Stuck in a shared ownership nightmare

SarahB16

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/comment/82099226#Comment_82099226

No matter the sales price I think the £1,000 a month in service charges would deter most people.

I think OP perhaps needs to get a breakdown of what that £1,000 a month service charges comprises of and potentially challenge anything that doesn't seem right.

RelievedSheff

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/comment/82099257#Comment_82099257

With these shared ownership schemes for the elderly there are usually staff on site to provide assistance if required and common living areas for residents to socialise and take part in organised activities.

All of this of course needs to be paid for hence the higher monthly "service" charges.

silvercar

Whether the £1,000 is excessive, if other flats have sold, clearly there is a market. The difficulty is finding the right price to market it at.

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/ckgykp79ezyo

ResourcesShared

I am sorry to hear about the situation your family are facing, and I'm sure this isn't what your aunt would have wanted for you all. Unfortunately, a number of estate executors have experienced similar problems selling a shared ownership retirement flat. (Is it an Older Persons Shared Ownership (OPSO) Extra Care property?).

Shared Ownership Resources has published a number of case studies by people in similar situations, who have inherited SO retirement flats. For example:

My SO Home: No. 35 and My SO Home: No. 34

There are a number of features on inheriting retirement flats on the website. For example:

Inheriting OPSO: Q&A with WBD legal experts

We are currently working on a buyback report, which highlights issues related to selling SO retirement flats, and which will be launched on 9 September. We also have a WhatsApp buyback group for peer support and information sharing. Please consider signing up to the mailing list for updates (choose the option 'Inherited SO'). And don't hesitate to get in touch: info@sharedownershipresources.org

SarahB16

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/comment/82103228#Comment_82103228

Really great to hear you are doing this.

A genuine question - do you think the reason why they aren't selling is because they are retirement flats and therefore symptomatic of the wider problem affecting the sale of retirement flats?