Shared Ownership

Jak1972

Hi,

I am just about to buy a shared ownership property. I'm in the Yorkshire area, the price is £175,000 for a 2bed, 650 square feet, I'm purchasing a 30% share. It's in a really nice area and all of the houses are private (not bolted on to a council estate). It has a really good school 5mins walk and an OFSTED outstanding College. I'm currently renting on a nice private estate where a 2 bed without garage has just sold for £140,000. So the new house is £35,000 more. I only need the house for the next five years as my daughter will have left school and College by then, so I'm planning on deciding where I want to live in the UK/world. I'm 50 so I need to buy now or never! and even just owning for 5yrs will give me something of more a deposit to put on another property in 5yrs, for example, there are nice 2bed apartments available for 100k in the same area, so if I had enough deposit I would buy one of those as it will only be me in 5ys time.

I'm just wondering for those who have had shared ownership and successfully sold, how easy/difficult was it? I know it will hugely vary on the North/South divide and demand, so I looking for advice from someone in a similar area, preferably the north of England.

Is anybody being really affected by the rent increase over the last couple of years? e.g. my rent will be around £300 a month but I've looked and RPI looks like it's going to increase by 10% this year, so in April 2024, my rent would increase to around £330, which is a lot considering I will have only bought in September this year.

Any advice from shared ownership owners only (please don't speculate if you have never owned/sold a shared ownership property or not known someone who has) please would be much appreciated.

C

JReacher1

My friend has a shared ownership in Manchester. He tried to sell about six years ago and struggled, however he has bought more of the % in the last few years and his house is now very sellable (based on similar sales on the estate). 

In the east five years you can look at increasing your percentage ownership and that will give you more equity when you sell. 

Can’t help on the rent I’m afraid. 

housebuyer143

If you are buying it expecting to make money not lose it you might be disappointed. A lot of new builds lose money initially because like a new car you pay a premium for it which doesn't always translate when you then sell quite quick.

The housing market is slumping so you might find yourself breaking even or even losing money when you sell. Would you still want to do it if this happened? 

I'm not all housing doom and gloom but you should consider this aspect.