Shared Ownership

oldcarpetbagger

Having read many posts on this boards questioning SO I thought it might be helpful to share my experience of it.

I bought my house in 1993 (30% share). I then bought a further 20% in 2002.

The problems started when I tried to sell it. HA did not actively market it in any shape or form. I had to pay for a surveyors valuation which priced it £40k below the three market appraisals I''d had done by estate agents. I then had to pay for another one every 3 months as required by HA.

I eventually had to pay an estate agent to market and sell it or me. Result after all fees and costs... £28k for 15 years shared ownership scheme.

My advice would be wait until you can afford to buy outright.

SO prices are overvalued when you buy and well below market price when you sell. It's laughable that this scheme is supposed to help people on low incomes, and that HA's are registered charities.

brit1234

Thanks for the honest post. It is similar to experiences my keyworker friends in West London.

SO is just a way to keep house prices high.

Paul_the_Painter

It does depend on who you are a shared owner with. I'm with Milton Keynes Council. I can sell to who I like, at whatever price I like, charge whatever premium I like, rent out the house if I like, for how long I like.

Needless to say I like it.

The golden rule for shared ownership though is to never go above 50% ownership, if you are trying to sell a 75% share, pretty much everybody who can afford it, can also afford to buy a standard 100% house.

brit1234

With house prices falling and set to fall a lot more is there any need for such a scheme. Far better to increase the deposit saving whilst prices fall.