Shared ownership query

mrpop

Hello,

Just a small question to ask you all please..

What is the upper limits to be accepted onto a Housing Associations books for shared ownership?

A friend has told me in Birmingham it's £16K.... but I'm not sure if this is the case nationwide.

I do hope not, as although my Husband earns £23K it is not enough to buy somewhere here in Lancs!

Caught between the devil and the deep blue sea if that IS the case!

Cheers, and thanks in advance for any replies,

S

mummytofour

It depends on the H/A and if you have children. I would suggest that you contact the H/A in question.

izoomzoom

Really think is it up to the HA, but in our area, seems to range from £15000 to £60000 (which me thinks could afford to buy the normal way ???)

Bargain_Rzl

At the HA through which I'm currently buying a shared ownership property, the upper income criterion is that you must be "unable to afford a suitable property on the open market within reasonable travelling distance of work". So yes, if you earn £60k and have five children, and you work in London, chances are you need a 4-bedroom house and it ain't easy to find one of those for 4x salary = £240k in London! On the other hand, if I earned £60k (which I don't!) I'm sure I wouldn't qualify for anything at all because I'd be able to raise a mortgage for £200k+ and being single with no dependants, would only "need" a 1-2 bedroom flat which on that money would be easily affordable. (As it is I am buying a 1-bed SO flat which is out of my "open market" price range by about £20k.)

mrpop

Thank you for your replies.

I am quite confused with it all, when I contacted the housing associations here in Chorley, most of them said to keep an eye on estate agents, as they are registered with them. Then the estate agent acts as an agent for the HA, and you apply through them.

We are not able to buy a property on our income alone, have 2 kids and my husband is registered disabled (with DLA for life) so I guess we should have a good "case".

Thanks moneysavers!

S:T

Bargain_Rzl

mrpop wrote:

Caught between the devil and the deep blue sea if that IS the case!

By the way, I agree with this comment in relation to so many areas of "assisted" housing! Keyworker-only policies I can understand, but the practice of offering certain assisted purchase schemes exclusively to existing council/HA tenants really annoys me. These people already have an affordable roof over their head, albeit perhaps not an ideal one - and some of them earn more than I do. It puts people at a real disadvantage who are on modest incomes and whose only option is to rent privately, often with sky-high rents creating ongoing hardship. I was delighted to find the SO scheme I'm buying through, as (being a single non-keyworker in London who would have been looking at minimum mortgage payments of around 50% of my salary) I was genuinely worried about my chances of ever being able to afford accommodation which would still leave me with enough financial slack to have a reasonable quality of life. Even as it is, a few years ago when I was earning less, the minimum income requirements for most London SO schemes would have meant I could afford neither outright purchase, private rental, NOR shared ownership. A lot of people are still in this position, as to afford the rental and mortgage on most London schemes you're looking at a minimum income requirement of getting on for £20k if not more.