Shared ownership, H2B, no property? Need advice.

libf

greensalad wrote: »

I am looking at 2 bed properties (flats and houses, house preferred).

I know I probably shouldn't be looking at 2 beds, but that is what we have now. There are no cheaper properties.

I just did a quick look (for example) and the cheapest place I could find was a horrid little concrete bungalow for £250,000. A similarly grotty one bed would shave off £50k but that's still £200,000 which would give us wiggle room to save but would require us down-sizing from our current rented flat to a very pokey one-bed. I guess it's an option though.

Are you aware that Help To Buy Equity Loan is only available on new build properties?

greensalad

libf wrote: »

Are you aware that Help To Buy Equity Loan is only available on new build properties?

Yes, but I cannot find any new homes in the area we are looking at in order to get a figure to play with, so I had to look for an alternative property to try and get a rough idea of a 2 bed cost.

The cheapest new build in a 20 mile radius/commutable distance is £279,500. Monthly cost around £1200 (so less than our rent which is good) but would not be able to save enough to pay off the loan in time.

RichardTheComic

Hi there - can I ask why it's an imperative you pay the help to buy loan off after the initial 0% interest free period?

RichardTheComic

http://www.rightmove.co.uk/property-for-sale/property-52557128.html
Any good - you don't pay rent on the unowned share either!

greensalad

We don't live in the current area, we're the town just past Guildford.

It's a good idea though, I hadn't considered the option for non-HA shared ownership schemes. I wonder if I can find some other companies that have them.

We are not averse to the idea of moving elsewhere as long as it makes sense for us. A good option if we can do it is to move back to Kent nearer my family. I would have to give up my job but my partner can stay at his and we have a support network there, and it's cheaper than our current area.

Really what I'm trying to do at the moment is work out our course of action so we know what we need to save. At present, the plan is to save as much as we can in 2016 (I will have paid off my debt by then) but I'm not the best person for just saving without a target, and I want to know what I actually can do.