Shared equity mortgages??

Snuggles

Hi, I would really appreciate some feedback from the mortgage advisors on this board.

In 2006 I bought a new build shared equity property through a housing association scheme. I don't know if these schemes are all the same, but in my case I bought for 60% of the house value and the only other payment I have to make is £250 per annum ground rent to the housing association.

When I come to sell, I have to have the house valued and then I can sell my equity share for no more than 60% of the valuation. There is no option to buy the remaining equity share, so I can never own the house outright.

This was great for me when I bought - I was single, it was the only way I could afford anything more than a studio flat, and unlike other schemes there was no rent to pay other than the small ground rent.

However I am now married, the house is too small for us and we are looking to get it on the market in the near future. I am however extremely worried about how hard it's going to be to sell as I believe there are very few lenders who offer mortgages on this type of scheme. Is this correct? My own mortgage is with Nationwide, but I don't know if they still offer them, and I remember Halifax was also an option back then.

I'm worried as I have seen how long it has taken for other shared equity properties in my street to sell - one has been on the market for three years. In one case the HA eventually agreed to buy back the equity share, however I gather that they paid well below the market value. The terms of the lease do not permit subletting so letting it out to cover the mortgage payments isn't an option.

So, is the situation as bad as I imagine? How many lenders offer mortgage products for this sort of scheme?