Shared ownership property

[Iceball]

Hi-
My H and I separated in September but still live in our home with three children.
I'm looking at shared ownership properties (you buy a % and pay rent to the developer for the rest)
I could afford the % with my share of house sale equity.
Has anyone done this or know more about it?
I have to have sold our house before I'm eligible to buy a shared ownership house and don't know how best to proceed especially with two autistic children to consider. Help please!

Friends have struggled with theirs as rents increased (and then mortgages too). I think the conditions will be different in different developments though?

I too am planning to buy a shared ownership property once the family home is sold. I don't earn enough to get a mortgage to buy a property myself and rent here is extortionate and in 3-4 years I would have spent all of my share of the equity from the home on rent so shared ownership feels like my only viable option right now.

There aren't many properties available near me, particularly as I am looking for a 4 bed house so that my 3 young children can each have their own room, so am looking at the 'Your home' scheme from Heylo (they are a for profit provider of social housing rather than a not for profit housing association).

There are a lot of downsides to shared ownership, you need permission to carry out work to the property (some HAs won't even let you put up a shed without prior permission), properties aren't readily available in many areas so there is a lot of competition for them, you are 100 % responsible for all repairs/maintenance, rent can go up get quickly (I think the increase is often rtpi plus 0.5% so when rtpi is high rent can go up quite substantially each year), there can also listen be difficulties selling the property on.

I think the key is to go in to it with your eyes open. Understand the downsides to it and plan for the rent and service charge increases. If I could afford a mortgage on my own I would buy a property myself, but I can't, so this feels like a more secure option to me than renting where a landlord can decide to sell the property or put rent up significantly. At least this way you know you can stay with no worry of having to suddenly move and you can plan for the rent increases.