Help to buy... good idea for FTB or a massive con?

marking_bad

The shared ownership by the government. Don't know much about it.

-What are the conditions for buying, do you have to be poor and on benefits or can anyone do it?

-Who is responsible for repairs and maintenance on the property if it's half owned/rented?

-What happens if you stop paying the rent?

-Are credit checks involved, even if you pay for your share without a mortgage?

I'll probably have a million more questions, but I've got to be honest, if this wasn't government backed, I'd probably not even look into it.

kingstreet

If it's shared ownership alone you are discussing;-

the Government's HCA HomeBuy Agents work out who is eligible to purchase a SO property, based on income, affordability and occupancy of the property

the part-owner (you) is responsible for all maintenance/upkeep issues

if you stop paying the rent, you will be in breach of your lease and the Housing Association can (and will) seek a possession order

you are unlikely to be credit checked as a cash purchaser, although not having a mortgage is unusual, as being able to purchase outright is viewed negatively.

I'd contact the Housing Associations near you to see what's available and visit the website of your HCA HomeBuy Agent to research shared ownership further. They are;-

Catalyst (SE)
Orbit (East, West Midlands)
Plumlife (NW)
Metropolitan (London).

You'll fine the map here;-

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

marking_bad

The whole application thing seems a little strange, who are they looking for to join these schemes?

How flexible are the payments with a view to own it out right, since no credit checks are involved, could it be looked upon as a mortgage that's flexible?

(also, apologies if I'm giving off the wrong signals here, regarding not paying rent, in no way do I promote anything like that, it's just for info gathering purposes)

ging84

Have you looked into it at all, there is plenty of information available which would answer all these questions

marking_bad wrote: »

The shared ownership by the government. Don't know much about it.

-What are the conditions for buying, do you have to be poor and on benefits or can anyone do it? there are many conditions, you do not need to be poor or on benefits

-Who is responsible for repairs and maintenance on the property if it's half owned/rented?you own the entire property, there is no rented part

-What happens if you stop paying the rent?there is no rent

-Are credit checks involved, even if you pay for your share without a mortgage?you cannot use scheme without a mortgage

I'll probably have a million more questions, but I've got to be honest, if this wasn't government backed, I'd probably not even look into it.

If you want somewhere to start looking for info, figure out which help to buy scheme you are interested in, there are 2
one is a help to buy equity loan of up to 20% on new builds
the other is a mortgage guaranty scheme helping banks to offer 90% and 95% mortgages more readily

sandsni

AFAIK Help to Buy and Shared Ownership are two entirely different schemes. There is some conflicting advice in the above posts as one is talking about Shared Ownership while the other is talking about HTB. With HTB there won't be rent to pay but with Shared Ownership there will until you buy out the property 100%.


If you clarify which scheme you are interested in you might get more specific answers.

marking_bad

The shared ownership (line 1 in the OP :P), as far as I can tell on the gov website, it all comes under the same "help to buy"

marking_bad

According to the website, you need to be currently renting a council or housing association property, that counts me out as I privately rent.

sandsni

Ah, sorry for my confusion. I was thinking of the new HTB scheme where the government stumps up or underwrites part of your deposit but you buy the whole house. Shared Ownership used to be where you buy a percentage of the house and rent the other percentage and then, ideally, staircase up until you own the whole thing.


I'm obviously out of step with the current terminology. Hopefully someone with more knowledge than me will be along shortly.

chanz4

marking_bad wrote: »

According to the website, you need to be currently renting a council or housing association property, that counts me out as I privately rent.

We looked before a lot don't require this

marking_bad

It also doesn't seem a requirement for it to be a new build either

marking_bad

Looking at the equity loan now, is it available to people with large deposits (low LTV mortgages). I assume a credit check is involved and the mortgage provider will take it into account?