gillyflower
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shared ownershipDoes anyone have experience of shared ownership of a house? I mean the sort of thing where you buy a % of a flat from a Housing Association and pay rent for the other portion, usually aimed at low earners or keyworkers. Might be an option for son and girlfriend
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MarkS
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No experience, but I think its not a good idea.
Housing associations exist to make money.
I suppose you need to take a view about where the market is going, but with the credit crunch starting - remember the only reason that Northern Rock is in the poo is because they did their borrowing on short term loans - which are now getting difficult and expensive. They were unable to continue to borrow against their assets - which are the properties on which they hold the mortgages.
One of the finance journalists on the Grauniad has written of his experience of this - and why he wouldn't do it again.
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Ian33568
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Long time ago so things might have changed....
Check the small print carefully - might even be advisable to consult a solicitor to check things over. Is there a right to buy? what about re-sale - will you get market value? if so how is this calculated? Is there a timescale for which you are tied in to the contract?, Are the properties valued correctly (could be over priced), Services charges....what are you responsible for.....what are their obligations?.........Is it a well-know housing association? What if they sell their share or ownership passes to another trust/charity?
Good luck
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tahir
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Really? A friend of the missus is just about to sign up for one....
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Blue Peter
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I'd echo what MarkS said.
I've no experience of them, but I've heard more bad than good about them anecdotally.
And the housing market is currently stagnant. The Land Registry report out today shows a 0.1% rise for October (less than monthly CPI and far less than monthly RPI), and that would reflect sales and mortgages agreed before. Waiting for a while and saving for a deposit to see how things pan out would seem like a good option,
Peter.
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dougal
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| MarkS wrote: | | Housing associations exist to make money. |
Is that actually true?
I thought that they had to be non-profit organisations...
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MarkS
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In theory they do not trade for profit.
That's not the same as not making money.
They can and do make large profits from individual deals, which money can be reinvested in more property or put towards the expenses of the organisation. Also plenty of room for innovative finances.
There are some which are good and ethical charities, but not all.
Housing provision is, as we all know, a major issue in this country at the moment.
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