shared ownership?

Laibey

hi everyone
I have about £50K which is at the moment sitting in my current account (I know, I know - apparently is works better for me in there than in a savings account because interest rates have been pathetic, well until about yesterday)
I don't really want to lock it up for 5 years or so. The thing is I'm renting in London which is hugely expensive and it feels like if I could use the £50K to buy property I'd be killing two birds with one stone (investing the money, and avoiding wasting my income on rent)
Of course it's impossible for me (single and with income under £30K) to think about buying in London and even shared owndership schemes are hopelessly out of reach. Furthermore, I think that to apply you have to be living or working in the area. There are no schemes in my area which are even faintly affordable as I'm in Borough of Kingston.

So my question is - should I go and rent in a more affordable part of the country (e.g. commuter belt) and once I can show that I live there, I could apply for a shared ownership scheme which might be within my budget?

Or, should I carry on renting and try to think of something else to do with the £50K?

I just have a feeling it ought not to be just sitting in a current account while I'm paying more than half my salary in rent alone.

Many thanks.

Elfbert

It really depends on if you're going to stay put for a while - making it more cost-effective to buy, or if you may move soon, in which case all the fees and costs aren't worth buying, imo.

I've got a SO in London, and I didn't live in the 'correct' borough - I lived in Brighton! (but worked in the next borough over from where I bought my flat.) They didn't seem to mind - perhaps helped because it was a re-sale SO, not a brand new one.

In terms of an investment, it's out-performed anything I could have dreamed of. I didn't buy it as an investment, but it's nice to know, because I will want to move on eventually!

I couldn't have afforded to live here any other way - rent in my block is 1.5 times my mortgage/rent/service charge added up. I massively overpay my mortgage and will have paid it off in 6 yrs (9 yrs since I bought it), instead of the 25yrs i have as a term. Hopefully giving me a good deposit when I do want to move on.

Best of luck, whatever you do.

goodwithsaving

I live in the commuter belt (actually, a bit beyond...) and wouldn't do the commute if I was single. Think very careful about your quality of life before you commit to a long journey each way. It takes its toll and sometimes, regardless of finances you just have to look after your health and happiness. (It also isn't a particularly "affordable" belt when you consider that the train fare is nearly another mortgage).

gaz141

there are some new shared ownership flats being built up the road from me and people from Kingston borough can apply

https://www.sharetobuy.com/sharedownershippropertydetails?id=20407