Shared ownership experiences - good and bad

[Wesleysniper]

From my experience it's a complete con, I've been on shared ownership since 2005 I have 50% ownership flat on a 125 year lease in the London area, maintenance costs are going through the roof they don't have to show quotations they got for the work they don't tell you what work they have done until you get your end of year bill to say they under estimated the bill by £550 per resident in the block dont itemise the bill to the penny, so instead of them working out that £550 set over the next 12 months they demand you pay it straight away and I'm not say all housing associations are like that but my one is, the one thing i recommend people to do is read your lease if you break your lease agreement and they take you to a county court over it and the judgement falls on their side they can take away the property and you lose every little penny you put into it and there have been cases already happened with this scenario, if you have a lease on a house and it's less than 80 years on it you are going to pay an arm and a leg to renew it you could be looking at around £15000 upwards if it totally runs out you forfeit the property at some point you won't get a mortgage for it so you can only sell or buy with cash some housing associations ask for a permission fee if you want to do alterations i have a friend his housing want £250 everytime you ask to alter something, when you come to sell the property you better get use to dancing to their tune you have to pay them a percentage if they sell it you have to pay all their legal fees you pay the valuation fee and it goes on and on and on if you want to stay on shared ownership and buy out of area goodluck you might and I mean might be lucky and get a property out of area but you'll have better odds in winning the lottery jackpot I could spend hours rambling on and on about the pitfalls on shared ownership and it definitely ain't shared ownership when it comes to paying the bill. If my housing associations had to pay 50% of their share of the maintenance bill they send they would definitely find the cheapest quotes to get the jobs done their definitely no shared in ownership it's all down to you to carry the can, if you want to staircase maybe get a valuation done when the housing market crashes but I bet they have a loophole to stop you staircasing, i would try finding a very good mortgage broker to see what you can get on the open market and if all fails try going shared ownership

 

[HoGi]

WOW they are lucky. My sister was told the opposite as it's to help you purchase your home.

I was always told the same as you too. Has to go towards the home

 

[Bogwoppit]

Thank you. I’ve been a tenant for 25 but doubt I’d get a mortgage on my own on my salary really. Did you dispute the first price the council gave you? I’ve heard you can. Also at my age I don’t think I’d get a 25 year mortgage. It’s a massive regret not buying 20 years ago but I suppose my circumstances were different then

No didn’t dispute the price as it was so cheap, it’s really worth a try though I know someone else who bought their council property they have a 22 yr mortgage due to being older & retirement age.

 

[101d]

Don't have experience of shared ownership unfortunately, but it was something we were looking at when buying.

We did find that the mortgage/rent came to a lot more than just a mortgage in our situation, so it's worth looking around. Obviously shared ownership houses were typically nicer/larger, but we are not looking to stay in our first home forever. We're in Kent

 

[Itsallaboutmememe]

We’re unbelievably lucky as we had our ‘forever home’ bought for us
(we pay half market rent to my in laws-when they die it’s ours)
we looked into shared ownership so we could get more house for ‘our’ money but my in laws where against it
they seemed to think it was an expensive way of buying a house
like fil said ‘if you have a leak,no matter where it is-it will always be on ‘your’ side of the house
he refused a new build too on the basis of ‘it will fall it bits round you’

 

[Bogwoppit]

Did you have to have a big deposit? I have heard they take the equity in the property as a deposit? Was that your experience? Thanks

We didn’t pay a deposit, we had a very big discount on our house as already been living in it for 5 yrs, but if we sold the house within 10 years of buying it the discount would have to be paid back & also the council would have first refusal to buy back the property too, we bought it just over 12 yrs ago the mortgage is cheaper than paying rent, we did our mortgage through a broker on the right to buy, it’s worth contacting your local council for more information, it took 4 months from start to finish to complete.

 

[101d]

No not at all! I really appreciate any help as neither of us have THAT much knowledge of buying/mortgages etc. We’re in Kent (looking to buy in the Medway area) & by the time we’re ready to move we’d probably have around £30k for a deposit. Hopefully more (partner should be due a pay rise soon, fingers crossed!), but that’s roughly what we’re thinking at the moment. Thank you in advance for any insight!

That's funny, because I am in the Medway area!!

We bought a £192,500 2-bed house with a 40K deposit a couple of years ago. Our mortgage is £525 per month for 5 years and then goes up by about £150 (we will probably look to move around then as will have more equity)

So, I think you'll definitely be able to afford it. I found going to a mortgage advisor really helpful We went to Rosie at Your Move in Chatham

 

[Thatswhattatsaid]

I was always told the same as you too. Has to go towards the home

I was under that impression as well but a friend was given hers in a cheque

 

[Fairypop]

That's funny, because I am in the Medway area!!

We bought a £192,500 2-bed house with a 40K deposit a couple of years ago. Our mortgage is £525 per month for 5 years and then goes up by about £150 (we will probably look to move around then as will have more equity)

So, I think you'll definitely be able to afford it. I found going to a mortgage advisor really helpful We went to Rosie at Your Move in Chatham

Ah that’s really good to know! I would be so happy with £525 a month, anything less than or the same as our rent would be fab. It’s frustrating because we pay £850 pm rent, so I’m sure that monthly we’d be able to afford a mortgage. Ideally we’d like a 3 bed but a 2 bed would be fine for now. My main worry is that I don’t earn a lot so we’re mainly relying on my partner & what he’d be able to borrow.

I definitely think we’ll try to see a mortgage advisor soon, it just feels very daunting, I don’t want to be laughed out the door thank you so much for sharing your experience, I really appreciate it! X

 

[Fairypop]

Following this just to see if anyone else shares their experiences. I don’t see any other way for myself & my partner to buy around where we live now. We’re in Kent & a 3 bed is roughly £250k or more. I am self employed & only working part time as if I worked full time, I wouldn’t make any profit after paying for childcare. At the moment I can’t see any way of buying a house without doing SO, but we’re paying £850 rent pm & would much rather be paying towards a house of our own.

 

[Gggshh]

Is there a chance they will give me permission though?

I queried about changing our front gardenwall and the lady I spoke to at my housing association said they mainly want to check they approve of the contractors you are hiring, not sure if that’s the sameWith them all

 

[TheMeg]

Could people share their experiences of this please? Both good and bad??

 

[Hello Kitty]

Is there a chance they will give me permission though?

If you email them with everything you want to do, along with plans from the builder ect then ask them

Someone in my sisters flats had permission to knock a wall down

 

[Hello Kitty]

Can anyone give me some advice on shared ownership we have a three bedroom house and own 50%... it’s a gorgeous hoise in a great location but the kitchen isn’t very big what are the ins and outs of making changes internally to the house?!

My sister was told anything inside is down to her to fix/deal with as they only repair external and communal areas

Obviously she would need permission if she wanted to knock a wall down inside the property but things like a new bathroom and kitchen was fine.

 

[Fairypop]

Where are you and what sort of deposit do you have? If you don't mind me asking. I am not profesh in mortgage speak so can only speak from experience

No not at all! I really appreciate any help as neither of us have THAT much knowledge of buying/mortgages etc. We’re in Kent (looking to buy in the Medway area) & by the time we’re ready to move we’d probably have around £30k for a deposit. Hopefully more (partner should be due a pay rise soon, fingers crossed!), but that’s roughly what we’re thinking at the moment. Thank you in advance for any insight!

 

[Drea1984]

Thank you. I’ve been a tenant for 25 but doubt I’d get a mortgage on my own on my salary really. Did you dispute the first price the council gave you? I’ve heard you can. Also at my age I don’t think I’d get a 25 year mortgage. It’s a massive regret not buying 20 years ago but I suppose my circumstances were different then

 

[purplepixie_3]

In a few years I would like to swap my downstairs loo to my under the stairs cupboard and knock my kitchen wall down to make the kitchen bigger this is the reply I got from Walsall housing group


Basically all I want to know is can I knock a wall down I would be adding value to property by making kitchen bigger c

The email says anything that will affect structural layout you must get permission. Removing a downstairs loo, knocking out the wall and increasing floor space of your kitchen is altering the layout.

 

[Thatswhattatsaid]

I thought shared ownership was a lot smaller deposit then that?

I’ve literally gone in with everything I have. In hindsight I could have kept some of it back to furnish the property etc. but I’ll get around £2500 back from the help to buy ISA bonus anyway. I was really surprised to go in with such a high percentage and feel quite lucky although all my outgoings will be as a single person so will have to budget pretty well!

 

[B4rney]

Does any have any experience of Help To Buy and the good or bad experiences of that?

It’s a good thing in that it helps you get onto the property ladder. When you come to sell the issues happen. So you can’t accept an offer lower than the price for the house that they set so you couldn’t get a quick sell. Also they have time limits in which you needed to have sold by or you have to get a resurvey.

 

[Drea1984]

Yes I have

Did you have to have a big deposit? I have heard they take the equity in the property as a deposit? Was that your experience? Thanks