Shared ownership

[jesper1]

So I keep being told SO is not always a good idea
My son would like to move out.
To rent a studio flat its 700 a month
We have today viewed SO flat for £40k for a 25% share
The rent and service charge are cheap. These have just been recalcalculated and reduced slightly not gone up
This flat is a one bed and spacious for the size
He doesn't have a partner and not looking says no kids ever
I am struggling to see the downsides here so what am I missing

Who keeps telling you ?

I mean, owning a whole property is obviously better than owing part of one, but, if you / he could afford that, then you wouldn't be looking at SO.

Personally, I think paying rent is dead money.
Yes, you have to factor in buying and selling costs, if you are thinking you might be moving on in a couple of years, but if - as you seem to suggest - that is unlikely, then I'd have thought starting to buy would be the sensible thing to do.

I think, should he be wanting to sell at a future time when it is a buyers market, it would be harder to sell than a non-SO property, but there will always be buyers, in the same way that he is considering it now.
Obviously, he needs to do the maths, about paying rent and a small mortgage, but I'm presuming he has done that.
Might also be worth him talking to other tenants to see what they have found to be good, or bad about the landlords of the other 75% of the property.

I loved my shared ownership. Saved loads of money on rent, made £20k in equity on a 25% share and got to live in a gorgeous flat in London zone two on a poxy teacher’s salary! You need to be wary of some of the newer ones, I think. Mine was amazing.

Thanks both
Alot of bad press around SO but I think that's the upper end of the Market.
This is lower end and tbh his only chance of some independence
Talking to others who have a place there is a good idea will see if we can do that

I've heard with flats you have to be wary of them upping maintenance charges etc.

I don't know for sure though.

I part own a house. It was that or sit on the council waiting list for years while struggling to privately rent somewhere big enough. My rent and mortgage combined is half what next door pay for privately renting, so it's a bargain for me.

Just google it, there is lots of information out there - was looking into it on behalf of daughter.

They aren't all bad at all, you just have to be aware of a few things. Like your son will only own 25% of the property but be liable for 100% of the repair costs.

If he wants to buy bigger proportions (staircase) they will be at the market value at the time, which is worth thinking about.

Honestly most of the downsides are for houses - e.g. 300k for a 3 bed semi in an area where they are normally 250k, buying a leasehold house. As flats have service charges anyway, I think they're a good way of getting on the ladder.

However, you can still be evicted for non-payment and sub-letting.

www.unbiased.co.uk/life/homes-property/shared-ownership