Share ownership Subletting trouble

[Deleted User]

Comms69 said:

You can sell your share as you wish afaik

Not with SO.  There can be rules around the price and the buyer usually needs to meet the eligibility criteria for the scheme.  One way around it is to sell the whole leasehold using back-to-back staircasing although that could end up being expensive for the OP. 

Comms69

Lover_of_Lycra said:

Comms69 said:

You can sell your share as you wish afaik

Not with SO.  There can be rules around the price and the buyer usually needs to meet the eligibility criteria for the scheme.  One way around it is to sell the whole leasehold using back-to-back staircasing although that could end up being expensive for the OP. 

Cheers, thought it was a bad idea, even without that information. 

princeofpounds

Yes - for everyone on this thread pushing the OP to lower the price to get the sale done; this is not something that can necessarily happen with Shared Ownership. The HA has a veto on the marketing price (because they too have to mark the property in their books at some kind of value). I understand that the OP has to accept an element of personal responsibility for their situation, but they are new on the board and we shouldn't just use it as a stick to hit them over the head with - particularly if we misunderstand their option set.

OP - does the HA have a policy on subletting in SO properties? They should do. It might just be a blanket refusal, or there may be criteria related to how far you have staircased. Get hold of it - this may help you understand what criteria you need to fulfil. It's possible that your best bet might be to increase your mortgage to staircase higher and free up your options to sublet or sell at your own valuation.

Also, in your situation I would write to your councillor (assuming it's a local authority-linked HA) and to your MP, pointing out - in concise and clear language - the trap that you have ended up in. Also point out that this has led you into a situation where you are facing overcrowding that would be prohibited in social housing owned by the same EA, that you could afford to sell if your hands weren't tied by the HA, etc.

This will not help you much unless there is an element of discretion in the HA's decision, but it may help provide impetus for the rules to change as these problems mount up. We see them increasingly frequently on the board here as people finally hit the longer-term implications of shared ownership (Prince's law of property buying - never get involved in something called a 'scheme'!).

Keep marketing the property in the meantime. You may get lucky. 

[Deleted User]

Whilst the HA does have a say in the sale price any shortfall between what the official valuation and what it actually sells for could come out the OP's share.  It is also possible to appeal the valuation.  Actually thinking about it, don't the HA get first dibs on trying to sell the property?

mummy4545

princeofpounds said:

Yes - for everyone on this thread pushing the OP to lower the price to get the sale done; this is not something that can necessarily happen with Shared Ownership. The HA has a veto on the marketing price (because they too have to mark the property in their books at some kind of value). I understand that the OP has to accept an element of personal responsibility for their situation, but they are new on the board and we shouldn't just use it as a stick to hit them over the head with - particularly if we misunderstand their option set.

OP - does the HA have a policy on subletting in SO properties? They should do. It might just be a blanket refusal, or there may be criteria related to how far you have staircased. Get hold of it - this may help you understand what criteria you need to fulfil. It's possible that your best bet might be to increase your mortgage to staircase higher and free up your options to sublet or sell at your own valuation.

Also, in your situation I would write to your councillor (assuming it's a local authority-linked HA) and to your MP, pointing out - in concise and clear language - the trap that you have ended up in. Also point out that this has led you into a situation where you are facing overcrowding that would be prohibited in social housing owned by the same EA, that you could afford to sell if your hands weren't tied by the HA, etc.

This will not help you much unless there is an element of discretion in the HA's decision, but it may help provide impetus for the rules to change as these problems mount up. We see them increasingly frequently on the board here as people finally hit the longer-term implications of shared ownership (Prince's law of property buying - never get involved in something called a 'scheme'!).

Keep marketing the property in the meantime. You may get lucky. 

Thank you @princeofpounds. I am in the process of contacting the MP and my local councillor.  Thank you. I will also contact the HO regarding the sublet policy just in case  I can see anything that can be of help in my situation