Shared ownership property in Lewisham- advice please!

[TurquoiseDress]

So DH are currently renting and have been for some years. We've been trying to scrape together a deposit for a few years.

DH is in the process of selling his property up north so we should have a chunk of cash to add to our deposit soon (fingers crossed).

We recently moved to a rental property in Lewisham- 2 bed, £1600/month- yes, yikes!
Used to live further in but still south London.

Loads of building going on here, high rise flats by the station etc.

We noticed these properties being built & I did some investigating.

They are 3 bedroom houses- The Meridian- market value is £535,000
Selling 25% share initially.

The rent at this proportion is £919/month (!) and there seems to be a monthly service charge of £46, not sure why as I thought these only applied to flats.

Armed forces get preference. We are not but we live in the borough which qualifies you. 101 metres squared in size.

I know that not all SO schemes are the same, but what do people with SO experience think?

DH is of the opinion that Lewisham is def still up & coming, so much building and investment going on, it's worth taking the risk.

I just worry that we would be paying well over the odds for this house, will we ever be able to 'staircase' and increase our share.

What about when we need to move somewhere larger, but find we can't sell or can't move up the so called ladder (I realise that a lot of people are in this position).

Any opinions or advice please?

[TurquoiseDress]

Bump.

Here is a link to the property.
Any opinions or advice please?!

www.affinitysutton.com/buy-a-home/search/t/the-meridian-lewisham/

[FishWithABicycle]

Are you sure you qualify? If your DH has been a homeowner up north he may be excluded from some kinds of shared ownership scheme.

[BeakyMinder]

I live in Lewisham. Good area, lots going on nearby, great transport and they're bringing the Bakerloo line down here eventually.

[Koala2]

Could you buy a bigger share to bring your rent down?

[TurquoiseDress]

As far as I can see, there seems to be nothing about excluding previous homeowners.

I hope there isn't!
We really need SO to actually buy something round here.

Once his property is sold we should have about 50k deposit...we will be able to buy more than 25%- yes that will bring the rent down.

The rent at over £900/month feels a lot, as well as having to pay mortgage & service charge.

I'd really like to get inside and take a look to see what they're like. I know that they've been built already, have driven past etc

Only thing is whether there is parking with it- if not, it would be a real pain. A lot of Lewisham is parking permits.

If you live in a private development you're not entitled to apply for one.

[EssentialHummus]

I live in Lewisham (Brockley) and really rate it. I'm not sure if you have DC / are planning them, but check schools carefully if you are - Lewisham regularly "wins" for most oversubscribed borough.

I don't know a thing about shared ownership, but be aware that a lot of the new build flats around Lewisham station are getting regularly reduced in price - I am on RightMove daily as part of our own search, and have seen regular mark-downs since the BTL stamp duty change in March. So be careful of overpaying. Also worth comparing what you could afford in non-SO elsewhere in the borough - places like Hither Green and Catford are relatively affordable and rather nice to live in.

[TurquoiseDress]

essentialhummus
Thank you for your post.

Brings me onto the next point.
Yes we have a LO who has just turned 2 and another one on the way.

School seems a long way off but we will be applying for primaries at the end of next year!

I've seen what a struggle the school thing can be- realise that all of London is bad but from forums locally, Lewisham seems to be v oversubscribed!

Yes my concern is paying over the odds for something.

Also we've looked at some properties over in Beckenham and we're pretty much priced out of Lewisham.

Just weighing things up.
We can't afford to buy a house over in Beckenham/Bromley, but this SO in Lewisham would be an opportunity to get more space.

Having said that we've seen some nice 3 bed flats in Beckenham that we could maybe just about afford (non-SO) at around £400k.

I don't think the schools situation is any better over in Bromley, but Beckenham is much less built up than Lewisham.

Having said that, we really like what we've seen if Lewisham so far!

Please keep any opinions & advice coming!

[EssentialHummus]

It's really difficult at the moment. In your position (obviously I don't know your taste in houses) I'd look for something like these - in Lewisham, 3 beds, v close to good schools so you're not upping sticks again in a few years:

www.rightmove.co.uk/property-for-sale/property-59515496.html

www.rightmove.co.uk/property-for-sale/property-59505962.html

[TurquoiseDress]

Thanks the for the links!

I really like the look of the 3 bed house in Catford.

Re my taste in houses- I'm not even sure myself! I've always rented places, mainly flats.

Just having started to look at lots of different properties & feeling overwhelmed!

Yes, the prospect of selling up again in a few years time is a concern.
I know lots of people have told me not to worry about secondary schools yet, it's too far away.

But I worry that if we pay over the odds for SO in Lewisham, we might find ourselves a bit stuck in a few years time.

[Peyia]

I bought my first SO property in Lewisham (Deptford) about 9 years ago. Sold last year and made 30k so a good first step on the ladder (for me) We moved as we wanted more of a choice of schools for our DD. As a family it didn't work for us but I'm grateful I was able to buy it when I did, and enjoyed it as a single person.

Lewisham borough is great, amazing transport links etc but the desirable areas (St Johns, Brockley, Hither Green) that are more family orientated are exspensive. I personally wouldn't buy in a large developement either.

Last year we moved to Beckenham and were fortunate to get a house. If you could afford 400K I would buy here.

Good luck - and bear in mind rent will continue to go up. Only do SO if you really want a property but can't afford somewhere.

[Peyia]

I like the forest hill flat!!

[kirinm]

I've been told that service charges on some of the SO have been as much as £500pcm. Add that to rent and mortgage and it seems like a huge amount for only 25% ownership. Banks are lending 95% mortgages and there's help to buy. Have you looked into either of those? ( I don't think help to buy seems that fantastic either to be honest).

[TurquoiseDress]

Peyia
Thanks for the post & sharing your experiences.

How are you enjoying Beckenham?

I guess it will depend how desperate we get in some ways. In an ideal world, I'd rather we go via a broker and get a 'normal' mortgage on a property with say a 10% deposit.

SO seems great in some ways, but I'm concerned about the future, selling on & the rent/service charge increases (no doubt that part will go up & up!)

I've started looking into Help to buy but it's a bit confusing as there are a number of slightly different schemes.

Think there's one that ends later this year, where the government loan you 40% of the property value.

The only thing is, the pool of mortgages that you can use seems quite narrow.

[Peyia]

Love love love Beckenham but that might be because my family and friends are here. I moved to
deptford as that's all I could afford but with H and family I wanted to be around a support network.

Beckenham has great links to central, a good choice of schools and lots of parks. Some people find it too suburban but it's the perfect mix for us.

Have you seen a mortgage broker to see what your options are? I do appreciate property prices are ridiculous!

[whois]

With SO although you only own eg 50% you pay 100% of the service charge which is a bit shit. So it can work out quite expensive.

There are limits on subletting and who you can sell to as well.

If you really can't afford to buy anything outright then SO can work for you to provide a stable home, however I would look and see what you can buy further out outright.

What is your combined salary?

[TurquoiseDress]

Our combined salary is around 70-75k, need to calculate exactly as I've been working slightly less than full time to help lessen the childcare cost burden.

Only been on online mortgage calculators with various high street providers- I realise these tools may be giving false optimism!

We are going to try a couple of mortgage brokers recommended by friends.

My gut feeling is that we should aim to buy outright- which realistically means moving further out somewhere like Beckenham, which not be a bad thing at all.

DH is quite keen on the SO here in Lewisham but there are things about it that don't quite sit well with me.
Although it would mean we get to part-buy a 3 bed house which seems impossible elsewhere.

[kirinm]

We are buying in New Cross, in the Telegraph Hill area, with a combined salary around that much. We've got a 20% deposit though but still, I think you could probably afford to buy without shared ownership.

[dontcallmelen]

Hi Op, I would seriously look at trying to buy the 'normal route' rather than SO if you can, as pp said a lot of the new builds are being reduced, also I would rather if I had young children, maybe a little further away from the traffic/noise & pollution around Lewisham station, as Peyia pp said would seriously look at Beckenham/Eden Park/Elmers End, very good schools excellent transport links, really good leisure facilities & green spaces.

[Peyia]

Melen I'm sure we're neighbours, always advocating good old Beckenham eh?

[dontcallmelen]

Peyia haha I think we could be😄 It's a good place for family's I moved here from forest hill, much prefer it.

[Spickle]

Bear in mind also that you will be paying 100% heating/lighting/utility bills, 100% council tax, 100% decoration and repair costs but owning only 25%. Think also that there may be a £60,000 limit of household income to qualify. If you could stretch to £400k as suggested above, I would seriously try to see what you can find to buy without SO for that.

[Spickle]

Oh and you would need a "high street" mortgage lender, most SO schemes do not accept unusual lenders.

[shopaholic85]

Hi OP,

I have just sold my SO flat in Lewisham. I only went down the SO route, because it was all I could afford at the time. I would have bought outright if I had had a choice.

To be honest, we spent very time in Lewisham itself when we lived there, as, despite all the building that's been going on for years, it just doesn't have the range of shops and restaurants to be an interesting place to live. However, it doesn't really matter, as you can be in Greenwich, Southbank, London Bridge etc in no time at all. Overall, I found it a safe area with good local services/amenities (large Tesco, v. good GP, excellent transport links, choice of gyms/leisure centre.. )

PM if you want more info about the area where the The Meridian is, as we used to live very close to there.

[whois]

Think also that there may be a £60,000 limit of household income to qualify.

Its 90k now.

But OP with £75k salary and a £60k deposit you can buy outright, further out. Be worth a look anyway?

[TurquoiseDress]

Hello

Thanks for all the replies- much appreciated!

Yes I think it does seem more sensible to try and buy the 'normal' way it possible.

The potential costs as outlined by the poster above are ones which I've been concerned about. So all the costs & responsibilites of owning 100% but also still paying rent & service charge/ground rent
spickle