Should I buy my shared ownership flat?

mattcafc

kingstreet wrote: »

It sounds fine to me.

The question, as I mentioned earlier, is is it sensible to do it and is it sensible to do it now?

Local conditions are going to determine the answers to that.

Hi Kingstreet,

Do you have any examples on what conditions would make the idea bad or good, so I can do some investigating.

My main reasons for doing it, is that I'm spending money on rent each month, which could go towards a mortgage, but I would like to see what you mean by the conditions of the local area

kingstreet

It comes down to the future sale prospects, as I've mentioned several times. Some areas suit shared ownership. Buyers struggle to afford to buy all the property, so SO suits them if they are in lower income jobs in a high priced area.

Alternatively, some areas don't really suit SO and would be better being 100% owned because the likely buyers are better off and could buy the whole property and would be put-off by the rent/share idea.

It's all about future sale prospects. You didn't answer me when I asked how long you plan to live there, but your comment about a house suggests you don't plan to stay there too long. You need to think about the best way to sell this property at the time you need to sell it, at the price you need to get. How about talking to your HA about resale prospects if continued SO and local EAs about SO v 100% value sales?

mattcafc

Sorry for missing the previous question. I can see us living here another 6-8 years.

I'll speak to the HA, but I assumed they would just be pro buying it, as they would want to sell it (And keep having my service charge money)

e're in an area where the:

Average house price
£448,336
Flat £219,919

So our 2 bedroom flat at £180k (Which was newly build when we moved in) is a good property.

But as you say, I will talk to the HA

kingstreet

Housing Associations don't particularly like to see property lost from the social housing stock, but do plough any sales receipts back into building new properties, as allowed by Government.

I suggested talking to the HA as it will be approached about resales, those like you, who may wish to sell their share when looking to move on.

Talking to estate agents may yield information on the types of enquiry they get - more 100% or more SO.