Shared Ownership Thread

Sophie94x

Good evening!

I'm in the process of buying a shared ownership flat in Wiltshire and wanted to start a thread to talk about all things shared ownership as there isn't much on here already!

I'm buying a 40% share in a £120,000 flat = £48,000.

One thing I do wonder about is whether I would be allowed to get a dog, the contract states we can't unless we have written consent (I am awaiting a reply from Cottsway HA) from the landlord/management company. Have you been through this experience before? Were you allowed to keep pets?

Are you doing shared ownership? I would love to hear other peoples experiences and thoughts....

Shenl0101

If it's a flat definitely no you will never be allowed however it is generally accepted in a house either expressly or with consent.


Be mindful of how expensive service charges are for shared ownership and that they can rise significantly. You'd also want 125 years lease term minimum as you cant' extend your lease as a shared ownership.

DaisyBrown

Was in SO for 11 years in a 2 bed resale flat. No one from HA ever set foot in the flat so we could have easily had a dog. Our neighbours did, however without permission I guess you could be in trouble if another neighbour complained about noise. As long as nothing affected the communal areas they did not care!

In terms of lease from Shen - we could extend the lease, saw loads of information about how it worked but sold just before it was an issue.

SO worked well for us and I would recommend it, it gets a bad press at times but even selling it was not that difficult. Did have to resell it via HA first but it went after first open day so this was not too difficult.

brit1234

Sophie94x wrote: »

Good evening!

I'm in the process of buying a shared ownership flat in Wiltshire and wanted to start a thread to talk about all things shared ownership as there isn't much on here already!

You might of missed this 30 page debate on it including lots of owners.
https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/3177256

Its a healthy debate between those who think its good and those who think bad but covers all the issues.

Sophie94x

Turns out we are allowed a small dog which is what we wanted anyway, just need to write a letter and will get their generic confirmation letter reply. :beer:

siamesebengal

Have a 40% share of a £450,000 flat. Definitely worth it vs renting around here, if only for the security.

Pets depends on HA I think.
Lease extension depends on the terms of your lease/HA. Some allow while shared, some don't.

Tygermoth

THe HA here will only allow a dog if you don't access your flat via a shared entrance (so g/f flats with patio doors)

Southerner3000

Me and my partner bought our 25% share in our flat just under 3 years ago as we had a low deposit (around 6k to cover deposit & fees). As we were on lower incomes at the time we saw it as a great opportunity to move in together whilst 'saving' for a deposit in the form of overpayments to mortgage.

Have since staircased to 100% and sold it for 15k more which has enabled us buy a house as we now have a 45k deposit to take with us.

Would definitely recommend it if you have a low deposit and expect your income to rise in the next couple of years.