I’m currently in the process of buying 40% of a shared ownership property. Average house prices in my area are £325k and I can borrow ~£125k. Short of a lottery win there is absolutely no other way I can do it by myself.
The majority of negativity I’ve heard towards these schemes has come from people who have been fortunate enough to not have to use them and have no first hand experience. I’ve felt looked down upon by people who have either inherited or bought with their partners and it’s quite infuriating. I’m going into it having done a lot of research about the housing association and I intend to plan to either staircase and obtain the freehold ASAP or to use it as a stepping stone to buy on the open market in the future.
There’s groups on Facebook that are really helpful and have loads of people happy to speak about their good and bad experiences, definitely recommend joining those if you haven’t already