Shared ownership property- to staircase to 100%?

[Metalgoddess]

We own a 50% share in a shared ownership property and pay a combined mortgage/rent/ service charges etc of £460 per month. We want to stay in our house and have the option of staircasing to own the property outright. We have some equity in the house so would need to put some savings down to make up effectively a 15% deposit on the value of the whole property. This would take mortgage payments up to approx 620 per mth.

However if we stay on the 50% basis it gives me options as to giving up work( I'm on mat leave at the mo) or reducing my hours further and still living what we consider a comfortable lifestyle. If we staircase and I carry on working as I am now then we can also afford the higher mortgage amount, although I do worry about interest rates going sky high a some point. It worries me that staying on 50% until retirement means we will still have to pay rent on the half that we didn't buy so therefore would hav to come out of our pension. ( I am 35 but like to think ahead!) should we enjoy living with a lower mortgage/ rent or make the push to own outright?

[noisytoys]

If you can afford to I would go for owning outright. So many more options for selling, equity, security etc

[lougle]

Can you save the extra money that you would spend each month (ie. the £160 difference) and use that to gain a larger deposit. That way you aren't taking such a big risk.

[Metalgoddess]

That's a good idea about saving the difference, I guess it's just if the house value goes up then we will need more money to buy the other half but iwill definitely think about that, thanks for replies