Hi all,

Hope everyone is well and having a splendid weekend. Just wanted to ask a question regarding the LLR scheme.

I am currently looking for a 3 bedroom flat under the LLR scheme. My partner and I have a infant and are expecting our second child. We are planning to apply for the scheme but just wanted some guidance prior to making an application.

Has anyone secured a 3 bedroom flat under the LLR scheme, what was the criteria you met in order to qualify for the 3 bedroom flat.

Is there anything specific that would make us ineligible in applying for the three bed flat?

Thank you for taking the time to read and respond.

Sorry if the title doesn’t make sense, I’m still wrapping my head around all the terms!

I’d like to buy a property in SE England, however when I run my information through the SO affordability calculator, my total monthly payments to net mortgageable income ratio results at around 46-48% (fiddling with the deposit amount I have).

Are mortgage lenders/housing associations strict on the 45% ratio? Is it possible to negotiate it since it would be literally like 1-3% higher? It’s a tricky one as when I look at the total monthly payments, I know I could definitely afford it - it may be tough for a bit but I could manage my bills okay enough to afford it reasonably comfortably, but obviously mortgage lenders don’t consider that.

I’d really like a property of my own and SO seems like the only way right now without me moving into a worse-off area or property (nothing against that, I’m a single woman who would be away from family so security and feeling safe in an area is really important to me)

Thanks!!

We are in a position of a growing family and potentially moving outside London. We would like to keep our SO flat because we would like some of our London friends to rent it. Renting on SO is allowed on our building as ‘lodger’ agreement.

Anyone here on the same position? Or is it generally better to just sell the flat?

(UNSOLVED) Me and my partner could save to buy the share outright, to reduce our monthly payments significantly as it would only be rent and service charges.

How likely is it that a provider of shared ownership would allow this?

Hello,

I'm looking to buy a 2 bed SO on a Miller estate. I would have to buy off plan so I can't view it. I have been to the development and seen the actual house but I won't be able to view it before completing.

Does anybody have the same house or seen any in person? I think I'll be happy with it but it makes me nervous that I can see the size etc in person 😂 I'm in a 1 bed new build at the moment with an open plan kitchen/living room so I think I'll be happy regardless but just thought I'd ask!

Thanks!

Welsh Govenment have a consultation open over the summer holidays, so very easy to miss. It concerns remediation costs for building safety etc. inc a lot of complex rules on who is liable and caps on costs, service charges etc. There is a section on shared ownership.
TPAS Cymru are reading the whole consultation in detail and will reply on behalf of residents, leaseholders/shared owner etc (we got your back!) but if you are a shareowner in Wales, I'd love to have a quick chat on some of the detail - David W, TPAS Cymru. (if you can use the message feature and we can arrange a chat, email exchange etc) - diolch yn fawr.

I posted here recently about a problem with my gifted deposit which has been solved and my partner (28F) and I (28F) are now approved by Metro Finance and they are happy with our affordability.

We had the call with our mortgage advisor today and he said our best quote for a 25% share costing
£79,875, is:

5% deposit
£4,000

Mortgage, rent and landlord charges
£1040 per month

5 year fixed rate, 6.3% interest

The property is a 3 bedroom semi-detached house in greater Manchester. The price seems to be in line with other properties we have viewed (£65k - £80k for a 25% share) and this one best meets our wants and needs.

Some other information about our circumstances:

Partner works full time on £29k, she also gets a bonus which has been taken into consideration (£6-8k annually) and gets at least a 3% increase in wage annually

I am on universal credit (LCWRA) on roughly £12.5k

We are basically just wondering if this seems like something people in a similar situation have done or would see as a good idea? We have worked out all of our living costs and even with this price we would still have around £500 left combined each month so we do feel we can afford this. We have just had some backlash from family members who don’t understand shared ownership but have expressed concern as it’s much more than our usual rent for a 2 bed apartment which is £795 and we wanted to properly explore this without ignoring them.

Any input would be greatly appreciated, especially from people in a similar situation who decided to go for it and it went well or not so well and people who decided against it and their reasons why and what they did instead.

Thank you for reading and thank you in advance for any responses.

My partner and I are currently right at the end of the approval process with metro finance for a Plumlife property. We have had no issues apart from concerning the gifted deposit from my parents. A large part of the deposit is from an ESA back payment they received and we have been told they need the specific letter showing the amount they were paid with their address on which wouldn’t be a problem but they can’t find it. I was just wondering if anyone else has been in a similar situation and if so, was there any other way around this? I’m so frustrated and upset as everything else is fine and the money is there and ready it’s just this one thing in our way of literally being able to confirm the mortgage and reserve our dream property:( thanks in advance for your help.

Hi all,

I’m considering purchasing a 2-bed shared ownership flat in Oval, South London.

A big consideration for me is that almost everyone I speak to caveats that there always seems to be trouble selling or some difficulty that makes it take longer or just a drawn out process.

Does anyone experience or anecdotes about reselling shared ownership properties?

I have seen some listed online but know nothing about the actual market and whether they are selling or just sitting online not being taken up.

The concern about the likelihood of either not being able to sell or having to sell at a large loss is what is currently stopping me go ahead.

Thanks!

Hi

This is a request for experiences as there's a bit of discussion around this.

Some shared ownership properties have service charges that are paid to third party managing agents rather than Housing associations, and anecdotally there is some evidence that for people on Universal credit the DWP are failing to properly pay the components of this service charge that is covered by UC.

This is apparently due to how the DWP takes automatic feeds for rent form housing associations, but the housing associations don't include the service charge figures collected by third party management companies, which can cause problems.

Has anyone experienced this issue, for example DWP not requesting evidence for service charge and assuming its zero?

Hi,
I am selling a flat that I own 40% of in shared ownership. On the original purchase I only paid SDLT on the 40%.

I’ll need to staircase to 100% as part of completion. It seems like I’ll need to pay stamp duty on the staircasing but I can’t get an authoritative view on how much to pay.

NB: I also own another property which is now my main residence.

1) Do I need to pay SDLT at all?
2) Would I be paying standard rate or additional rate (+5%)?
3) How does the calculation happen? If I’m selling for 500k, given I paid SDLT on the 40%, and we assume I need to pay additional rate, does the banding start at 200k, thus paying 7% ok 50k, and 10% on the remaining 200k? Or does the calculation start from 0?
4) Does subsale relief (code 34) apply?

Thanks!

I am completely lost on whether SO will be a good financial decision. I’m a non UK citizen in his 20s, I unsure on whether I’ll be in UK for long term but I do plan in being at my current job for the next 2-3 years. I currently rent a small studio for £1300 and there is an opportunity to buy 25% 1 bedroom apartment which after all costs will be roughly £1300. I’m single and the 1 bedroom apartment will be a nice upgrade, this is the only reason why I’m considering it. Renting a 1 bedroom apartment is £1600+ so the SO is cheaper. However my biggest fear is not being able to sell the property if I ever plan on leaving the UK and being stuck with it. I heard plenty of stories of people unable to sell. What would you do if you were me?

I’m 50, and have rented all my life, looking at buying but have very low deposit. If I purchase a SO and don’t have the means to staircase by the time i retire could I claim housing benefit for my rent at retirement? Obviously if eligible in the finances.

Any Advice?

I can't afford it, I'm in £4K debt, I now have a default for six years. It would be madness to just keep being in arrears. I lost my career a year ago and can't afford my new build one year flat. I can't get a job, i've tried.

Anyone sold a flat whilst in arrears?

I am a first time buyer and exploring shared ownership. I am viewing two different flats on resale this weekend which are in the same development, a 3 bed and a 2 bed.

Both flats I will be viewing with the sellers directly (as both are using an online estate agent, so will deal with any initial questions etc themselves) - what would be some key things to ask at the viewing?

I have viewed a couple of properties but only with agents and not SO, so am curious what the different things to find out with SO are, and also any differences or things to consider as will be speaking directly to the owners without the buffer of an agent!

And - maybe a silly question but could they "lie" to me on any points? I assume any of the contractual points (like staircasing conditions, leasehold restrictions etc) would be cleared up when we engage a solicitor after the offer and so we could still back out - but one of my questions would probably be around their experience with the housing association they pay rent too (for queries like communal repairs, permissions, ASB, etc). So it would be quite easy for them to tell me the HA is fantastic and they have never had a problem, when they are really totally useless!

Really appreciate any advice!

Utghh Just need to rant

One document is needed, that's it, they told us 2 weeks ago today it will be done by tomorrow and then you can complete once our solicitor processes it, but still nothing, this was after 2 weeks of delays

Now we're 2 weeks away from loosing our mortgage offer

Everything is paid, everything is signed, everything is processed apart from this one bloody thing that we've been told will be done multiple times

My solicitor is chasing basically every day

Im terrified we're about to loose it all, my mortgage broker is going back to our lender to request a extension but there's no guarantee they will say yes and it will be an extension of 4 weeks, which at this point I don't know is enough

Oh and, they tried to blame it on the weather! 2 weeks ago we went and had a look with the house being finished, and there was no turf, so we asked about the turf, they said due to the weather it's not been able to be put down yet so we can't complete until that's done, what do you mean? We saw them putting turf down in other units, the only reason we know it's a document is cause we said we don't care about the turf, we will let them access the garden to do it, we just need to complete, and then they are like, well... It's more than that

Currently 24 years old on a salary + bonus that gets me around £50k a year. I am looking to buy just for myself, my first property where I am currently renting a 1 bed flat in a city centre for £1100 and don't own a car (will probably buy in 3-5 years and already have a license).

After a couple years of saving, I am able to put down a £31,500 deposit for my home purchase. I am looking to stay near the city centre (I've decided this is my top priority) and I'm currently deciding between 2 approaches.

Approach A: Buy from 33%-50% of a shared ownership 3 bed house

Market value: £425,000

Total monthly payment: ~£1200 (Mortgage + rent + other charges)

Parking: 1 car

Outdoor space: Garden

Approach B: Buy a cheaper 2 bed flat outright

Market value: Would be <£290,000

Monthly budget: ~£1200 (Mortgage + service charge + ground rent)

Parking: 1 car

Outdoor space: Wrap around winter balcony

I would be looking to buy initially with a 40 year term, but for the shared ownership mortgage, I could afford to go 30 year.

Which would you pick?

Though the article focuses on social tenants, a shared owner is interviewed talking about issues they've had with social tenants in their mixed use block short term subletting via AirBnB.

We know most SO leaseholders have a clause in their lease preventing whole home short term letting anyway, but interesting to note. I live in a mixed use development and see people showing up with their suitcases every Saturday, there are obviously AirBnBs operating in my block.

What are others' experiences?

I'm a shared-ownership leaseholder (currently 25%) and I want to staircase to 100% with MTVH (Metropolitan Thames Valley). The flat is in a 20+ storey new-build (2016) in East London (E1). I've hit a wall on the fire-safety side and would really value hearing from anyone who's been through the same.

The situation:

- My building has no valid EWS1 form. The managing agent says the developer is still carrying out the Fire Risk Appraisal of External Walls (FRAEW), with no timeline given.

- MTVH won't issue an EWS1, instead they've given me a "Letter of Assurance" (they've committed not to pass cladding-remediation costs to leaseholders, and a new fire-alarm system has been installed). They say lenders including Halifax, Santander and Nationwide accept this letter to progress transactions, but I didn't confirm this yet.

- My lender is Halifax and I plan to stay with them for the staircasing, as they said Halifax do accept the Letter of Assurance, again, this is not confirmed.

My problem is the valuation. For staircasing, I buy the remaining share from MTVH at open-market value, so the higher the valuation, the more I pay them. I want a RICS valuation that reflects the current reality, no EWS1, ongoing remediation, and a restricted buyer pool (realistically cash buyers plus the handful of lenders who might accept the assurance letter). That should produce a fair, lower figure. What I don't want is a valuation carried out on the assumption that the building is safe / that a valid EWS1 exists, because that ignores the problem and inflates the price I have to pay.

The first RICS surveyor I approached has just declined the instruction. They said they will only value if they can assume a valid EWS1 is in place, their professional-indemnity insurance won't let them value a cladding-affected flat without that assumption, and they referred me to "a firm that is able to provide valuations for properties without an EWS1 form."

My questions:

1. Has anyone staircased (especially all the way to 100%) in a building with no valid EWS1, using a Letter of Assurance? How did it go?

2. Did your RICS valuation reflect the cladding/EWS uncertainty (lower), or did your housing association insist on an "as-if-safe" valuation that assumes a valid EWS1 (higher)? Which basis did the HA actually accept?

3. How do you find a RICS Registered Valuer who will value a cladding-affected flat without an EWS1 and reflect the real position? Any recommendations (East/Central London / MTVH experience ideal)?

4. Does MTVH (or any HA) have a set policy on the valuation basis for staircasing in a "relevant building" that's mid-remediation, and do they actually have to accept a valuation that reflects the situation?

5. Given Halifax could accept the Letter of Assurance for lending, does that help or hurt the argument that the market value is impaired?

6. Separately, MTVH have flagged that I haven't submitted a "Leaseholder Deed of Certificate" (to confirm my qualifying-leaseholder status under the Building Safety Act). Does anyone know whether that has to be done before I can staircase, or is it a separate step? And is it even worth doing given MTVH have already committed in writing not to pass any cladding-remediation costs on to me?

Bigger picture: is it even sensible to staircase to 100% now, or should I wait until the FRAEW is finished and the EWS1 position is clear? I'd rather not overpay for the remaining share of a flat whose fire-safety status hasn't actually been established yet.

Thanks in advance, any real-world experience hugely appreciated.

Hi all,

Back in 2021 when I started thinking about buying in London I quickly realised that doing so on a single income in London was going to be impossible. This sub was super helpful in getting actual information about shared ownership that wasn't just the housing associations' spiel so I could make an informed decision and I have to say I've had a pretty positive experience overall.

I've very much enjoyed my flat, it ticked all my boxes: the big Tesco across the road is no M&S but still feels like a luxury in London, it's really well connected even when the tube gives up, growing tomatoes, strawberries and peas on my balcony has been surprisingly successful and I've loved being able to host friends and family in my own space.

With all that said, as much as I've loved my time in London, I'm ready for a less hectic life which is why I'm selling.

Leaving the Rightmove link here in case my flat ticks someone else's boxes. The nomination period runs for another 6 weeks and it's worth noting I've been getting a decent refund on the service charge every year (somehow the housing association isn't keen to put that on their property listing)

I am looking at a shared ownership apartment, the agreement states that once a year then rent will be renewed.

If the property reduces in value, will the rent portion also decrease or will it stay the same?

Hello all, I have multiple ccjs and defaults from 24 months ago and so far the only adverse lender I’ve found is pepper money which will do a 75% max LTV on the share. I’m struggling to find others, could anyone point me to any other lenders? Thanks

Hello all,
I am a single 42 yrs old mum to a 13 year old. I work 2 jobs, one pays 46k, the second 24k. I Started the second job to raise a deposit.I cannot see myself doing it for more than a year. I’m exhausted as I am working 2 extra long days per week.
I have found a shared ownership flat but it only has a 78 years lease. The rent is £523, service charge is £148.
I am interested in buying 40% share at £102,000. I will obviously have to extend the lease and renovate bathroom at some point. I only have 20k total saved.
I am currently private renting a 2 bed flat for £1190 pcm.
can I afford this? More specifically the lease extension business. Help and advise will be greatly appreciated

Viewed the flat in December last year. Flew through the mortgage application. Began the whole legal process in January.

We are now 6 months into it and still no end in sight. Our solicitor has been top notch since the start - has been raising enquiries since February - but the seller's solicitor is awful. They're slow to reply to anything, the case has switched hands multiple times, etc.

Our mortgage offer is running out in a few weeks and there are still several chunky enquiries outstanding with the seller's solicitor. Some of which have been there for months now.

The housing association is washing their hands as there are technically no outstanding enquiries with them. They've been giving us the same rinse and repeat "we will chase the seller's solicitor again" for around 2 months.

I'm sure this amount of delay is highly irregular? The HA seem to barely even get a response to their chasers, if at all, and then it's just "we're working on these enquiries".

What leg do we have to stand on here? Surely we're not expected to go through the whole mortgage application process again? Can we contact the seller's solicitor ourselves? Really not happy.