Cold Feet: Shared-ownership with Sovereign Living

llewells

Hey all,

I was hoping for a bit of advice.
I have been looking at going into a shared-ownership deal Sovereign Housing Association (Sovereign Living). I have reserved a plot and paid 'refundable' £250 reservation fee; only £50 is refunded, £200 kept as admin fee.
I'm currently vetting solicitors to handle the purchase.
However, after paying the reservation fee my feet are starting to get a little cold. I was wondering if I was to express my concerns maybe you kind people might be able to either rationalise them or and tell me if I am making a huge mistake.

Details -
The property is based in Bristol and is a new build purchased off-plan due to be finished and movable by October 31st.
The market value if about £280k and the deal is for share price is 40% (about £110k).
I can only afford the minimum 5% deposit (£5-6k) , plus around £2.5k for fees, and I am a first-time buyer.
I will be moving on my own and earning approx £30k per year.
I have no outstanding debit (apart from student loans).

Concern 1 - Is Sovereign safe...
In my cold feet state I realised that in my excitement and eagerness to have my own place I realised I had not fully completed my due diligence, so, I started looking up reviews for Sovereign and was shocked when I found 0 positive reviews
Every review was 1 star..instant alarm bells. But the company has been going for a while and on Google there are only 6 reviews (all 1 star), on trust-pilot there 11 (again, all 1 star).
Could it be that they are really that bad...or is it only because they only get 1 star when a tenants have been spurned and no-one will be reviewing their housing association when thing are alright or great.

Concern 2 - The big B word....
October 31st is currently BREXIT day and what happens on this day might alter the house prices for better or worse...I could move in and go straight into negative equity.
Would it be better to wait and see what happens?

Concern 3 - I badly want my own place...
I really want my own place and with current house prices and my current salary/mortgage size it might be impossible to obtain a place within the next 5-10 years, in a bid to speed up the process is shared ownership actually worth it?

As I said am I getting cold feet and should go ahead or will going into an agreement with this company and/or purchasing any property pre-Oct 31st be avoid at all cost.
I would rather lose £200 now than destroy myself later on.

I hope this isn't too much too ask of you lovely people and will be grateful for any advice given.

Wanderingpomm

Is it in an area you want to live in?

Bonniepurple

Wanderingpomm wrote: »

Is it in an area you want to live in?

Ditto. Is it an area which is okay, or on the “don’t touch with a barge pole”? Is it convenient for work (remember Bristol City Council seems to be anti car so is it close to a train station/bus or Metro bus?).

llewells

Wanderingpomm wrote: »

Is it in an area you want to live in?

Yes. The area is perfect for work, amenities and just fits my lifestyle in general.
This is why i was very eager and excited in the first place.

I was saving money for a house deposit, however when I saw this opportunity I thought this could be the answer.

A part of me was figuring that instead of continuing paying rent at my current place and saving what I can I could, I would instead use the shared ownership scheme to both own my own place whist also paying into a mortgage to help build equity. Then at later date purchase more of the property or use my returns of the sale of the property to help with purchasing a new place.
Probably a very bad way of looking at shared-ownership.

llewells

Bonniepurple wrote: »

Ditto. Is it an area which is okay, or on the “don’t touch with a barge pole”? Is it convenient for work (remember Bristol City Council seems to be anti car so is it close to a train station/bus or Metro bus?).

yes it is right in the town centre and about 5 mins walk from the main train station (Bristol temple meads). which is perfect for work as i work half the week at home and the other half I commute by train to the office.

AnotherJoe

What are the 1 stars for? A spread of issues or one specific thing that would or would not be an issue for you ?

llewells

AnotherJoe wrote: »

What are the 1 stars for? A spread of issues or one specific thing that would or would not be an issue for you ?

They appear to be for not fixing issues of tenants, workmen doing poor work if they did get fixed or just poor customer service.
I expect there to always have some bad reviews as the internet and reviews site are always a way for one-sided stories and allow people to vent - some justified other could be less so. but the fact there is only 1 start reviews is a bit worrying but then again there is only 17 reviews across two system for a company that operates nationally.

Cakeguts

The thing you have to understand with shared ownership is that even though you own only 40% you will be 100% responsible for the repairs. So you will be paying for repairs on the 60% that you don't own on top of the rent and your mortgage.

davidmcn

llewells wrote: »

Concern 2 - The big B word....
October 31st is currently BREXIT day and what happens on this day might alter the house prices for better or worse...I could move in and go straight into negative equity.
Would it be better to wait and see what happens?

Wait for how long? The market has had the past 3+ years to adjust to the risk of some sort of Brexit happening. Even if any form of Brexit occurs on 31 October (and the betting markets have that at about 50:50), it will take months before it's clear what, if anything, the effect is to property prices. At what stage will you be certain that things have "settled down"?

llewells

Cakeguts wrote: »

The thing you have to understand with shared ownership is that even though you own only 40% you will be 100% responsible for the repairs. So you will be paying for repairs on the 60% that you don't own on top of the rent and your mortgage.

I am aware of this and this is why I don't think the 1 star reviews don't apply to me. But the reviews in general just made me question the company slightly.

I have also read stories where if you were to sell some housing association will force sellers to fully upgrade the property using their recommended people at very high rates, and if you were to fine your own people to carry out the work they will charge a large surveying fee.

As I said I'm having cold feet and it is something that happens to me a lot when thing progress - excitement becomes nervousness.

I suppose I was looking for a way to vent this out and reassurance that it is a good move

llewells

davidmcn wrote: »

Wait for how long? The market has had the past 3+ years to adjust to the risk of some sort of Brexit happening. Even if any form of Brexit occurs on 31 October (and the betting markets have that at about 50:50), it will take months before it's clear what, if anything, the effect is to property prices. At what stage will you be certain that things have "settled down"?

This is true and in the end nothing may change. it was just one thought I had because they specifically mention the date October 31st. Though I suppose as it is Bristol - central property with fantastic transport links (train, bus and motorway) the price is less likely to drop.