we have a target to refund all deposits within 1 working day of your request. So far we have done that 100% of the time and we publish the statistics on our Treating Customers Fairly pages on the web site. Also Brad Bamfield our MD would skin us alive if we did not achieve it.

Our web site has 98 pages about us and our products, why do we have so many? because we want you to know all about us. You can ask our Owner team any question you want and we will do our best to help you. We would prefer you do it by direct email but we are happy to do it through this forum, if the Admin does not reprimand us for taking over

Joint_Equity

Hi Dizzy

Our Lenders will look at defaults in their context and accept we all make errors. The one you mention is similar to ones that they can ignored for other of our Owner Partners. If you email our Owner Team with full details, addy from web site, we will get lender approval before you do anything else.

We are not mortgage advisers but I would think that most other lenders will not be too worried about this default either although they do seem to want to find a way to say No rather than Yes.

However, we are not a Housing Association and do not have any ownership in your home. We are open to anyone regardless of occupation and you can buy the home of your choice anywhere you like.

That said Home Buy (the Government scheme through HAs) is at a lower cost per month than us and we would recommend you check out your local HAs to make sure they are not better for you then Joint Equity.

Hope this helps, and good home hunting.

brit1234

poppy10 wrote: »

It's a scam - avoid

Poppy is right. I guess people start feeling the presure to get on the housing ladder and start to ignore the true costs with these schemes.

Problems

Shared Ownership

1. Own a fraction of the property
2. Pay rent on the rest
3. Pay large service charge (even houses)
4. Responsible for all repairs despite owning a fraction of property
5. :lipsrseal Overvalued and designed to get maximum money out of buyer :lipsrseal
6. Stepping up purchase part long winded and expensive
7. Difficult to sell, harder than conventional property.
8. Increased restrictions subletting rooms extra

Shared Equity

1. Designed to make people pay over inflated prices above bank lending criteria
2. You have to find the extra money for 10 years time, it will always be over you head.
3. Big service charge agian with often big parking costs

As A key worker I have looked into both schemes and spoken to friends who are in them. They scare me and seem just a way to inflate prices. If you don't believe me check how shared ownership/equity percentages have changed over the years.

Shared Ownership typical splits
2003 50-70% buy 30-50% rent
2007 25-50% buy 50-75% rent
*There were schemes considering applicants buying 10-15% and may exist still and a couple were looking into 5%

Shared Equity
2007 Buy 90% Loan 10%
2009 Buy 75% Loan 25%

The builders are just using these schemes to keep prices high rather than let them full to normal levels. Banks openly state that these properties are overvalued which is shown in survey reports.

Here is a BBC video on it
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/business/7613781.stm

Trudie66

I've been an owner partner with Joint Equity for over two years. They are a professional organisation and it is not a scam. Yes, they may be more expensive than some schemes. But there are a lot of people out there like me who are not eligible for these schemes, or who don't qualify for govenment grants etc as I was not a priority case.

If you want a home owner solution this may be for you, I have no hesitation in recommending Joint Equity to anybody