Shared ownership

ChrisD.

ChrisD.

ChrisD.

Man of Honour
Joined
20 Sep 2006
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I realise that there has been a recent thread on this however as my situation is somewhat different than the OP in that one I thought it's best to post a new one, instead of taking his off topic.

I am in the Forces and have to move to Northwood next month to work. I currently private rent with my GF, so we are looking to move together. At the moment she is pretty much on minimum wage so most of the rent comes out of my pocket. She's hoping to land a decent job when we move but a lot of agencies are refusing to take her on as she lives too far away. :confused:

Anyway, to the point, I am wanting a 2 bed place as we have a 1 bed now and it's a PITA when people come to stay. However, unless I live quite a way away from Northwood I'd have to commute in my car which is something I'd like to avoid. The average price seems to be around £900 PCM which in all honesty is the upper edge of my budget.

I have been looking around and it seems I can get a 2 bed flat for the same in a shared ownership scheme. I only have around £8k as a deposit, so buying outright is not a possibility and due to the high cost of renting at the moment, I'm not managing to save very much. :(

I realise there's a lot of bad press about shared ownership, but given my situation, I thought it's better to own something and to be paying off a mortgage instead of putting all the money into rent.

I'm just looking for a bit of advice really.
 
Also, with regard to renting, stay as cheap as you possibly can bear and keep saving. If you want more accommodation for guests it would be cheaper to stay in a smaller flat and pay for their accommodation when they visit you.

Rgds
 
radderfire said:
Also, can the Forces provide any advice/support?

Rgds
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Not really to be honest.

radderfire said:
Also, with regard to renting, stay as cheap as you possibly can bear and keep saving. If you want more accommodation for guests it would be cheaper to stay in a smaller flat and pay for their accommodation when they visit you.

Rgds
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Good point, but it's still very expensive compared to where I'm living now. I thought shared ownership may be a good idea as at least I'm paying something off rather than paying a lot of money for a service.
 
What bad press have you read about shared ownerships exactly? Most will be coming from people who haven't got a clue!

IMO it's a great way to buy a first property and to get you on the ladder + can also be profitable if you look carefully.
 
My advice about SO is to be VERY careful about what you're getting yourself into. They can often have a lot of hidden costs such as: service charges that begin small but rise each year, lots of fees when you decide to sell, maintenance charges for work on any communal grounds and you get the costs of having to repair and maintain everything while not actually fully owning anything.

Also, the rent, service charge and mortgage put together often work out at a higher rate than you'd pay renting a larger property.

I would say that it is a bit of a con, but it could be great for some people.
 
I am on a shared ownership scheme and think it was a great way for us to start.

Mortgage + Rent + Service charge is less for our brand new 3 bed semi than it was to rent a 2 bed mid terrace.

We are in year 2 of our fixed mortgage and whilst the service charge has gone up, it has been fully explained by the overspend from last year and it is still within reason.

Total monthly cost for this 3 bed semi is <£500. We own 30% of the property and rent the rest. We put down £8k cash and mortgaged the rest.

Once the cost of rent + service charge on 70% of the house rises above 70% of the average rent for a property like this then I will look to buy the rest. Until then I am actually paying less than I would be renting wholly and at the same time I am buying 30% of the house. We did not have the cash to put a deposit down on a full property and until we comfortably do we are more than happy with our arrangement.
 
I live near Northwood and it is really pricey in any of the areas you go into round there. However the base is really close to Watford which is slightly cheaper. It's not too bad either to get a bus there either. Perhaps have a look in the Watford/South Oxhey area. Not always the most desirable but could be a way...
 
I don't think people on less than three years SO, or two years absolute minimum, are qualified to say 'it's great', when the main issue I have read about is unreasonable service/rent increases.

Other problems appear to include crap maintenance companies ie slow repairs etc., inability to sell efficiently.

Seems like a real headache tbf.
 
If you can only afford part of the house on a good wage now, what makes anyone think that they will be able to afford the rest later?. If house prices keep going up at the same rate as you wages (or more) then you'll never be able to buy the rest.

All the cost of owning with only half the benefits, it's just a massive con to keep overall prices up to be honest.
 
Andr3w said:
OP the forces CAN help you.

Firstly there is an 'Armed forces shared ownership' http://www.direct.gov.uk/en/HomeAndCommunity/BuyingAndSellingYourHome/HomeBuyingSchemes/DG_189938

Secondly you can up your deposit using LSAP (Long service advance of pay) loads of people do this (i'm going to do it when I buy my house)
http://www.forceslaw.com/services/long_service_advance_of_pay.htm

Bascially they give you a 'loan' which is paid back from your pay check each month
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I am not eligible for that scheme as I've been in too long, and LSAP is the deposit I talk about above.
 
Ok I sold my shared owership flat last year and I'm glad its gone. Now saying this they do work for some people but I was young 20 when I got my place and I was stupid and rushed into it. If you thinking of going for it make sure you read every little detail in your contract as I didnt and failed massively because of it

Basically I lived there over 4 years. The flat was massive two bedroom place brand new with all the mod cons you could want for your first place. Lovely flat, not a bad location. But there is always a but...

The main issue we had was 1. The service charge and rent. I had 60% share of the flat and the housing owned 40%. First year was fine but each year the service charge went up by like 30-40% and rent went up to. It got to a point where no services were being done ie cleaning, maintence of the building because people in the private block werent paying. In our contract we have to regardless to cover defects which the privately owned flats were created. I know this sounds crazy but we were held to contract. This got sorted but by this point I had enough. I was paying more for a 2 bedroom flat then my mates 3 bedroom house.

Long story short I now have a 3 bed house now which costs less then the flat did. Plus its a full mortgage so better valve for money.

I'm not trying to put you off as I loved my flat and when we started it was cheap and lovely. But this seemed with me a way of tricking you to going for then when your there your stuck (Like many of my old neighbours). My story is a bad one but avoid hyde housing they are terrible.If you would like me to go into more detail or advice on any part from buying to even how to sell a share ownership out right let me know.
 
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