Questions about selling a shared ownership property after staircasing to 100%?

Richard_Webster

Another point - some SO leases effectively prevent a final staircasing followed by a sale within 3 months of each other so you have to find the money to buy in the final portion - you cannot do it "back to back".

Worth checking whether that trap is in the wording.

helger

Richard_Webster wrote: »

Pretty standard sort of clause. A lot of Councils want to make sure that when they give planning permission for "affordable housing" as part of an overall development - that it stays "affordable housing". There is politics behind this.

The Council tries to impose a planning (s106) agreement on the builder and the HA in question to stop it going on to the open market. HA's solicitor won't agree that because he knows people couldn't get mortgagees if there were absolute restrictions, so HA agrees to a whole load of restrictions like this which they sell to the Council as giving the HA the ability to retain the property in quasi-public ownership. I suspect the reality is that HAs will rarely have the money to buy in the 100%.

The practical problem is that you at least have to go through the hoop of asking them and waiting around for them to reply when you want to sell.

If you buy from a Council under Right to Buy now you have to accept a further pre-emption period after the end of the initial 5 years where you have to offer the property back to a Council at full market value, so this kind of restriction is increasingly common in the case of "affordable housing".

Many thanks, Richard. I must say you are an expert!

Personally, I do not against first offering back to the HA. I simply do not want to use their service to sell the property for 8 weeks with a big fee even after my Final Staircasing to 100%.

From your perspective, is it possible to negotiate about removing the application of option (iii) after my Final Staircasing to 100% from the lease? Or is it just a standard lease and can not be changed at all, i.e. whether accept it or walk away?

Richard_Webster

From your perspective, is it possible to negotiate about removing the application of option (iii) after my Final Staircasing to 100% from the lease? Or is it just a standard lease and can not be changed at all, i.e. whether accept it or walk away?

I doubt whether you will get anywhere in trying to remove the clause because some of these things are decided at fairly high levels.

I would suggest in practice they are not going to exercise the right and when you come to sell it you should be able to get them to write to you confirming they are not going to try to find a buyer. After all, if it is at a market value, the potential buyers are going to be looking through estate agents and not through HAs.

Taiko

Just from experience buying, the HA tend not to buy back. I'm hoping when I come to sell, it should be straightforward. At least I'm prepared for the pre-emption, my vendor wasn't!