timescale for co-ownership?

emmah89

Hi! We are currently in the process of buying our first house through Co-Ownership (NI). Just wondering if anyone knows how long (roughly) it takes for the decision letter? we cant find anything online to say the rough timescale but we have our meeting next week with them, and we are uber keen to get everything signed and sealed to get to work on making the house our home.

cacoyle45

Hi emma

just noticed your question and was wondering the same thing. Take it you have gone right through the whole process by now so i was wondering if you could tell me the timescales of how long it actually took .

We are going through the process at the minute and have just had our financial things all cleared, so we're about to go through level 2 processing (whatever that is). And then an interview i presume.

What did they discuss at the interview? How long did the decision take post interview and have you any advice

I hope that you get this because this info would be a great help and would certainly help calm our nerves!!

thanks in advance

[Deleted User]

guys,

any update on your timescales and what happens after you submit your application ?

I submitted mine today and am keen to get it progressing as fast as possible.

Thanks

Elm87

Hey I know you all probably have your answers by now! Lol. But just for future users, I applied 2 weeks ago and got my letter today telling me my appointment will be in 2 and half weeks. Though I am curious what will happen at my appointment if anyone can help out?

[Deleted User]

Hi Elm87,

I have indeed received my co-ownership offer and I am currently waiting for the bank to send out the mortgage offer. Should hopefully get it this week.

Here's my timeline of events so far:

First Viewing: 19/04/2013
Second Viewing: 20/04/2013
Offer submitted: 20/04/2013
Offer agreed/sale agreed: 22/04/2013
Coownership application submitted: 24/04/13
Coownership application paid(£250):29/04/13
Coownership survey arranged on: 01/05/13
Mortgage agreed (in principal): 02/05/13
Coownership survey completed: 03/05/13
Coownership interview: 08/05/13
Coownership agreed: 09/05/13 (text), 15/05/13 (letter received)
Mortgage application submitted: 16/05/13
Bank underwriter stage: 14/06/13
Retaining wall structural survey: 18/06/13
Underwriter approved: 18/06/13
Bank surveyor visit: 21/06/13
Mortgage offer (initial) received: 26/06 - 2 year fixed not 5 year as requested
Mortgage offer (adjusted) received:02/07
Contract signed, deposit+fees paid:05/07

Elm87

That's a great help! I'm literally just waiting to go to my interview which is in 2 weeks. But I see from your list, you got your mortgage agreed in principle before your appointment. I didn't realise you were able to do that as I thought they would only deal with you once you had your co-ownership decision letter.

Again thank you so much!

[Deleted User]

Hi Elm,
yea, we're currently going through a broker for the actual application but we also visited the bank directly and had a chat about mortgages. They were able to give a mortgage agreement in principal by going through our finances. We didn't get any paperwork for this, but it made us feel a bit better knowing the numbers were ok for them. We then were pretty confident the actual application via the broker would go through ok.

To be completely honest with you, if we were doing this again, we would not use a broker at all. It's caused us no end of stress and constant chasing.

Fransmyth

Myself and my husband are thinking about buying a house through co ownership ni. However we really have no idea as to weather this is a good idea or not. We can get a mortage for £90,000 but would like to buy the house we are renting which is £120,000. How and why did yous take the plunge for going this route. Any help it advice would be fantastic. Thanks in advance

[Deleted User]

Hi Fransmyth,

Well in our case we went for coownership for quite a few reasons. First, we wanted to move closer my work (currently 44 mile round trip/day). Also, the area we are moving to is fantastic, and the house is great. We just couldn't afford the full mortgage at the moment.

Coownership allowed us to get the house and location we wanted now. The house prices are very low, and the interest rates are low too. We went for a 5 year fixed coownership mortgage with the ulster bank. Now is the right time to be fixing.

So we knew we wanted the house and its the right time, so instead of being utterly crippled for mortgage payments we gave ourselves some breathing room with coownership.

It's flexible. We choose when we want to buy out more of their share. You can do it in 5% bits, right up to the full amount of their share.

We're planning to buy them out as soon as possible - probably within 5 years. Again - we choose when we want to do it.

Now, there are restrictions to coownership. Your finances need to match their profile of person they are looking for. If they think you can afford the full mortgage without their help, they will reject you. They will also reject you if they think your finances just can't support a mortgage and the rent back to them (you need to pay rent on their share). Remember, there's rates and home insurance to pay too.

You also can't do any major work to the house without asking them permission first. Basically they do not want you to put loads of cash into home maintenance without first buying them out. Buying them out should be your top priority.

If you have any questions just let us know. My wife and I just signed all our papers on Friday and just waiting for coownership to sign their bit of the contract before it's all sent to the seller to approve

Fransmyth

Thanks so much for replying. It is great to hear from someone that is going with co ownership right now! You tend to hear more about the negative stories than the positive ones. I definitely think this is a route we must consider. We both love the area we are in and it is close to work but we couldnt afford it on our own. If we were to buy a house in our budget it would have to be at least 30 minutes from where we are now and in an area we don't really want to live in. So thanks for your view