Is Shared Ownership my best option?

teaselMay

The rent is a lot less than a comparable private rental from what I've seen, more on a par with housing association (which many of them are) rent than private rent. The ones I've been looking at with a 25% share would be about half of my current private rent in a comparable sized house, my current rent is probably 100 below what it could be as it wasn't put up this year because he's selling the house.

edited as it said the opposite to what i meant

Albermarle

1. Safe area for evening dog walks
   I have two dogs, and their walks often happen after dark due to work. A safe area is essential, but I’d like to achieve this without overspending.

There will be some obvious places to avoid, although I would be more concerned about getting burgled, drug dealing and anti social behaviour, than anything else.
If you are worried about being attacked by a stranger in some way, I think the risk of this happening to a female walking her dogs is pretty small, even in so called dodgy areas, despite what you might read in the media. As you unfortunately know, most violence against women is from someone they know.

On the subject of dogs. They are great, but can be a significant drain on finances. Vets bills can be very high, especially as they get older.
As you will be on a tight budget, then worth documenting your expenditure ( not just on dogs, but everything) so you can see exactly where your money is going . Also there are lots of ideas on the various and many MSE forums, about saving money and taking advantage of offers.

Claire1994

Thank you for your comment, TeaselMay! I completely agree about the location of shared ownership plots—they’re often out of the city centre, which I find preferable. The fencing and general setup of these properties also seem much more suited for dogs, which is a big plus.

There will definitely be a period of settling down for my dogs wherever we go, but it’s reassuring to hear how your dogs are adapting to similar situations.

I think I’ll be accepted for a mortgage, but I might not be able to borrow as much as I’d like. Shared ownership does seem like a good way to make things stretch a bit further, so it’s still a strong option for me.

Good luck with your house hunt—I hope you find somewhere perfect for you and your dogs! 😊

Claire1994

Thank you for your comment, RAS. I’m keeping a close eye on my credit score—it’s not great at the moment, but I’m hoping now that the house is sold, I can start to claw it back. I plan to see a mortgage advisor in the new year to get a clearer picture and figure out whether it’s worth waiting a few months for my credit score to improve before applying for a mortgage.

Thankfully, my family got me out of an awful situation, and I’m living with them for the time being. Their support has been amazing, and it means I’m not in a rush to move out, which gives me some flexibility to plan properly.

Claire1994

Ooh, low rent is a game changer, TeaselMay! That would definitely help with keeping costs down and making things more manageable. Thank you for sharing that—it’s really useful to know!

Claire1994

Thank you for this comment, Albermarle. I definitely need to explore the MSE forums and see what they have to offer—I’m sure there’ll be lots of useful ideas. My mobile banking app categorises my spending, but it’s more reactive since it’s after I’ve spent the money. I’ve managed so far by being quite thrifty, but I agree I could plan ahead better. A spreadsheet of upcoming spending and looking out for offers, as you suggested, sounds like a great way to stay on top of things.

housebuyer143

I believe my sisters rent is at the LHA which is what the housing associations charge their council tenants, so it's very reasonable. It can increase a lot though if inflation is high. It's only 2.7% this year coming but in previous years it was much higher. 

I would say it's a viable option if your choices are renting forever because you can't get a property because of earnings etc. Its much better than renting.  If you could afford 100% then it's better to avoid SO though. 

Claire1994

Hi housebuyer143, I completely agree that SO is much better than renting. Could you explain why it’s better to avoid SO if I can afford 100%? I’m not sure yet if I’ll be able to afford 100%, but if I could, I’d really like to understand the reasoning.

housebuyer143

Claire1994 said:

Hi housebuyer143, I completely agree that SO is much better than renting. Could you explain why it’s better to avoid SO if I can afford 100%? I’m not sure yet if I’ll be able to afford 100%, but if I could, I’d really like to understand the reasoning.

It's just it's complicated to sell and you are responsible for 100% of the maintenance whilst only owning a minority percentage. It's leasehold until you buy it all and you have to run any major improvements or even a shed through the housing association. My sister's lease makes her paint the property every 2 years as an example. 

It has it's negatives which are not present if you didn't do SO. It's a lifeline though to homeownership for many though who otherwise can't afford it, so to those people the negatives are worth it. 

RAS

Your credit score is irrelevant, not least as lenders don't use it in the UK.

What you need to look at is your credit records. There's an article in this week's email about getting them for free. If there are defaults etc, that affects your ability to borrow.