Shared ownership advice

[Poodloo]

Hi - I'm thinking of saving up and buying a flat or small house over the next year. Does anyone know much about the new build shared ownership schemes?

Things I'd like to know but am struggling to find answer for are:

1. What happens if after a year or so I move to a different city, could I rent my property out? If so, do the company get part of the rent?

1. What happens if I want to sell the property?

1. Am I tied down to certain amount of time?

Any help would be greatly appreciated. I didn't expect to be doing this alone..But here I am.

Just bumping this in case anyone logged in now might know 🙏

I own 50% of a shared ownership.

1. No you cannot rent it out. You can take a lodger.
2. When selling the housing association that owns the other half has the right to advertise it first for 6 weeks. They vet all applicants. If they sell it they do have a commission fee but it's normally less than an estate agents. If they don't sell it you go to a normal estate agent and they advertise it. The new buyers need to be approved as eligible for shared ownership. In the south these properties go quickly.
3. No you are not tied down for a period of time, you could sell the next day if you really wanted to. You can even buy the remaining share the next day too.

Amazing that's been so helpful!!

So in theory, I could buy the whole thing? (With a mortgage) and it doesn't have to be shared? I'm never sure if these new builds are all shared ownership or if that's just an option.

hi poodloo. You'd need to check the paperwork carefully to make sure but in most cases you cans staircase your property so that you own 100% whether this gives you full freehold then again you'd need to check. If you do staircase your property is valued by a rics surveyor then you pay legal fees etc so is worth doing in as few steps as possible if you do this. I have really benefited from shared ownership but do have a couple of clauses on my deeds and can never rent out the house even though I own it 100% now.
Other things to watch out for are service charges as I believe some people have very high hikes and they are very difficult to fight. Also be careful you are paying market rate especially if it's a new build. As new build are often a lot more than other nearby but not new property a re sale shared ownership may be a better investment if you can get one. Check the spec also. Mine was 2 years old when I got it but the standard of finishing and the kitchen and bathroom were definitely not what would be in a regular new build.

Thank you so so much for the help. It's hard as I'm fed up renting and am starting to think that perhaps with shared ownership that I may actually be able to get on the property ladder.

Will look in to all your points.

Yeah we're using ours as a stepping stone. We will not staircase unless our circumstances change. Instead we'll sell the shared place and buy outright. If you wanted to buy 100% it would take initial purchase and one stair case. The latter can be the day after completion. But in that instance you should got for private purchase and utilize the 20% htb loan instead on a new build.