Shared Ownership Schemes

Havok

Hi i was wondering if anyone can help me, i'm currently looking at buying my first home and one of the things I've seen mentioned on properties often is that they are shared ownership. What i was wondering is whether this is set in stone or does it just mean that it's an option. I've seen many properties advertised that i like but I'm not interested in shared ownership.

Any help is greatly appreciated.

Thank you
Michelle

Loopy28

If it is advertised as shared ownership then it must be bought as shared ownership.

However after a set period (varies between housing associations but tends to be 12 months) you can buy further shares and could effectively at this point buy 100% of the property.

Two things you would need to check are

-Does the property allow ownership at 100% ( because a few do not allow this). My first home was shared ownership and 100% ownership was allowed, I subsequently bought it in full with a mortgage and then had no further dealings with the housing association. The only stipulation is if you sell it, you must give them first refusal to buy it back but this was an advantage for me as I got full market value for it and would likely have got less if sold privately.

-Do you qualify for shared ownership e.g. first time buyer, under a certain income.

If you are prepared to start off as shared ownership and buy out right a year down the line then it could work for you, otherwise you will not be able to consider these properties at all.

Havok

Thank you for the help, I think I'll steer clear of shared ownership properties then.

Again thank you for your reply.

RichardTheComic

Hi @ Havok. Really ironic as my partner and I viewed a shared ownership flat this weekend - with the option of buying it 100%. If it was purchased shared ownership, it'd just be in my partners name.

I'm generally pro shared ownership. I bought my first home under a 50% shared ownership scheme. Without it, I'd have never owned my own place, it was the perfect leg up I needed and it worked out cheaper than privately renting or buying outright. However, it does vary from scheme to scheme. Some rents seems reasonable, others, are not.