Shared ownership?

Macrae88

Hi,

I'm a little confused about shared ownership, I've thought that this would be the route for me to take to get a property. BUT after having read the government website about eligibility it seems you have to be renting a housing association house to be able to get shared ownership!

Government website on shared ownership

Is there any way around this?

Thanks,

kingstreet

You don't have to be renting a HA property first, but it may help your application in busy areas, if you are.

Check out your local HCA HomeBuy Agent's website and those of your local HAs;-

http://www.helptobuy.org.uk/find-your-local-help-to-buy-agent/

mytravelrep06

we are in the process of buying a SO new build 3 bed house.

We will own 50% and the HA will own 50%.

We will pay £151 rent to the HA and a service charge of £13 which will include buldings insurance as well.

We rented privately for a few years and found this to be our best route to get on the housing ladder due to our circumstances.

Hope that helps..

Amatheya81

Be careful with SO, it's a good way to get on the ladder but every one I know (including me) found that the moment you're in the service charges start increasing at an insane rate (two increases this year totalling an extra £50 per month) it's also very hard to sell up and move on because your hands are tied by the housing association.

Mokka

In my area you have to be on a council waiting list for social housing to qualify for SO.

SO deals are very different, some of them not so good.

My friend who applied for SO found the deal a bit ridiculous- the rent share of the deal was so high, it was equal to what the remaining 50% of the mortgage would have been.

Could work, if you are so fed up with having to move every 6 months and not being able to call a place a home, that you don't mind potential pitfalls of SO: harder to sell, slower to gain equity, more risk of having antisocial neighbours.

Check feedback on HA- some of them a proper slum landlords from hell, others are great.

scheming_gypsy

I bought my shared ownership in 2004. I was renting privately off a friend but he needed to sell; his girlfriend told me about the HA doing the shared ownership, I phoned them, went to see the house and paid the deposit. No waiting or checks at all.
I'm 60 / 40 on a £128k new build house and the rent is around £67 a month. It started off at just over £50 a month and rises a couple of percent each year.

elfordio

I bought 25% of a flat from Bromford homes. They have increased my rent from £320/month to £420 month in 4 years, over 30%. They tell me this is because there is a clause in the small print of the lease that allows them to raise rents by inflation + 2%. Clearly this is unsustainable to anyone for a long period time as it increases exponentially.


When I challenged them about this they said the Govt. tells them how much to raise the rents by. This is a lie! They are pricing me out of my home and are now threatening me with court action, ccjs and bankruptcy.


My advice would be to everyone: NEVER ENTER INTO A SHARED OWNERSHIP CONTRACT WITH BROMFORD HOMES!!!!!!!!