Shared Ownership property

november78

Hi,
I am in the process of selling my shared ownership property. It is 50%/50%
I have had this problem twice now trying to sell this property.
I've got so far and now i'm stuck.
The mortgage lenders require the council (who own the other half), to re-word / change a clause in the lease.
The council are refusing, which means i now have a house which is unmortgagable. Since i bought the property 2 years ago, a lot of lenders' policies have changed.
i am now stuck with a house which i cannot sell.
I have contacted the Citizens Advice Bureau, who cannot help with this situation and the council are being unreasonable - seems like they don't seem to care.
Legally, i am not allowed to rent the house out either.
Shared Ownership houses are advertised as 'Affordable Housing' and are to help people get on the property ladder. Unfortunately, they are not allowing me to go up that 'ladder' .
Does anyone have any advice on what i can do, i really don't know where i stand now. :mad:

ailuro2

Are you allowed to buy the other half if you wanted to?

Take advice from a solicitor - many offer a free 30 minute free consultation.

poppy10_2

What is the wording you need to change?

november78

I should be able to buy the other half, not sure if i can buy the whole lot in one go.
If i can, the only problem is finding the money.
Because of all the problems with the market at the mo, lenders are being very careful with lending money. Plus, if i went to my current mortgage lender, they'ed have to look at my income, which probably wouldn't be enough.

Not quite sure on the wording, i think its something to do with protecting the lenders half if the house is repossessed, i.e, who would have the house.....

homer_j_3

was it a clause which goes along the lines of, the house has to be sold at X% under market value due to it being affordable housing?

dmg24

november78 wrote: »

I should be able to buy the other half, not sure if i can buy the whole lot in one go.
If i can, the only problem is finding the money.
Because of all the problems with the market at the mo, lenders are being very careful with lending money. Plus, if i went to my current mortgage lender, they'ed have to look at my income, which probably wouldn't be enough.

Not quite sure on the wording, i think its something to do with protecting the lenders half if the house is repossessed, i.e, who would have the house.....

Sounds like the clause relates to the council having first charge on the property?

homer_j_3

Could be but that sounds as though the lender currently mortgaging would have struggled too originally. Although the market has changed, I can assure you that having 1st charge in event of repossession is unlikely to have changed.

Who is the current lender?

dmg24

homer_j wrote: »

Could be but that sounds as though the lender currently mortgaging would have struggled too originally. Although the market has changed, I can assure you that having 1st charge in event of repossession is unlikely to have changed.

Who is the current lender?

It was certainly the case that the LA/ HA had first charge over the property up until a few years ago. I can't see why it would have changed, as that is one of the features that distinguishes SO mortgages.

homer_j_3

I dont think its as black or white as we are both presuming then. I cannot forsee a lender lending money on a property where they would go 2nd charge but if you say what you are is correct then there must have been some protection in the clauses to ensure that the lenders money was as secure as possible

I have been having a scout about and I think this may help shed some light on what I was getting at

Although mortgage lenders are cautious about requests for 100 per cent advances, most shared owners have no difficulty because of the 'mortgagee protection clause' in the shared ownership lease for HAG-funded properties. This protects the lender substantially against loss in the case of default and consequent sale of the property. So long as the mortgagee protection clause continues to be standard in the shared ownership lease, shared owners can expect to have a good choice of mortgage offer, often with the options of a fixed rate.

This was found at http://www.jrf.org.uk/knowledge/findings/housing/H165.asp

november78

thanks for that. Now that you mention it, it was something to do with the mortgagee protection clause.

My lender is Leeds Building Society. I bought the property 2 years ago. Since then, they have changed their policy like many other lenders and need the council to change/reword the clause in the lease. The council are not budging. Got to wait til Monday (this has ruined my weekend, worrying about it!) I am going to phone the council again, ask if they are prepared to buy the other half off me as they won't budge with this clause thing which means the house is unmortgageable.
If the answer is no, the only other option is to write a letter of complaint to them and go straight to my local MP. I know it sounds a bit extreme but i have no idea what to do next.
I'm now living with my partner at his and need to sell mine.

dmg24

Can you tell us exactly what the wording is, and what they wish it to be?