To sell my home and buy a shared ownership one??

I did this. It’s been great for me. Like you I am a single parent and could not afford to buy on the open market. And I didn’t want my daughter to grow up moving from private rental to private rental on the whims of landlords. I love my house. I can’t see why it wouldn’t sell on as the SO properties in this area all get snapped up too. I’m not increasing my share though, if you do you lose the support you get paying rent and I imagine it would be harder to sell. It’s led to a lovely, settled stress free few years for me and my daughter.

@ohnoohnoohnoohno that's very good news- it's easy to poo poo it as not the best option if you have other options!! If you don't it gives you security that private renting can't give you and a decent home- if you know the downsides then you are going into it fully aware. ! Resales also are very dependent on 'where you are- in our area for instance they go very easily . May not be the case if you are in an area where it's easy to get housing quite cheaply without using SO.

We originally purchased our house under SO but we purchased all of it (staircased to full ownership) about five years later.

Most people don't ever staircase to full ownership, they just sell them again as SO - and around here they go very quickly.

The only downside I would say - which we didn't experience but neighbours who are still SO currently are - is that some elements of it, like the rent and service charge can shoot up ridiculously quickly - some of our neighbours have seen their rent increase for this year by 40% which seems crazy.

Our SO neighbours also had their leaseholds sold to another company - so when we all purchased them as SO, it was via a housing association - but since then, they sold them to another company which seem to be when the increases started getting higher. Luckily, we staircased before any of that happened so we never experienced huge increases.

Something to be aware of though, that service charges and rent can go up quite fast - plus the obvious that you are responsible for absolutely everything irregardless of what % you own - and also remember if you want to do anything other than decorating - so anything structural, new bathroom/kitchen, built in wardrobes etc - some require you to ask for permission to do so - and they charge you a fee to get the permission

Sounds exciting OP.

i just has a quick read of what @CheapThrillsMeanNothing referred to and it does sound concerning. Can’t believe the rent increases are regulated but not service charges. Given they are meant to be affordable homes.

I guess in other properties - that are not SO - the residents could change the managing agents if they wanted to. Is that the difference?

Service charge is covered by UC but be aware of other services within the charge that are not covered.

The monthly breakdown for mine is as follows from 1st April 24 - 31st March 2023.
3rd party service charge £ 3.29
Building insurance £ 9.21
Management fee £ .36
Sinking fund £ 2.70
Total £15.56
So, the only part covered by UC is £3.29.

Yes, cash deposit helps. We tried to get a 3 bedroom as I have 2 children (girl and boy). Instead we were given a 2 bed whilst a couple with an 18 year old son got the larger house. They had a large cash deposit whereas we didn’t sadly. Other people weren’t even successful as they go so quickly.

Good luck for your move, hopefully it’s plain sailing as moves are stressful enough.

@ohnoohnoohnoohno
Are you sure about the service charges being covered by UC?
It was on the news last week where the service charge went up this year from £4000 to £16000 on a shared ownership property.
I would avoid shared ownership like the plague.

Go for it. It sounds like a much more sensible option for your and your children.
My only concern would.be having to get to a stage where you are SSTC before applying, what will you do if the shared ownership housing has all sold by then? Or your application is rejected? What would your back up plan be?

@Trickymaths same, I have 9 yrs of my mortgage left, by then my kids will be late 20's, I plan on downsizing and giving them some money to help them set themselves up, I'll be eligible for pension lump sum too, so should be ok.

Thanks for the update OP. It sounds like it was the right choice for you. Is it all going ahead then? Exciting. We have very similar circumstances.

@Knackeredmommy i too plan on downsizing in the future. The difference is if I plough on with my mortgage I might be able to help the DC out when they are older. I too would be surprised if I had trouble selling SO on. In fact the property I had spotted is now sold.

i wonder if the new legislation resolves some of the issues promoting negative feedback. Sounds like the service charge is something to check thoroughly.

I would not do it , there is a lot of problems with service charges and resell .

If you remember it, you will not go wrong. Always check out what the sales offer doesn't say!!!!

I would be extremely surprised if they accepted an application on a 4 bed house if you only have 2 children. Bigger families are desperate for them!

"If I want I can buy 1% a year with no fees or save up and buy a bigger chunk"...

I'm a SO resident with a 45% share.
It's unlikely I'd ever be able to afford staircasing due to the fees involved (valuations etc) with my LHA...

I'd love to buy 1% a year with no fees - what a fabulous way to increase your equity and investment. Is this option part of the new legislation that was introduced last year for SO properties and if so, I wonder if they'll eventually introduce it retrospectively, for all SO properties? It would certainly encourage more people to go down this route to get on the home ownership ladder!

Do you have an accepted offer on your current house? If not they won’t let you proceed with trying to buy a SO

Overall they don't

I would be very cautious.
Service charges have rocketed on shared ownership properties. 8n some cases from £4000 to £16000 per year.
Get your solicitor to check the contract regarding this.
Personally I would avoid at all costs.

Maybe it depends on area but I’ve found the opposite re selling a s/o property. They sell really quickly where I am.

Makes sense, My house is SO. It's what I could afford after getting divorced. I own 40% and the rent & mortgage combined is definitely cheaper than private rent.
I could staircase to full ownership if I want to, but plan on downsizing once kids are older.
I have no concerns about selling tbh and it was definitely the best decision for me.

@ohnoohnoohnoohno in my experience you'd be nuts. Its incredibly difficult to sell shared ownership and having to pay rent again is horrible, uc love to mess shared owners around too.

I have lived in 2 shared ownership properties and had positive experiences. They were with housing associations so the rent portion was very affordable. Much cheaper than privately renting and in my experience shared ownership properties are very easy to sell round where I live. They are very sought-after.

That said, I’m sure it can vary depending on where you are and who it is with so I would research carefully!

I’ve never heard that saying, I’m storing it for future use!

To add, I did this when they first came out and got out quickly. You have all the responsibility and don't own the property, have to cover repairs, service charges rise and trying to get anything done was a nightmare. Not for me and I've advised a number of friends against this too, having sent them off to do research and check out reviews of the developers before buying. Large print giveth and in shared ownership, the small print very much taketh away!