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Property/DIY

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Original poster

shared ownership or homebuy

11 replies

oadcb · 02/01/2014 16:41

Has anyone done either of these schemes? Interested in hearing about experiences.

They are possibly the only way we can get on property ladder with tiny deposit.

Thanks

OP posts:

Original poster

oadcb · 02/01/2014 20:13

Bump for evening crew

OP posts:

sixpencesings · 03/01/2014 10:33

Bump for friday morning crew . . . I can only say it was something i looked into but decided to keep saving until i could afford a place in an area that suited rather than one just to get onto the property ladder.

lalalonglegs · 03/01/2014 11:06

I haven't done either but the drawback with shared ownership is that the pool of properties is quite small (and tends to be rather expensive). It can also be difficult to sell on unless you have managed to buy the property outright.

Help to Buy has the advantage of opening up any property (up to a value of £600k) but you do need immaculate credit records. I worry about what will happen at the end of five years when this money is due to be paid back but, hey ho.

Preciousbane · 03/01/2014 11:20

This reply has been deleted

Message withdrawn at poster's request.

SilveryMoon · 03/01/2014 11:27

We're in a shared ownership property and I really think it's the worst thing we did.
We needed somewhere to live, we were in a house share with ds1 and when I got pregnant again dp started looking for somewhere more suitable.
Shared ownership. We didn't have enough for a deposit on an outright mortgage and dp didn't want to rent and pay someone else's mortgage so we went for the middle. Worst choice ever.
We're in a poor area and pay more for a 2 bed flat than my friend pays in her 3 bed house.
We are also liable for 100% maintenance so if the boiler breaks etc we pay all of that. And because we're in a flat we have service charges for cleaning and maintenance for communal areas which is a joke. We'd have been better off renting. I'm trying to convince dp to sell up and privately rent. I reckon we could save more that way.

Theimpossiblegirl · 03/01/2014 11:28

We bought our first home through shared ownership. The affordability criteria was tougher than applying for a mortgage and we sold it on after 4 years for what we paid for it. They are hard to sell and there is no room for negotiation. It got us onto the ladder but we were lucky as we were earning more when we sold, which increased our eligibility for a bigger mortgage. Our friends are still there and feel a bit trapped.

Some developers offer a low deposit scheme on new builds which is another thing to consider.

Original poster

oadcb · 03/01/2014 13:08

Thank you everyone. I think we are going to need to shelf the idea for a while. We will be limited to only a few lenders due to our credit history. Best we keep saving!

OP posts:

cantthinkofagoodone · 03/01/2014 13:17

The new build help to buy is something we have considered but it does seem flawed to me. We were looking at the following;

£200k house
£10k deposit
£150,000 mortgage
£40k government loan

At 5 years you will then have to start paying interest on the government loan. The BIG issue that I have is that interest rates, HAVE to go up at some point and in 5 years time, you will be wanting to remortgage onto a new fixed deal, I would imagine. I foresee that there will be lots of families who have stretched themselves too far for overpriced new builds.

We're going for a 95% mortgage and may get a government guaranteed mortgage in the other half of the help to buy scheme if it reduces the rate. We have got an agreement in principle from a local building society for a mortgage without the government guarantee though and the rate is less than RBS are advertising.

Shared ownership requires a 10% deposit of the share of the house and you have to pay rent on the other half.

superram · 03/01/2014 18:58

It is a nightmare. You pay all the housing association costs. Ime the ha had a staff high turnover and no one had a clue. We only ever bought half and sold it back to the ha, they kept sending round random people who couldn't afford it. Friends who bought 100% will never be able to sell on as value is do low.

TiffanyAtBreakfast · 05/01/2014 23:11

Just to flip the coin a little - we're in a shared ownership apartment and have been very happy. Planning to sell up this year to a bigger place and to start a family, have taken the first steps and it doesn't seem to be much more problematic than ordinary selling. May even get more for it when we sell as the town we live two minutes walk from is having a big exciting rejuvenation with (actually decent) new shops.

Best thing we ever did as it has improved our credit rating paying towards a mortgage and now we are in a position to move on, which we wouldn't have been had we rented.

Hope you decide what to do soon! :)

SingSongMummy · 05/01/2014 23:16

My first property was shared ownership and it was the best decision we ever made. We couldn't get a mortgage for anything else and we made a good deal of money when we sold (having also bought more equity along the way). It was very easy to sell (5 offers of the asking price within a week on the market) and it totally got us on the property ladder. E were in London if that makes a difference!

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