Shared Ownership – Should I staircase?

matthewhodges

Three years ago I (with my partner) bought a 30% share of a flat in central London. Our mortgage is up for renewal and we are considering staircasing – we have been told by one lender that they would be able to take us up to 50%.

My question is, given that we will probably need to sell the flat at some point in the future (although not in the foreseeable), and that we would have to sell the share of the flat that we own at the time, could staircasing too high leave us in a position where we are unable to sell? What I mean is, there is an earnings threshold to qualify for shared ownership – so we would need to find a buyer who earns under the threshold, but who also has the ability to take a what would be a large mortgage, or who has an enormous deposit available. It seems like there wouldn't be many people who would fit that bill?

Our mentality up until this point is that staircasing is desirable from the point of view that we would then own more of the property and pay less rent. But now we're in the postition to do so, I'm starting to question those assumptions!

Morecat

matthewhodges said:

Three years ago I (with my partner) bought a 30% share of a flat in central London. Our mortgage is up for renewal and we are considering staircasing – we have been told by one lender that they would be able to take us up to 50%.

My question is, given that we will probably need to sell the flat at some point in the future (although not in the foreseeable), and that we would have to sell the share of the flat that we own at the time, could staircasing too high leave us in a position where we are unable to sell? What I mean is, there is an earnings threshold to qualify for shared ownership – so we would need to find a buyer who earns under the threshold, but who also has the ability to take a what would be a large mortgage, or who has an enormous deposit available. It seems like there wouldn't be many people who would fit that bill?

Our mentality up until this point is that staircasing is desirable from the point of view that we would then own more of the property and pay less rent. But now we're in the postition to do so, I'm starting to question those assumptions!

I sold my SO flat, also 50% and in London, 18 months ago. There was a steady stream of viewers almost every day for the first week when the flat went on the market. First offer came from the first viewer on day one but they didn't have an AIP so I couldn't accept. Found my buyer after four days. Took three months for the sale to go through which was about the same frame time when I bought the flat. My buyer had help from the BOMAD and had been saving for about five years for a deposit. They work in London and felt SO was the best way to get on the housing ladder. I'm sure there will be more than one buyer out there for your flat when you decide to put it on the market.