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Original poster

Giving up HA house for shared ownership

41 replies

Louisajane12 · 25/05/2025 06:33

Hi everyone please can I have your opinions and thoughts.
Sorry in advance for long post.

We have always private rented , however 3 years ago was given section 21 due to landlord selling , there were no other private houses available so in the end the council helped and we got housed in affordable 3 bed housing association house.

Its on a new build estate and neighbours are drug dealers and criminals regularly police raids etc.

We have started looking into shared ownership on the estate where the section is all SO houses ( no where else in the area offers SO)
We are looking to stay in this town for 10-15 years maybe longer.

The houses in question is identical and would not have moving costs etc.

My biggest worry is obviously I’d be giving up a lifelong tenancy to do this , I’m asking if that is a good idea and if for whatever reason it doesn’t work out would I be re housed ?

We have small savings for the deposit and it would initially be a small mortgage 70k for 30% share and after calculating everything it actually works out very similar in amount of mortgage / rent service charge ,it is similar to what we pay now for rent and service charge total . So I feel we actually would be paying for something at the end rather than ‘dead rent’.

we are early 40s and no other way to get onto the ladder sadly.

I am torn as this place offers security lifelong even though the nightmare neighbours. But SO would offer something in the future especially for our kids.

Has anyone gave up a lifelong tenancy and it worked out ? Thank you so much for reading

OP posts:
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Earlymornyawn · 28/05/2025 23:37

Mumof2girls2121 · 28/05/2025 23:26

I suppose it depends where you live but I had friends who had the attitude - I won’t get anywhere putting my name on a housing list why bother.
my cousin applied and 5 years later she has a lovely flat which is social level rent and a secure tenancy, if you are not likely to be in a position to buy your own home why would you not at least apply

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Thank you, I’ll talk to my children about it and maybe enquire with the council. I do hope that they’ll be able to buy something one day though. It can sometimes be done, one of my friend’s children has just bought a one bed flat, they are in their early twenties, with no help from mum or dad.

Mumof2girls2121 · 28/05/2025 23:26

Earlymornyawn · 25/05/2025 15:37

Is this really worth it? I have just looked at my council’s website and it says that you are extremely unlikely to receive an offer unless you have an urgent need to be housed. My DC’s are teens, some do have Sen/disabilities, so would be interested to know if I should do this? They will eventually inherit a share of a property between them.

Show quote history

I suppose it depends where you live but I had friends who had the attitude - I won’t get anywhere putting my name on a housing list why bother.
my cousin applied and 5 years later she has a lovely flat which is social level rent and a secure tenancy, if you are not likely to be in a position to buy your own home why would you not at least apply

someonehastoberight · 26/05/2025 06:56

I’d go for it. You ended up in a dire situation before because you were at the mercy of a landlord. With this you would be working to own a property which would see you into retirement and be something to leave your kids.

Original poster
Louisajane12 · 26/05/2025 05:48

Thank you all , obviously I’m going to take some more time to think everything through and maybe wait a few more months to try and save a little more but I’m thinking I’ll go for it at least try anyway as otherwise I’d be here for many years with nothing to show for it

OP posts:
Bettyfromhomeroom · 25/05/2025 17:29

I was lucky with my SO experience, when me and DS's dad split up I could only afford SO so I purchased a 2 bedroom flat, I owned 50%. Lived there for 5 years and sold it with no issues, I made a decent profit on it too.

I'd go for it OP!

Earlymornyawn · 25/05/2025 15:37

Mumof2girls2121 · 25/05/2025 07:28

youll own 30% - pay your mortgage on that, pay 70% rent which are subject to increases, be liable for repairs to the property also.
id stay put and save more and use the savings to buy a cheaper home later on.
for those who can’t give their kids a deposit put their name down on housing list at 18 even if it takes 5,6 - 10 years to get somewhere they will eventually.

Is this really worth it? I have just looked at my council’s website and it says that you are extremely unlikely to receive an offer unless you have an urgent need to be housed. My DC’s are teens, some do have Sen/disabilities, so would be interested to know if I should do this? They will eventually inherit a share of a property between them.

Original poster
Louisajane12 · 25/05/2025 14:25

Yes it’s unlikely we can get a normal mortgage unless win money on something which is unlikely.
Yes we do get a small amount of uc but it’s deducted already due to savings between 6-16k
So we can’t save much more either way .

OP posts:
Poopeepoopee · 25/05/2025 12:09

Will you be able to get a deposit together OP? I don't know if you're on UC but obviously you can only have £6k if you are.

Rather, why not focus on bumping up your pensions instead? Early forties is quite old to be taking out a first mortgage. If you're in a position where you are allowed savings them as a PP said it might come in handy for putting your own kids on the housing ladder.

mylovedoesitgood · 25/05/2025 12:03

Theyreeatingthedogs · 25/05/2025 11:40

This!

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Problem with this is that house prices are going up and OP only has £7K saved so it’s unlikely she’ll get a decent deposit for a mortgage even if she carry’s on savings for years unless she gets a windfall. And of course, the older you are, the shorter the mortgage repayments, which is fine if you have a huge deposit.

Theyreeatingthedogs · 25/05/2025 11:40

Mumof2girls2121 · 25/05/2025 07:28

youll own 30% - pay your mortgage on that, pay 70% rent which are subject to increases, be liable for repairs to the property also.
id stay put and save more and use the savings to buy a cheaper home later on.
for those who can’t give their kids a deposit put their name down on housing list at 18 even if it takes 5,6 - 10 years to get somewhere they will eventually.

This!

Original poster
Louisajane12 · 25/05/2025 11:27

Yes the houses are available to 100 % staircase but start with is 35% ( although I have enquired if can start higher )
Yes I agree we would only go to 50% and stop if we had to ,but the plan would be to go to the 100 % eventually , I’ve heard it’s harder to sell above 50-60% if you cannot make it to 100%.

Yes with our ages etc we do not have the bank of mum and dad to help so our options to get onto the ladder are very limited and this seems like a good stepping stone.
It is daunting using our savings and giving up the HA rental that’s why I’m not rushing and really thinking it through.
TBH our savings ( deposit ) not much 7k potentially could get it upto 10k by the time we do this , are just sitting there doing not a lot so I think this is perhaps a good idea

OP posts:
TheHappyBug · 25/05/2025 11:21

I am looking at doing similar OP in the same situation as you, no advice but I am watching with interest.

mylovedoesitgood · 25/05/2025 11:05

As there’s no other way to get on the property ladder and your both the ages you are, I would go for the SO option. And yes, you are less likely to get areshole neighbours in the bit of the estate that’s SO.

Illbefinejustbloodyfine · 25/05/2025 11:05

What % of ownership can you staircase to? I am looking at SO but would want to ultimately own the house outright, not all SO properties allow this. Also, how are the current SO properties selling? I think you either have to stay at a minimum share (so them easy to sell on) or increase to 100%

orchidlife · 25/05/2025 10:57

I did this last year, bought a 25% share of a shared ownership new build. I don’t regret it at all. My house is nicer, in a better area and just as a secure as my previous property. I didn’t really look into the selling element of SO as I’m planning on staircasing to 100% but I would say do plenty of research on the HA you are buying with. Mines got good reviews so I’ve had no problems but there are some horror stories around - there’s a few good shared ownership groups on Facebook that have good tips on.

C080889 · 25/05/2025 10:54

I live on a private estate. Far from a brag. Drug dealers 2 doors down. Honestly you cant escape criminals. If they arent directly bothering you I would be inclined to stay in the HA!

Original poster
Louisajane12 · 25/05/2025 10:52

Swapping we did think about but we think it’s a lot of upheaval with still not owning anything , also there’s not alot of HA properties in the town that aren’t on this estate. We do have Right to aquire on this current house but the discount is low I think 10k when I looked into it so can’t afford a full mortgage on this and I wouldn’t want to buy this current house due to the neighbours ( which have been reported by me and others on the road ) nothing done though.

OP posts:
Original poster
Louisajane12 · 25/05/2025 10:49

The estate is huge and houses are still being built on it, the drug dealers etc are nearer the front where as the SO properties are more towards the back, I do realise I could still get bad neighbours in the SO houses but it’s more unlikely I think.

The children are settled in schools and work commitments mean we cannot leave the town .
If we go ahead we are looking at only a 10 maybe 12 year mortgage .
There are no other SO properties in this town.
Our plan would most likely stay in the house for 10/12 years then either sell to use it as a deposit for a ‘normal house and mortgage ‘ or staircase upto 100 .% ( which would be more ideal then we would own it and be freehold

OP posts:
wormshuffled · 25/05/2025 10:48

Another vote for looking into a house swap. If you have transport you could swap with a nice village house. Swapping with someone that needs to be in the town but doesn’t have transport.
Depending on your local authority you may swap with council property and gain right to buy rights too.

Greenqueen40 · 25/05/2025 10:24

Why on earth would you commit to buying somewhere on an estate filled with 'drug dealers and criminals'??!! With HA you can exchange surely?

ViciousCurrentBun · 25/05/2025 10:20

Your issue is the that it’s a new build estate. Do not buy on it.

There is a long established estate on the edge of my town, it’s nice. A few new HA houses were built in an area right near the centre of town. My friend was allocated one, on the list for 7 years. Issue is almost all the neighbours have been awful. Points mean you go up the list and to get points you need issues. Sometimes those points are through no fault of your own such as yourselves being made homeless or through disability but just as often it means problems that are an issue. A new estate of HA houses is being built on the other edge of my town. It is a mix of SO and HA rentals. I fully expect it to not anywhere near as nice as the established estate.

The problem with HA or any rented housing is people like your neighbours can't be evicted quickly and even if they could they just get moved on.

Look for a transfer.

NatM78910 · 25/05/2025 10:03

I might have been lucky, but I had a great experience with SO.

I bought a SO flat when I was 22 (Im in Scotland). I was renting but I always wanted to get onto the property ladder and seen this as my first step.

I lived there for 10 years with my now husband, it allowed us to have 2 children, which I dont think we would of been able to pay nursery fees for 2 if we were private renting. The rent part did go up through the years but not by much. The SO was with a HA so the rent only increased the % they were increasing their other HA properties.
It was a new build when I bought the flat, so apart from the a tap change, boiler service, flooring and decoration I didn't really have to do anything else to the property throughout the years.

2 years ago, I sold the SO making a good profit on my share which has allowed us to buy a normal house.

Greenartywitch · 25/05/2025 09:12

I would definitely look into shared-ownership but not on your current estate.

Look for something in a nicer area even if it means relocating to a new town.

Ooral · 25/05/2025 08:37

ThinWomansBrain · 25/05/2025 07:00

I've had several friends that have had shared ownership - all have had problems selling the property on.
One got stuck where she had to pay revaluation fees every six months, another eventually found a buyer but the HA(?) that owned the other chunk of equity didn't approve them so it all fell through.

^^ This, I've not been involved in shared ownership personally, but anyone I know has had issues getting out of it and the costs seemed to rise.
I also worked in a law office, always had issues with shared ownership sales.

AutumnLover1989 · 25/05/2025 08:28

Shared ownership or HA,either can have bad neighbours. I wouldn't give up a secure HA home. Nightmare neighbours may end up moving/ getting thrown out of you report them often enough. Encourage your nice neighbours to do the same. The more that complain,the better.

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