Selling and buying home

Dogsarethebest2025

Hi all, 

I am a little early asking this but a mortgage advisor was no help and I just need a few generic questions answered.

I currently own a shared ownership home with my partner, we are looking to upgrade to a bigger new build home on the other side of the estate. Deposit and other cost wise we will be ready in November/December 2026 to reserve a plot. 

I need to know if; 

1a: I should sell my home now, rent a house for 6-12 months until we are ready to move into our new home? Cost wise monthly its the same whether we continue living where we are or sell and rent instead. 

1b: if we do sell, lets say early 2026 - and then apply for a new mortgage December 2026, does this affect our credit scores? 

My main worry is that we will put our house on the market lets say 6 months before our new build property is available to reserve, we find a buyer but they pull out and we lose our dream home. To avoid all this and the stress of it all does the above make sense? Or should I;

2a: continue living where I am (we pay off something like £1,500 off our mortgage every year due to a very high interest rate, we got bamboozled in our younger days and didn't know any better) and risk losing the new build?

2b: we have 2 kids, so if we do continue living here, our house sells, either too early or the new build gets delayed, we have no family around we could live with for a bit so what do we do in the meantime? can we tell the buyers we are postponing our moving out date? 

Mortgage wise - if we stay where we are, and assuming all goes well with the sell, it would be good for us to borrow more and do a mortgage transfer to the new property but if we go rent for a bit, is it harder to then get a mortgage? I know paying things off tends to hurt your credit score for a bit, so ending a mortgage and starting a new one in a short amount of time make any difference? 

Mark_d

I don't think you need to worry about credit scores.  You'll take a small temporary hit when you make the new mortgage application but this is going to happen what ever you do.

As much as I hate renting, it does put you in a much better position when moving to your next home.  So I think you should do it.

Wit the high interest rate on your current mortgage, it does sound like you might be financially better off if you rent for the next year.

If you agree a sale then you have some scope to delay completion...but if you push too much then the buyer will pull out and you'll have to start from square one again.

Unless you've been missing payments or got CCJs then you should have no problem with a new mortgage.  Mortgag elenders aren't as picky as other lenders because they'll have your house as security for the borrowing

Bookworm225

either way timing is never going to be exactly as you want it 

going into rental leaves you exposed to minimum fixed term contract lengths or notice periods when outside the fixed term
also requires having a Landlord who is willing to be flexible by taking you in the first place for what may (or may not) be a "short" rental

staying put risks your selling chain not coming together on the date you require for the new house. Unless it is primarily aimed at first time buyers, the developer should be expecting that and be accommodating over it. 

Albermarle

Your plan is probably OK ( to rent) but one point to consider is that finding decent rental property can be tricky, at least in some parts of the country, as demand exceeds supply.

My main worry is that we will put our house on the market lets say 6 months before our new build property is available to reserve, we find a buyer but they pull out and we lose our dream home.

You should be able to reserve the property with a relatively small deposit, although they will probably push you to exchange contracts quite early in the build, at which point you will need a bigger deposit. Then there could be a long gap before the house is actually finished, and you pay the rest of the cost and move in.
Different developers will work in different ways, so probably worth checking with them now, how they work in this respect.

Another possible solution which might solve your problems is if the developer runs a part exchange programme.
They will buy your home as part of the deal. You may not get the best price but it certainly would smooth the process and would be no need for you to move out at all. I am not sure if all developers will offer this though.

SarahB16

Albermarle said:

Another possible solution which might solve your problems is if the developer runs a part exchange programme.
They will buy your home as part of the deal. You may not get the best price but it certainly would smooth the process and would be no need for you to move out at all. I am not sure if all developers will offer this though.

I suppose no harm in OP asking however I very much doubt the developer would wish to take on a shared ownership property.

My suggestion OP would be to sell your home and rent.  There is a smaller pool of people typically wishing to purchase second hand shared ownership properties so the priority for the OP would be to sell that home.  

However, as already mentioned in some areas of the country demand for rental accommodation exceeds supply but I still think this is the route you should try to go down.  You don't wish to miss out on this new build you want because you are unable to sell your shared ownership home.  

Dogsarethebest2025

SarahB16 said:

Albermarle said:

Another possible solution which might solve your problems is if the developer runs a part exchange programme.
They will buy your home as part of the deal. You may not get the best price but it certainly would smooth the process and would be no need for you to move out at all. I am not sure if all developers will offer this though.

I suppose no harm in OP asking however I very much doubt the developer would wish to take on a shared ownership property.

My suggestion OP would be to sell your home and rent.  There is a smaller pool of people typically wishing to purchase second hand shared ownership properties so the priority for the OP would be to sell that home.  

However, as already mentioned in some areas of the country demand for rental accommodation exceeds supply but I still think this is the route you should try to go down.  You don't wish to miss out on this new build you want because you are unable to sell your shared ownership home.  

Yeah I already know they won’t sell a shared ownership. Otherwise it would have been ideal for us. There are lots of rentable new builds literally down the road from us and they’ve already agreed to do a 3 month contract with the option to extend should we wish so that’s helpful 

SarahB16

Dogsarethebest2025 said:

SarahB16 said:

Albermarle said:

Another possible solution which might solve your problems is if the developer runs a part exchange programme.
They will buy your home as part of the deal. You may not get the best price but it certainly would smooth the process and would be no need for you to move out at all. I am not sure if all developers will offer this though.

I suppose no harm in OP asking however I very much doubt the developer would wish to take on a shared ownership property.

My suggestion OP would be to sell your home and rent.  There is a smaller pool of people typically wishing to purchase second hand shared ownership properties so the priority for the OP would be to sell that home.  

However, as already mentioned in some areas of the country demand for rental accommodation exceeds supply but I still think this is the route you should try to go down.  You don't wish to miss out on this new build you want because you are unable to sell your shared ownership home.  

Yeah I already know they won’t sell a shared ownership. Otherwise it would have been ideal for us. There are lots of rentable new builds literally down the road from us and they’ve already agreed to do a 3 month contract with the option to extend should we wish so that’s helpful 

That sounds ideal for you and I'd definitely do that.  

Interesting to hear you say 'there are lots of rentable new builds'...   

Are these family houses that have only just been built/completed and they have been built with the intention of them being rented out on the open market?  You generally don't hear of many schemes like that.  I am aware of a few but most new build schemes (especially with family housing) is built to be sold.   

Sorry for all the questions but I just don't want you to get stung further down the line as I know you have got two children.   

Dogsarethebest2025

SarahB16 said:

Dogsarethebest2025 said:

SarahB16 said:

Albermarle said:

Another possible solution which might solve your problems is if the developer runs a part exchange programme.
They will buy your home as part of the deal. You may not get the best price but it certainly would smooth the process and would be no need for you to move out at all. I am not sure if all developers will offer this though.

I suppose no harm in OP asking however I very much doubt the developer would wish to take on a shared ownership property.

My suggestion OP would be to sell your home and rent.  There is a smaller pool of people typically wishing to purchase second hand shared ownership properties so the priority for the OP would be to sell that home.  

However, as already mentioned in some areas of the country demand for rental accommodation exceeds supply but I still think this is the route you should try to go down.  You don't wish to miss out on this new build you want because you are unable to sell your shared ownership home.  

Yeah I already know they won’t sell a shared ownership. Otherwise it would have been ideal for us. There are lots of rentable new builds literally down the road from us and they’ve already agreed to do a 3 month contract with the option to extend should we wish so that’s helpful 

That sounds ideal for you and I'd definitely do that.  

Interesting to hear you say 'there are lots of rentable new builds'...   

Are these family houses that have only just been built/completed and they have been built with the intention of them being rented out on the open market?  You generally don't hear of many schemes like that.  I am aware of a few but most new build schemes (especially with family housing) is built to be sold.   

Sorry for all the questions but I just don't want you to get stung further down the line as I know you have got two children.   

Yeah so I live on a new build estate. It’s huge. About 30 years of building all together. Somewhere down the line this company came along and purchased most of the houses from one developer and is only renting them out. I’ve not seen anything like this before either. Maybe it’s rather new but a good option because they allow pets and all where as we were renting a few years back from a private landlord and he had very strict rules.  

SarahB16

Dogsarethebest2025 said:

SarahB16 said:

Dogsarethebest2025 said:

SarahB16 said:

Albermarle said:

Another possible solution which might solve your problems is if the developer runs a part exchange programme.
They will buy your home as part of the deal. You may not get the best price but it certainly would smooth the process and would be no need for you to move out at all. I am not sure if all developers will offer this though.

I suppose no harm in OP asking however I very much doubt the developer would wish to take on a shared ownership property.

My suggestion OP would be to sell your home and rent.  There is a smaller pool of people typically wishing to purchase second hand shared ownership properties so the priority for the OP would be to sell that home.  

However, as already mentioned in some areas of the country demand for rental accommodation exceeds supply but I still think this is the route you should try to go down.  You don't wish to miss out on this new build you want because you are unable to sell your shared ownership home.  

Yeah I already know they won’t sell a shared ownership. Otherwise it would have been ideal for us. There are lots of rentable new builds literally down the road from us and they’ve already agreed to do a 3 month contract with the option to extend should we wish so that’s helpful 

That sounds ideal for you and I'd definitely do that.  

Interesting to hear you say 'there are lots of rentable new builds'...   

Are these family houses that have only just been built/completed and they have been built with the intention of them being rented out on the open market?  You generally don't hear of many schemes like that.  I am aware of a few but most new build schemes (especially with family housing) is built to be sold.   

Sorry for all the questions but I just don't want you to get stung further down the line as I know you have got two children.   

Yeah so I live on a new build estate. It’s huge. About 30 years of building all together. Somewhere down the line this company came along and purchased most of the houses from one developer and is only renting them out. I’ve not seen anything like this before either. Maybe it’s rather new but a good option because they allow pets and all where as we were renting a few years back from a private landlord and he had very strict rules.  

Thank you for sharing the details very much appreciated.  

It truly does sound like the best option for you (i.e. especially with the 3 month contract with the option to extend) especially as there are nearly always delays with new build schemes.  

Sounds like you have got your heart set on one of the homes and I hope it all works out very well for you.  Without running the risk of losing the home you want nearer the time there is no harm in you asking the developer for some free optional extras to be thrown in (but try to avoid asking for a discount on the selling price of the home).  

Dogsarethebest2025

SarahB16 said:

Dogsarethebest2025 said:

SarahB16 said:

Dogsarethebest2025 said:

SarahB16 said:

Albermarle said:

Another possible solution which might solve your problems is if the developer runs a part exchange programme.
They will buy your home as part of the deal. You may not get the best price but it certainly would smooth the process and would be no need for you to move out at all. I am not sure if all developers will offer this though.

I suppose no harm in OP asking however I very much doubt the developer would wish to take on a shared ownership property.

My suggestion OP would be to sell your home and rent.  There is a smaller pool of people typically wishing to purchase second hand shared ownership properties so the priority for the OP would be to sell that home.  

However, as already mentioned in some areas of the country demand for rental accommodation exceeds supply but I still think this is the route you should try to go down.  You don't wish to miss out on this new build you want because you are unable to sell your shared ownership home.  

Yeah I already know they won’t sell a shared ownership. Otherwise it would have been ideal for us. There are lots of rentable new builds literally down the road from us and they’ve already agreed to do a 3 month contract with the option to extend should we wish so that’s helpful 

That sounds ideal for you and I'd definitely do that.  

Interesting to hear you say 'there are lots of rentable new builds'...   

Are these family houses that have only just been built/completed and they have been built with the intention of them being rented out on the open market?  You generally don't hear of many schemes like that.  I am aware of a few but most new build schemes (especially with family housing) is built to be sold.   

Sorry for all the questions but I just don't want you to get stung further down the line as I know you have got two children.   

Yeah so I live on a new build estate. It’s huge. About 30 years of building all together. Somewhere down the line this company came along and purchased most of the houses from one developer and is only renting them out. I’ve not seen anything like this before either. Maybe it’s rather new but a good option because they allow pets and all where as we were renting a few years back from a private landlord and he had very strict rules.  

Thank you for sharing the details very much appreciated.  

It truly does sound like the best option for you (i.e. especially with the 3 month contract with the option to extend) especially as there are nearly always delays with new build schemes.  

Sounds like you have got your heart set on one of the homes and I hope it all works out very well for you.  Without running the risk of losing the home you want nearer the time there is no harm in you asking the developer for some free optional extras to be thrown in (but try to avoid asking for a discount on the selling price of the home).  

Thank you for the advice x

made me feel a little bit better about our choice.

Bigphil1474

Are you in any fixed period on your current mortgage? There may be an early repayment fee to consider (ERC). If you are outside of any fixed deal, there shouldn't be. If you are outside of your fixed deal though, why not just change your mortgage product anyway?