shared ownership? good or bad

steveo3002

my partner and i have been on the council house list forever, we just been writing to and been offered a sharded ownership 30% us for£57k and 70% them with £300 rent plus service fees

you have to pay a service charge to cover repiars and maintence etc

any opinons on if its a good or bad idea to do?

im thinking its not such a great idea...paying both rent and morgage, tied to a fixed maintenance thing , and hassle if we want out

doesnt seem to be any better than renting privatley, as at least that way you chose where you live and the person you rent from pays for repairs

cattie

The problem with renting is that you don't have any real security as the rental agreement will often be for 6 months or a year, so you could face having to move/pay a much higher rent on a regular basis.

With SO it's your home for as long as you want it to be & when you are ready to sell you reap the benefit of any increase in house prices.

It's not just with SO that people pay service/maintenance charges.Anyone who buys a flat has to pay service & maintenance charges too towards the upkeep & repair to the building & any gardens.

Really it depends on how keen you are to buy your own property. There are pro's & con's to both home owership & renting. With renting if you have a low income, lose your job or become too ill or disabled to work then you can always claim housing benefit to pay/help with the rent. Alas there is no such help for paying a mortgage, it is entirely your responsibility to continue to meet the repayments. With home ownership you are more in control in that you are able to chose where you want to live & the type of property you live in.

steveo3002

musicaldave...we havent got a council house, stuck at my parents!!

poppy_f1

i looked into shared ownership but taking the rent and charges into account after the mortgage and council tax payments i would be perm skint so have decided against it
for the money you are paying out if you cant buy somewhere in your area i'd look at privately renting cos it may work out cheaper plus any maintence to the property will get paid by the landlord etc

ManAtHome

Dunno if they're all similar to the key workers schemes, but you obviously need to know how rent increases are calculated http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/programmes/moneybox/6437627.stm

Bargain_Rzl

Having recently moved into a SO flat, this was my reasoning - may not be the same for you, so don't take this as gospel!

I decided shared ownership was the right choice for me, because:
*I would have struggled to get - and maintain - a manageable mortgage on a whole property, in an area which was convenient for commuting to work.
*I found a SO property which was EASILY affordable for me - cheaper than either buying OR renting a suitable property (and as I am not in a position to live with friends or family waiting for a crash in the market, I had to live SOMEWHERE).
*because it is easily affordable, I have a bit of money to put aside each month to save/invest - which means that I don't have to have "all my eggs in one basket" by using my flat as an investment opportunity.

Martin81162

We have just been offered a SO property and are waiting for the mortgage company to confirm. So hopefully we will be moving in the next two months.

Shared Ownership is great for us because we just can't afford to buy a property outright were we live.

It might begood for some and not so good for others but SO gives people an extra choice at these difficult times.

Martin

Waldir

When considering buying a shared ownership flat, be careful to consider every cost associated with it, and read carefully the small prints.
I was looking at buying a shared ownership flat last year (with riverside), and discovered at the last minute the "sinking fund", which represents thousands of pounds payable when you sell the flat (in my case, it would have added £100/month for each month I would have lived in the property)