Viable option to staircase?

Legacy_user · 8 December 2018 at 9:05PM

Hi all,

Forgive me if any information in this post is incorrect or if I’m misunderstanding, I am new to house buying.

We are looking to purchase a shared ownership flat. We are buying the flat because of location and proximity to a Crossrail station, not because it’s shared ownership. The whole development is shared ownership, there are no flats available for sale outright. We would prefer if we could buy one outright however as mentioned there isn’t the option to. The place is ideal for us.

We are able to staircase within 3 months. Could anyone recommend buying the property (75% share) and then remortgage after 3 months (we should be eligible for the full amount based on salaries) to buy the property outright. Of course there will be solicitors fees etc applicable but overall over a 2 year fixed mortgage we would have to pay £5000 on rent alone.

Does this seem a sensible option, again based on the fact that we’ve been looking for an ideal property for 6 months but can’t find anything other than this?

Thanks

00ec25 · 8 December 2018 at 9:53PM

you know your own finances so no one on here can add value to your own thoughts on that subject

but, if there are none for sale outright, how sure are you that you can staircase to 100% anyway?

if you can, it sounds like it would be a no brainier to pay the SDLT using the market value election as you intend going over 80% in 3 months time anyway so will get hit for a second lot of SDLT then, so just do it all upfront and avoid a second round of fees.

Cakeguts · 8 December 2018 at 10:54PM

Not all shared ownership can be staircased to 100%. Some you can only own 75% or 80% it is to ensure that it remains as affordable housing.

System · 8 December 2018 at 11:01PM

Yeah you're able to staircase after 3 months to 100%. One of the benefits of the development I guess. It's a 30 second walk from a Crossrail station in a town undergoing a £1bn regeneration so ideal for us.