shared ownership retirement flat..so hard to sell..any success stories

[bumblebee1000]

Posting for friend, inherited 75% share of a retirement flat in a small block. current service charges are £220 a month and council tax is £120 per month. He is on disability benefits so a bit of a struggle to get by at present. The housing association wont let it be sold lower than the RICCS valuation, there are 7 other flats for sale all with short leases, its been reduced now to 135k but still zero interest. lots of media focus at present on these also which hasnt helped the market. Has anyone manged to get rid of one of these flats, he just wants to get rid of it, each time he wants to reduce the price he has to pay £100 fee also..

This is scandalous. Did the person who originally bought the flat read the small print? Was it perhaps mis sold?

I agree with @andnowwhatdowedo , it sounds as if it has potential to be part of the next mis-selling thing.

His late mother used a solicitor and was happy to go ahead, theres lots of covenants in the lease about who to sell to etc, cant auction it , etc etc...

Will the HA accept a share to them that reflects the RICCS valuation? i.e your friend gives them money form her 75% to make it up to what they think is the minimum?

So stupid - it's worth what they can sell it for!

Jeez, these retirement properties are a such a scam.

This is why I caution against shared ownership#

They are often a nightmare to sell, all sorts of restrictions and fingers in pies

Its a disgrace

I hope everyone in their 50s and 60s is reading this
These retirement flats are such a liability. They are never good value and become a miserable millstone around the necks of relatives who are unlucky enough to inherit them.

Don't touch them with a barge pole !!

From what I understand, the housing association is extremely slow in responding to anything, they do allow the reductions in price but he does have to pay the £100 fee each time its reduced, I have suggested that another valuation is done and price is heavily slashed to get rid of it. There are also covenants which means it can only be sold to someone the HA approves of etc...total scam.

Shocking isn't it.
As others have said, these shared ownership retirmenent places can be a nasty trap.