To ask what you would do - housing related

[dogaibu]

I'm really tussling with this decision, and could really use some outside opinions..

My Dad died, early in 2021. I sold his house, and after splitting the equity with my siblings, I ended up 45,000 pounds.

I rent, have always rented. Buying a home, to me, was just something other people did. Dad's death was unexpected.

After I got the money, DH and I decided to try to buy a home, and we have found a 3 bedroom new build, which we can purchase 75% of in a shared ownership scheme. We got approved for this and moving day is expected to be in March. We currently rent a 2 bedroom house. We have 3 DS's though none together - we have my DS11, who is with us 50/50, and my DSS12 and DSS8, who are with us EOW. We also have a dog and a cat.

We have not actually been permitted to see this house yet. We've only seen a floor plan. They blame Covid when we ask to see it. This makes me very nervous, that we haven't seen it.

Then, there's the finances. This new house will cost an extra £150 more than our current house, there's also a chance of a higher council tax band too. We live to our means. We make around £50,000 a year between us and DH pays nearly £500 a month child maintenance (not begrudging this BTW, it is what it is, just advising where our money goes) it means we have very little left as it is after food, bills, car, social life, pets etc. This mortgage is also only fixed for 2 years, after this it's looking to go up even more.

Then there's the health side. I suffer significant anxiety and depression and my house is my safe space. I once had a terrible time with a neighbour whose dog barked constantly and I'm really scared of the unknown and potentially having another bad neighbour situation, abs being unable to move due to owning the house.

But! The extra room would be great and it does feel like this is our only hope to get on the property ladder.

WWYD? Stay or go? For context we live in the SE where property prices are off the scale expensive

Why do you have to buy? Plus shared ownership is a bugger with rent and mortgage. Why not find a decent 3 bed to rent and save more money while he's paying so much in cm....(which is very high for 2 children by the way)

@Mushypeasandchipstogo

I would definitely buy in your situation BUT never buy a house that you have never seen and always have a full survey on it. Also do not use solicitors recommended by your mortgage company AND do not touch this house if it leasehold!

But it likely will be leasehold in some way as its shared ownership purchase- the key is in the detail.

I take it that the extra room is to allow the DP boys to have a room each? For EOW? I personally wouldn't buy a house on shared ownership for this reason alone. Costs often escalate a couple of years down the line then they are more difficult to sell. If you know you'll be able to buy the other 25% soon, then I'd go for it.

If there is a smaller house you can buy outright, I personally would do that. I'm currently in a smaller house (ex authority too) that I compromised a lot on as moved to a new more expensive area after divorce. It's definitely smaller than I'd like but it's all mine and I know that there aren't any extras to budget for over the normal utility bills and mortgage. I had the option (and still do as so many new builds in the area) to get an extra room (usually not a bigger house mind you!). I could afford it on paper. I'm honestly not sure I could in reality. Even though the mortgage payments would probably be the same.

I would never buy a house I couldn’t see plus I would never buy unless it was an established neighbourhood.

Have you at least seen a show home? We’re currently looking to buy a new build in the SE although not shared ownership and we’ve had no issues viewing show homes.
I would definitely demand to see one. There’s one developer whose houses we absolutely love and have great sized rooms and lots of storage. Lots of things are automatically included without hidden extras.On the flip side, we looked at another developer and the rooms were a lot smaller with zero storage and every tiny detail seemed to be an add on which completely ruled it out for us despite the area being perfect.

Have you seen a show home ? I would expect to have some sort of viewing as the build is in progress.

I would definitely buy but not sure of this is the best way to do it....

What’s your DP contributing here? I hope it’s all fair and your money is protected if you split. Sounds like he has a cushy deal TBH.