We earn too much to be able to get a shared ownership property

[Whatdowehaveherethen]

Our joint income is £82k per year before tax. This (to us) is a lot.
We've spent the last 7 years moving from rental to rental across the country to improve our work prospects. At the end of last year we were at a stage where we could afford to buy a property using the shared ownership scheme. We were in the process of looking around when the Rona hit.

Luckily for us, our employment is secure. That said, we have spent the last 5 years or so clearing previous debt and upping our credit scores.

This takes us to now. Our debts are within 3 months of being cleared. DP has just been given a promotion. Brilliant news, I know. However, his new earnings take us over the limit allowed for a shared ownership property in the areas we would like to live.

We would now have to keep saving for another 2 or 3 years to be able to buy. DP has even considered asking for his pay to be reduced temporarily but it's not possible.

I know this is a first world problem but we've moved so much in the last few years to the point where our sons have different regional accents.

We were really looking forward to being 'at home' within the next few months.

Again, I'm more than aware that there are plenty of people in a worse position.

Its just all a bit shit.

OP you absolutely aren't aiming too high. Buy what you want when (as long as it's affordable obv!) Moving house is so expensive, you'd be daft to do it regularly.

We are buying a 4 bed detached house as our first home. Not in as expensive an area, but still not a starter home. Because of moving around lots in early career, we didn't buy then and just saved. So we now have a deposit big enough. Our friends who bought earlier are starting to talk about moving up to a house our size in the next few years, so we certainly aren't "behind" as a result of not buying a starter home earlier, so in your position I'd rather save for a few more years and buy what I wanted straight off. It's not like we're going to have such a strong economy that prices rise astronomically for a while!

This is an interesting article about why the process of buying a starter home and moving up doesn't really work anymore:
www.ft.com/content/5c49931e-9ddd-3db3-8a67-3fc2bc18f0d2

Well done on seeing the error of your ways OP. You're definitely not aiming too high, and a whole house is definitely better than SO. New goals, new targets, next phase of life!

Can you rent a smaller than ideal property so that you can accumulate the deposit more quickly? Say a two bed flat for 2 years rather than a 3 bed house for 3 years?

TBF saving 100k in 3 yrs whilst paying rent is already pretty ambitious so I'm not sure how they could save it quicker.

You're not aiming too high, OP.

We did it it the traditional way, buying a terraced house, then a semi, then a detached, then a bigger detached... But that started 25 years ago, in a cheaper part of the country than the SE.

It is so expensive to actually buy (stamp duty, solicitors, any furniture and decorating you need) that I now think it's better to buy the best house you can afford the first time.

t is so expensive to actually buy (stamp duty, solicitors, any furniture and decorating you need) that I now think it's better to buy the best house you can afford the first time.

Completely agree plus I think in general the days of huge equity growth are over & the economy is quite uncertain so future proof as much as possible is my advice.

To add, obviously when you first buy you don't pay the Estate Agent but when you move (buy and sell), you do, and that's a fortune (1-2% plus Vat).

We did it the traditional way too. Mid terrace, semi, detached. There’s no way we would be able to afford the house we are in now if we hadn’t built up to it.

In your shoes I’d buy a modern 2 or 3 bed house in your desired area and over pay the mortgage, putting all spare cash into it so that in 5 years the mortgage was paid off. I’d then move to the forever home with land

Could you not just adjust your expectations now to a property which only needs £15K deposit, bearing in mind that if you buy now you would gain from no stamp duty payment.

The problem with waiting three years to save a larger deposit may still mean the houses you want move out of your price range again. With your income of £82K surely there are properties in Kent within your price range or have you already been told that you won't get a mortgage with only £15K saved?

Personally, I wouldn’t do another 3 years of saving really hard while paying rent. I’d save as quickly as possible to get onto the property ladder in the next few months. If you can save 100k in 3yrs, then you can save 15-20k in a few months which should be enough for a deposit on a flat or a 2-bed house. Whilst living in it, your mortgage payments will be lower than your rent so you can save more and move to your ‘forever’ home in 3-5yrs.

If you could get a £100,000 deposit together in 3 years that's amazing. While paying rent too? That's saving about £2777 per month. Wow.

Look on the MSE website and get a rough idea of what mortgage you could get. Buy at the lower end, surely it'll be cheaper than your rent? Unless you are military?

Buy sooner, pay mortgage, save anyway. Move to forever home in 5 years. You'll have tons saved and won't have been paying rent, but mortgage creating equity in a property.

There's no way my DH and I could save that amount of money monthly. It's way over my gross monthly income!!!

Good luck. Well done for adjusting to your situation.

Thank you for all of your replies, it's much appreciated. We couldn't possibly rent anywhere cheaper right now. Our DS's have special educational needs and we don't want to move them from the school they're currently at until we buy. I say move when they haven't been there since spring but you know what I mean 😂

I'm going to talk to DP about potentially buying somewhere below expectations so we can save extra that way (why did don't I think of this!?). Thank you for those that have suggested it🙂

Can you get a shared ownership property just in your name and then get your DP on the deeds after you've staircased to 100%?

I personally think that people are being ridiculous saying "leave shared ownership properties for people who need them". At the end of the day it's a money making scheme, not a charity.

Buy cheaper in your desired area. That way you can keep the schools the same

@gutentag1

I personally think that people are being ridiculous saying "leave shared ownership properties for people who need them". At the end of the day it's a money making scheme, not a charity.

A money making scheme as all government "help" is, h2b prime example. ..but it is ultimately taking the opportunity of ownership from someone the scheme was genuinely designed to help. If you can save 100k in 3 years then quite honestly I think purchasing a SO home is ridiculous.

@Whatdowehaveherethen my forever home is below expectations!

It's a squash and a squeeze and only has one toilet. I'd love one more bedroom, reception room and toilet...but we can't afford that.

Our home will be perfect in the time after both DC move out (many years away) and before we get frail and elderly (not far enough away!)

So I think in 10-15 years time our home will be perfect for 15 years!