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Shared equity sale - not the same terms as when I bought it
FattyBettyBoo
Posts: 477 Forumite
Hi there, not sure if anyone can advise, but it's worth asking anyway.
I bought a shared equity house with the local council in 2008, and now it's time to sell. I have the original solicitor's letter, but I never received any paperwork from the council itself. I was told at the time that to sell the property the process would be:
- they would value the house and offer it to their list on first time buyers on their waiting list
- after 3 months of marketing, if no buyer had been found I would be able to sell it on the open market
- the developer who I bought the house from was required to offer a 6% discount to me, but that I wouldn't be required to pass this on. The next buyer would just benefit from the shared equity
It seems that at some point in the last 7 years the council handed over the administration of the scheme to a local housing agency. I have received a letter from the agency, which states amongst other things, that to sell the house I will need to:
- sell the house at a 5.9% discount to the next buyer
- Pay for the house to be valued myself
- Pay the association 0.5% of the house's value in administration fees to them
The solicitors letter does not mention that I will need to pay for the valuation or that I will need to pay a fee. These were not mentioned when I bought it, so I am convinced that the process has changed when the administration changed.
The solicitor's letter mentions that I had a 6% discount (not 5.9% if that's relevant) but states that I would need to sell to the first time buyers list OR (after the stated period) sell at a 6% discount on the open market.
Can these things just be changed? And with no notification? And do I have a leg to stand on given that I don't have much in the way of documentation (is the solicitors letter enough)? The solicitor I had at the time is no longer trading.
I haven't got much energy for a fight, but this will cost me approximately £10,000 more than I was expecting.
Thanks for your help.
I bought a shared equity house with the local council in 2008, and now it's time to sell. I have the original solicitor's letter, but I never received any paperwork from the council itself. I was told at the time that to sell the property the process would be:
- they would value the house and offer it to their list on first time buyers on their waiting list
- after 3 months of marketing, if no buyer had been found I would be able to sell it on the open market
- the developer who I bought the house from was required to offer a 6% discount to me, but that I wouldn't be required to pass this on. The next buyer would just benefit from the shared equity
It seems that at some point in the last 7 years the council handed over the administration of the scheme to a local housing agency. I have received a letter from the agency, which states amongst other things, that to sell the house I will need to:
- sell the house at a 5.9% discount to the next buyer
- Pay for the house to be valued myself
- Pay the association 0.5% of the house's value in administration fees to them
The solicitors letter does not mention that I will need to pay for the valuation or that I will need to pay a fee. These were not mentioned when I bought it, so I am convinced that the process has changed when the administration changed.
The solicitor's letter mentions that I had a 6% discount (not 5.9% if that's relevant) but states that I would need to sell to the first time buyers list OR (after the stated period) sell at a 6% discount on the open market.
Can these things just be changed? And with no notification? And do I have a leg to stand on given that I don't have much in the way of documentation (is the solicitors letter enough)? The solicitor I had at the time is no longer trading.
I haven't got much energy for a fight, but this will cost me approximately £10,000 more than I was expecting.
Thanks for your help.
I seldom end up where I wanted to go, but almost always end up where I need to be
0
Comments
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You really need a copy of the original lease agreement and contract.
Might the Land Registry have a copy?Changing the world, one sarcastic comment at a time.0 -
You're sure it's shared equity and not shared ownership?
Did you purchase the whole property, with the council taking a second charge over the property for their "share?"
Did you purchase only a portion of the property, possibly paying rent on the portion you didn't buy?
Who insures the building?
Do you remember any mention of a scheme such as HomeBuy, First Time Buyer's Initiative or FirstBuy? These were popular shared equity schemes now managed by HOP, the Help To Buy Agent for post-sales issues;-
http://www.myfirsthome.org.uk/I am a mortgage broker. You should note that this site doesn't check my status as a Mortgage Adviser, so you need to take my word for it. This signature is here as I follow MSE's Mortgage Adviser Code of Conduct. Any posts on here are for information and discussion purposes only and shouldn't be seen as financial advice. Please do not send PMs asking for one-to-one-advice, or representation.0
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