50% Ownership Homes - pros & cons. Are they a good idea?

[milkmonster]

Those homes where you buy half and rent half, paying half the market value so you can get on the property ladder ; are they good value? If you are never going to own the whole house, why go for this deal?

What happens if you want to sell? Are you locked into a contract meaning you can't sell for so many years?

Does anyone own this type of home and can they give me their views on the pros and cons of this type of deal?

Thankyou!

They are a good idea because you can keep buying extra slices of the house as (hopefully) your circumstances improve. Unlike normal rental property you have a stake in these homes and the landlord cannot decide to move you out after six months or whatever. In a falling market, they are also a good way of hedging your bets - you can buy the smallest % allowable (usually 25%) to secure a place you really like and then buy extra slices when prices fall.

Disadvantages are the prices overall - in London at least - are usually ridiculously high, £300k for a one-bedroom flat because they have to be priced in line with market no matter how ludicrous market is and new-build places always more expensive than second-hand places. Some flats have to be sold back to the association which limits your market and, unless you end up buying whole thing outright, then you can only sell to other people who have been approved for shared ownership schemes. Obviously, as less of these homes are built than normal open-market ones, you will have less choice about what you buy and often developers will try to put the shared ownership units on less prestigious sites or the ropier end of existing ones.