SM Renting/shared ownership...

[Cherryplum88]

I am a Single Mum and work part time. I can see that it will be very difficult to get a mortgage on my own because of the deposit, and didn't have a property with my daughter's Dad.
I will rent and then save money in case a shared ownership place in my area comes up.

Has anyone else gone down the shared ownership route? How did you find it?

It's great to know that you're on the property ladder but the expenses are significant. We pay a mortgage and rent, we are also responsible for all internal repairs. I can't work due to chronic illness and my husband can't go full time either, for lots of reasons. I enjoy the security but beyond that it's very expensive for something that I'm unlikely to be able to own outright. I am glad we did it, but there are certainly pitfalls.

I did it.
-put down the largest deposit you can
-in mine I pay a monthly service charge which includes the boiler. Service charges can be expensive, so need factoring in
-if its a new build- quality varies so make sure it is good
-some allow you to buy an extra 1% a year based on the original price (shared ownership plus)
-if your earnings go up you can buy a bigger portion. 10% min a time up to max of 90% (meaning you can't buy 95% you have to buy 100%), called staircasing, you can only staircase 3x. It is worth doing early on if you can esp if its a new build as you will benefit from the growth, buying subsequent increases then becomes more affordable rather than further out of reach