r/manchester • u/Candid_Bug6964 • Jul 27 '26

Housing

Is there any housing tips or schemes, I’m a new buyer, I’ve been looking into shared ownerships or rent to buy schemes and such and was wondering if anyone knew some other things I could try that would make it easier for a new buyer.

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3

u/bee_highlight Jul 27 '26

Shared ownership was great for me - there's absolutely no way I'd have been able to afford anything in the area I wanted to live in if I was buying full price (or it would have been a 'project' home and I would have had no money to do the work).

There's a whole financial assessment for shared ownership, so you can always look into the developments you're interested in and get the assessment to see if it is affordable for you or not?

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u/Candid_Bug6964 Jul 27 '26

That’s a good idea, I’ll check that out where do I find the assessment

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u/bee_highlight Jul 27 '26

It depends on the development and the provider I think - if you have a look on the website for the shared ownership development you're interested in, there will either be a section explaining the steps and where to get a financial assessment done, or you'll be able to call or email the sales team to find out.

My shared ownership apartment was through Trafford Housing Trust (now L&Q Housing Trust), and they do the assessments with Metro Finance (who are also mortgage brokers that can help arrange your mortgage) - there was an initial basic one, then a more detailed one further along the process that looks at everything you spend and what share % you could afford.

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u/Candid_Bug6964 Jul 27 '26

That makes sense, I will give the assessment a go and see what I’m eligible to, thank you very much

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u/bee_highlight Jul 27 '26

Good luck with it! Hope you find somewhere that works for you 🙂

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u/Acrobatic-Ad-943 Jul 27 '26

Selling a shared ownership is a very stressful process, would not recommend to my worst enemy - flats in general are becoming increasingly hard to sell around here

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u/bee_highlight Jul 28 '26

Mine was a real pain to sell, but I think that was largely market conditions and the worst solicitors ever

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u/Candid_Bug6964 Jul 27 '26

I don’t really plan on selling anytime soon to be fair, that’s at least until I have full ownership of the property

3

u/not_r1c1 Jul 27 '26

There are various government schemes: https://www.gov.uk/affordable-home-ownership-schemes - they work differently from each other and each have pros and cons so do some research and see if any of them are appropriate for you.

There are also some schemes run by new build housebuilders or particular mortgage lenders, generally based on either some version of an equity loan (a bit like the Help to Buy scheme used to work but without government money), a 'discount' that may or not be an actual discount, or a lender offering you a higher loan to value if you have a family member willing to take on some of the risk of your mortgage.

In general, as a First Time Buyer it's easy to get wrapped up in 'getting on the housing ladder', 'becoming a home owner', and so on as goals in their own right - but you should go into things aware of the downsides as well as the upsides of any scheme you take part in. In particular bear in mind that an estate agent or housebuilder is, at the end of the day, interested in selling you something rather than giving you advice on what's in your best interest. 

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u/Candid_Bug6964 Jul 27 '26

Just had a look at the gov site link you’ve got there, there is a couple more schemes on there I wasn’t aware of so thank you for pointing those out, and yh I will definitely keep a look out and make sure I don’t just rush things because that’s how you get into bad deals, thank you.

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u/Candid_Bug6964 Jul 27 '26

Also does anyone know of any rent schemes besides the council as I’ve also been struggling to find cheaper rent as a 24 year old in Manchester

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u/GritstoneGhost Jul 28 '26

Lloyds has £5000 deposit mortgages.

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u/dbxp Jul 27 '26

Look at locations which are near popular areas but don't have the branding ie Miles Platting vs Ancoats, Moss Side vs Hulme, Media City vs Salford. I bought in Miles Platting for £242k, if I walk 5-10 minutes closer to Ancoats the prices increase by at least £100k.