Anyone bought shared ownership and can talk me through it?

[nevertakeadvicefromsomeonewhosfallingapart]

I don't even know where to start really. We're looking at trying to find a shared ownership property because we've no chance of getting on the property ladder otherwise. Dp on approx £1800 pcm before tax, I'm currently on long term sick leave but hoping to return to work soon. We're both paying rent and want to move in together.

Where should we even start looking? Do we need to apply before zurücknimmt a company about a property, i.e fill in some forms, fill in an application?

Anything else we need to know?

It depends. How long have you known DP? You're on long term sick, and in that case you have a lot more to lose than DP if it goes wrong. I would say best to stick to living apart for now, financially you'll be a lot more secure. Moving in together is very over rated, and risky, in your situation. If you give up your sick pay is he able to support you both?

Yep and what I saw would never make me personally do it. 1 set of friends married and decided to go on a house shared ownership. Not only did they always have problems about who fixes what after 3 years wife left and they ended up with this huge problem..She wanted her quarter of the house, he wanted to stay and the company said both had to still keep paying...anyway 3 years later there still stuck in a hole nobody giving way, house cant be sold,let bought and now you have an ex wife and her now new husband...the original husband with a new gf who doesnt want to stay in his ex wife n his house and a company who don't seem helpful at all aslong as they keep getting there money........
And my aunt and uncle went for shared ownership and very quickly realised what a mistake paying company all that money with all the ties and rules and still you never fully own the house, your almost paying a chunk to rent it and then maintain it aswell and after 2 years they sold back to company at a loss and now rent. Anyway good luck not a choice I would make

I bought shared ownership and it worked out well for me, it was a nice community to, easy to make friends as everyone fairly recently moved in. Only caveat I would say is do look into any other options you have, such as cheaper area, flat rather than house if that would allow you buy outright when you are recovered. I would register on the resales website and also the new shared ownership sites local to you. Then you can get a feel for what is available. Resales are usually better value and lower rent.
www.gov.uk/shared-ownership-scheme/apply
For resales put your county and shared ownership resales into google as there are different sites. Here is the London one.
www.london.gov.uk/programmes-strategies/housing-and-land/homes-londoners/search/for-sale/property?location=HACKNEY&search-area=3&property-type=none&minimum-bedrooms=none&maximum-bedrooms=none&min-price=none&max-price=none&scheme=none&new-homes=0&off-street-parking=none&wheelchair-accessible=none&lat=51.509865&lng=-0.118092
It worked out well financially for me, you pay for repairs internal to flat, and for external repairs through your service charge, but it was much cheaper then renting privately.

I started out with shared ownership and I would say if you're priced out of the area, it can be a good way to get on the property ladder.

My advice would be to not buy shared ownership from one of the big housing estates/commercial companies but buy from a housing association that is also a charity. The rent goes up every year (in line with inflation) but they exist to keep people in their homes, not line the pockets of their shareholders.

Most new estates will sell a portion of their homes to affordable home providers (housing associations) and you'll see them advertised on Right Move.

The cost of staircasing (buying more shares) is expensive as you need to increase your mortgage, pay for valuation fees plus legal so every time you buy a 20% extra share, you're shelving out another £1500 or so, which is why I don't think it's a good long term option. Don't view it as your 'forever home', just as a stepping stone. Yes you're paying rent but you are also building up some equity.

Originally I put a 10% deposit down (of £7,500) and after four years, had £30k of equity which was a decent deposit for the next house. Obviously that won't be the same with the current market but it was a good experience for me.

Tricky.

I bought a shared ownership flat in London and sold it recently. I gave me a safe home for about 10 years and I made a decent profit on it.

But the service charge was in my opinion way too high and the housing association was really slow in term of maintenance of the common parts.

But I think this is more an issue with the leasehold system than shared-ownership in itself.

I think going for a shared-ownership house is a more sensible option.

They often have re-sales as well which might not be shiny new-built houses/flats but that might offer better value.

I think it is worth considering but research the freeholder (usually a housing association) for reviews on how they deal with maintenance and complaints from shared-owners.

I did not have issues with selling. Two buyers offered to buy my flat less than one month after it went on sale through the housing association.

We had a shared ownership property and it went well. Got us on the ladder and we have since moved to a house which we fully own. It was a long time ago though and I'm guessing it's all changed since then. We just approached the shared ownership Organisation in a new build estate, applied for the so, applied for the mortgage and was all pretty straight forward. When we sold we just went though a normal estate agent.
The only problems we had was the fact that as we had a flat we kept getting letters about not leaving shoes and things in the shared hallway but I'm guessing that will be the norm with an flat due to fire and evacuation risks. The company kept changing as well and I don't think they even exist anymore. Overall a good experience and as I said meant we were in a good position later to buy a house.

I think you need a very deep dive into the pros and cons.
For one you ‘own’ say 50% but are responsible for 100% of the maintenance and and other costs.

Thanks for all the replies, sorry for the delay in replying.

I will proceed with caution, it's not going to be an immediate thing anyway, just something to look into.

Yes this is what put us off when we looked into shared ownership a few years ago

You half own/half rent but still have to pay full costs for upkeep/any issues that come up

All the responsibilities of owning and none of the benefits of renting ie getting the landlord to pay for repairs/replacements

Its can still be very cost effective though compared with private renting- I saved at least £5000 a year so that easily covers the repairs. Not saying there aren't things to check like if it is a decent HA providing it, the rent and service charge- how will increase in future, is enough being put in the sink fund to cover external repairs.