Please explain leasehold and years let to me like I am a child. Shared ownership.

[Sunshineandrainbow]

Having rented for 30 years I have just been gifted £15.000 so I am thinking it would be a good time to buy shared ownership house. But age 50 that might be tricky!!

The ones I have seen recently vary with average of 86 years left on the lease.

Is there a ball mark of years left on lease I should be looking at or avoiding.

Can you add more once in or is that difficult.

Some of the premiums seem a bit unfair on the resale shared ownership. Seems like it is just a way to get more money from a sale dressed up as it being for improvements made on the property. I guess people just have to suck that up though until it maybe one day changes.

Amy advice gratefully received.

Generally you don’t want to get anywhere with less than 80 years as the costs of buying more years can be extreme

less than 80 years would also affect resale value

I have been looking these but have bowed out. If you have 10% ownership, YOU are responsible for 100% of the repairs. No way!

Can you not use the £15,000 as a deposit on a normal purchase with a mortgage?

Avoid a lease of 86 years. It’s probably more affordable for exactly that reason. The majority of lenders won’t lend on leases that are 70-85 years long and some actually insist that there’s 70-85 years left at the END of any mortgage period (so effectively that means a lease of 100+ years!)

Flats with shorter leases are cheaper for this reason and are usually only able to be bought by cash buyers if the current owner isn’t willing / financially able to initiate the lease extension process.

As a single parent - single income I would not get a mortgage for a non shared ownership house. Plus I guess my age goes against me.

MSE has some good info on leases. Don't go near one under 80. 86 is not long. You are looking at a hefty cost to extend. But the government may change the law in a year or two to make extending leases more affordable so keep an eye out.

I did shared ownership. Am finding I need to be savvy about saving money and side hustles to keep up with the increasing service charge and rent.

It does depend on the freeholder, extending the lease on my flat (93 years left) was just under £6k with all legal costs etc.

Yes the rent on them differs widely and doesn't seem to just be connected to the percent you own.

I have seen lots with 86 ish years remaining recently and wonder if that's why they are selling.

I wish the government would also looks at some of the unrealistic premiums people whack on them!!

Maybe I just need to accept renting for life! To be honest it's the guilt of having nothing to leave dd's but maybe I could use the money to help them in a different way.

Do you have to stay where you are or can you move to somewhere else where you might find a freehold? Is your job transferable?

There are so many pitfalls with shared ownership, I would only do it if it was your only chance of leaving the current hell that is the private rental sector. If you’re in social housing, I would stay put and save for your kids for uni costs, property deposits etc.