Shared Ownership - Can you choose how much Deposit you put down, even if you have more Savings?

Scorpiogal13

Hi all,...quick question.

I'm looking into possibly buying a property via Shared Ownership, as we just can't afford to buy a House in the normal way now. It'll be too risky for me and my partner.

We're in our mid 50's and the mortgage payments (on a 14-15 year term) would just be too high.

So it's either carry on Renting or opt for Shared Ownership.

What i'd like to know is, are you "required" to put down a larger deposit if they see that you have more savings in your account. Or can you choose to put down whatever Deposit amount you want? I think the usual is 5-10% of the share you'd like to own.

The reason i ask, is because i do not want to use up all my savings on a deposit. I always like to have "Rainy Day Money".

All replies appreciated and if anyone has any experience of buying a shared ownership property, even better.

Alter_ego

You only have to pay the required deposit. Don't tell them about any other savings-none of their business

lonibra

You can put down as little as you need to be able to get the mortgage that you require.

cymruchris

They won’t know about your ‘other’ savings unless you tell them. Savings don’t show on any of your credit reports - only credit does

AdrianC

EXCEPT...

If you keep back, say, £10k "rainy day", how much interest are you getting on that?
How much interest are you paying on the extra £10k you need to borrow?

If you borrow less, your repayments will be lower, and you can top your savings up more quickly.

Scorpiogal13

Alter_ego said:

You only have to pay the required deposit. Don't tell them about any other savings-none of their business

cymruchris said:

They won’t know about your ‘other’ savings unless you tell them. Savings don’t show on any of your credit reports - only credit does

But surely, they want to see "proof of deposit"?

Which is normally your Savings account Statement.

cymruchris

Scorpiogal13 said:

Alter_ego said:

You only have to pay the required deposit. Don't tell them about any other savings-none of their business

cymruchris said:

They won’t know about your ‘other’ savings unless you tell them. Savings don’t show on any of your credit reports - only credit does

But surely, they want to see "proof of deposit"?

Which is normally your Savings account Statement.

You are allowed to have more than one savings account. 

Scorpiogal13

cymruchris said:

Scorpiogal13 said:

Alter_ego said:

You only have to pay the required deposit. Don't tell them about any other savings-none of their business

cymruchris said:

They won’t know about your ‘other’ savings unless you tell them. Savings don’t show on any of your credit reports - only credit does

But surely, they want to see "proof of deposit"?

Which is normally your Savings account Statement.

You are allowed to have more than one savings account. 

Yes,... that's true.

Scorpiogal13

AdrianC said:

EXCEPT...

If you keep back, say, £10k "rainy day", how much interest are you getting on that?
How much interest are you paying on the extra £10k you need to borrow?

If you borrow less, your repayments will be lower, and you can top your savings up more quickly.

I do get what you mean.

But i would rather have money to fall back on, if anything goes awry in the first 6-12 months.

Leggitte

I was in this situation a couple of years back. The HA wants you to buy the largest share you can afford. However, as mentioned above several times, the HA does not know how much savings you have. In my situation (54 at the time of buying, on my own) I realised that I would probably not be able to staircase to 100% and decided for the smallest share (25%) and stay there, so if/when I do sell I have a better chance of selling. If you own 75% and you are trying to sell a shared ownership, you have a problem. People who can afford to buy 75% shared ownership can most likely also afford the mortgage on a freehold.

Scorpiogal13

Leggitte said:

I was in this situation a couple of years back. The HA wants you to buy the largest share you can afford. However, as mentioned above several times, the HA does not know how much savings you have. In my situation (54 at the time of buying, on my own) I realised that I would probably not be able to staircase to 100% and decided for the smallest share (25%) and stay there, so if/when I do sell I have a better chance of selling. If you own 75% and you are trying to sell a shared ownership, you have a problem. People who can afford to buy 75% shared ownership can most likely also afford the mortgage on a freehold.

Yes i did think that.

How are you actually getting on with it?

In regards to mortgage payments and Rent etc. (Any nasty surprises?)