Single mom please help me decide between shared ownership and owning outright

[scoobysnaxx]

Hey posting for traffic!

I am really struggling to decide whether to go for a shared ownership property or owning outright as a single mom.
Essentially owning outright would mean buying a flat within 5-10 miles of hometown. This is where all my family and ex and his family live. So all support in addition to my work and DDs preschool. obviously owning outright would be better but a shared ownership property would allow me to stay in my hometown close to everyone. I appreciate 5 miles is really nothing tho..
can anyone offer any advice? Or important things to consider? I’ve never bought a property before.
I know shared ownership has a very mixed reception. Any experiences?
thank you!

Is it a flat or a house. If a flat check the service charges. If a house you don't pay a service charge. Can you get a bigger property with the shared ownership. We went with shared ownership as we wouldn't have been able to afford buy a house outright for our growing family. We pay around £350 a month rent for 50% 3 bed house but have a mortgage for the rest. The only down side for us is the house has gone up 4x the amount it was when purchased so we will probably never be able to buy the rest. So will never own it outright but our share has gone up 4x too.

Shared ownership you will pay rent in addition to mortgage - so factor in that cost , there will also be requirements to resell or buy further % all in the Lease . That will also have admin fees .

I would always try and buy freehold house over a leasehold flat if possible - would a move in location make that possible ? Where I live there are houses and flats for the same price all be it the house area is not quite so nice or so central

Some people i know wanted to move from their shared ownership house but could only sell to someone who qualifies for shared ownership. Made it more difficult to find a buyer when it's not the open market.

In our area you can just sell on the open market. But then that's takes more houses away for people to afford. There are about 6 near me that are now privately owned.

lease try to avoid shared ownership. Or at least, read up on some of the recent stories by people who regret it and think they were sold a faulty product. In the past it might have worked as a way to get your foot on the ladder, as property prices just kept rising and rising. That's not true now, especially for flats.

You still have to pay rent on the other portion. Why do that when you could be putting that money towards the mortgage of a place you will own outright. Shared ownership can have restrictions - like renting - and can be much harder to sell on. From when it was first introduced, I have thought SO benefits housing associations and property developers far more than the part-owners.

I would avoid shared ownership. The rent can raise and make it unaffordable. They are also harder to sell. If you can afford sole ownership, I would do that.

I would avoid shared ownership if owning outright is a reasonable option for you.

As a shared owner you have 100% of the responsibilities of ownership with only part of the benefit.

I looked into shared ownership several years ago, also a single parent.

Due to an inheritance I could have bought my share of a maisonette out right (maisonettes were all that were available for s/o in my town at the time).

The cost of the rent and the service charge would have been more than the rent I was paying in a privately rented house at the time, and could be increased at any time. There were also limits on when and how much you could increase ownership.

It looked like the worst of both worlds of owning and renting, ie you're the owner when it comes to paying for maintenance and repairs, and you're the tenant when it comes to deciding how you might want to alter or adapt your home.

I decided firmly against s/o and instead bought a much nicer house with a garden (none of the s/o maisonettes had gardens) with a small mortgage.

If you can afford open market do it.

I did SO in 2015.

I bought a new build and it was quite a long delay in being finished. It was overpriced at the start but because of the delay (and they didn't put the price up) that mitigated some of it, plus the growth since then. I staircased to a higher % as soon as I could- but you do have to pay solicitor fees again to staircase.

So I have done okay but it's really stagnated since 2020.

Service charge is a nightmare, it used to be £120 and now they are trying to push to £200. It's ridiculous. I think some of it goes to the sinking fund which I will never see. However it does cover the boiler and I don't have to worry about maintenance like the roof etc.

I didn't mind the rent part initially but after a few years I resent it, it's dead money.

If you’re able to afford buying outright then definitely do that.

I have a shared ownership house which I love but if I’d had the money I’d have bought outright. With a shared ownership house you’re seeking with a third party who you have no control over 🤷‍♀️