Shared Ownership

cadenza82

I will be 24 this December, and am still living at home, but the time must surely come soon when I can go 'independent'!

Several houses have come up round here recently on a Shared Ownership basis, meaning I would have to find between £70,000 and £90,000 for 'my' share. They are decent properties, brand new, and in good locations.

I have about £22,000 saved, but obviously don't want to use all of that towards a property. My monthly income is about £1,600, but I am self-employed so it does fluctuate.

What are my chances of getting in on such a scheme? Obviously I'd have to find someone to give me a mortgate against 'my' share of the house.

Worth looking into?

David

Bargain_Rzl

Definitely worth looking into. Not necessarily worth doing, depending on your circumstances, but you sound as though you are committed to doing your research properly.

Do a search on this forum for "shared ownership". There's LOADS of discussion about it. When you've finished looking, come back with any questions you have left

There are lots of people here who either have, or used to have, shared ownership homes. I live in one, and so far it is working out well. I did a lot of research before moving here about a year ago, and because my monthly outgoing is considerably less than either buying or renting and I'm still managing to put savings aside each month, I'm still certain I did the right thing.

cadenza82

Thanks - I'll do a search.

Am I likely to find it very difficult to get a mortgage against my share as I am self-employed?

David

mariagti

Hi david!

Im in the same position, im 24 years old looking to buy a house with my OH.We have looked at shared ownership too. I dont see how this scheme is meant for low income people as having to pay mortage on your half then rent is more expensive than having a mortage!

But youve done really well in saving up £22,000 thats a decent despoist!:D

cadenza82

The trouble I have is that I need to stay in the same area, but there are few houses under £150,000, and anything above that is way beyond me! Another problem is there is only me, so it's not as if they've got 2 incomes to consider for shared ownership and a mortgage.

David

moneysavinmonkey

Any reason why you can't rent somewhere?.... is always a good idea to get an idea of what 'independence' costs so you can budget for what kind of property you can afford. Also means you can get out from under your parents feet and have a bit of breathing space to make the right decision and not rush into something!

I personally would rather do this longterm than buy an overpriced house... mortgage interest is dead money don't you know!!

ixwood

I think shared ownership is a mugs game myself. They always seem well over priced. And have conditions attached.

Either buy somewhere you can afford, or don't and save for somewhere you can afford.

msmicawber

I'd advise reading the terms of the scheme very carefully before embarking on shared ownership. I looked into it years ago and found that it was very expensive as you have mortgage (which can go up and down and in the current climate is likely to go up), market rent on the remainder, a proportion of repairs, etc. etc. to find money for each month.

You can buy a larger percentage share in the property at various times, of course, but when you look at the sale conditions, you find that you're not allowed to sell on the open market, preventing you from getting profit from the house. Provided you can absolutely guarantee to be able to buy the house completely at some stage in the future before you need to sell it, and that there aren't further caveats on to whom you can sell it and whether you can keep the profits, then it could be very useful to get you onto the property ladder, but otherwise I would urge caution.

CHR15

I agree they seem to be more of a rip-off lately.

Near me 2 bed flats sell for £120,000 but the 50% shared ownership flats EXACTLY the same and within a mile radius are offered at £90,000 !!

It seems nowadays you are offered to buy 75-80% of the value for only a 50% stake in it!

Do your homework first for goodness sake.

Miss_Sparkly_Star

Hi

I looked into a shared ownership scheme and after reading the small print found they are a complete rip off.

There's so many extra..like taking out there building insurance, maintenence, you have to sell them back to the company - they couldn't go on the open market (well that was the case then).

I had a £20,000 deposit and earn about £1,500 a month and got a mortgage for 105,000. House was worth £125,000. However, I had to move further away from my ideal location as the houses were too expensive - have you considered doing this?

My advice would be keep saving and living at home and try and peserve for your own place. Even if It is a one bed house - it's still going to be 100% yours.

Good luck.

cadenza82

Oh dear, it doesn't sound very good.

Trouble is, I need to stay in the same area, as if I move I will be effectively setting up a 'business' from scratch and won't be earning anything!

Our 3 bedroom family home is worth only £180,000 so there isn't much benefit in selling it and finding 2 smaller houses as there just isn't that much around for those kind of prices.

One thing we looked at was buying a bigger house with a difference of about £90,000 on which I could take out a mortgate. Trouble is we couldn't get a mortgage because of me being self-employed, and my Dad being 65 in 4 years - they wouldn't consider a long-term mortgage as in 4 years time he would be effectively 'retired'.

I'm not at all keen on renting, and there are very few suitable properties around anyway.

What a nightmare!

David