Home Truths: ‘I moved into my Shared Ownership flat three weeks before lockdown’

Welcome to Home Truths, the tell-all series where homeowners and renters spill the beans on what really goes on behind the scenes when buying, moving or renting a property.

Moving story at a glance:

Age: 34
Job: Hairdresser
Salary: £31,000
Bought: 35% of one-bedroom Shared Ownership flat in East London
Total value of property: £325,500
Paid: £140,000
Deposit: £23,000
Total monthly payments: £940
Mortgage payments: £290
Monthly rental payments: £490
Monthly service charge: £160
Mortgage interest rate: 2.5%
Flying solo or together? Solo

Why did you go for a Shared Ownership property?

I’d been house sharing in London for nine years and I wanted a change and to live on my own.

Renting is obviously so expensive and I looked into buying but, as a self-employed solo buyer, my only option was Shared Ownership.

It’s like a part own, part rent type thing. I have a mortgage on 35% of the property and Peabody, the social housing scheme I’m with, owns the other 65%, so I pay rent to them as well.

How was the buying process?

I started looking around two years ago. I’d seen quite a few other homes and applied for them but didn’t get them.

I actually cycled past this building on the way to another viewing and then got in touch. I put a holding deposit down in June 2019 and I finally moved in on the 28th February 2020, so just in time for lockdown!

What’s your home like?

Amazing! I absolutely love it. It’s a nice-sized, one-bedroom flat in Leyton, near to Lea Bridge station. It’s in a big new development called Motion.

I bought it off spec, having seen the show home, which gave me a really good idea of what it would be like. As soon as I walked in, I knew I wanted to live here.

Browse shared ownership properties in Leyton, London

Are you planning to buy more of the flat?

It’s obviously been a very difficult first year in terms of my job and lockdown. I’ve always said I don’t want to live in London long-term, it’s my dream to live by the seaside.

But when it comes to staircasing (the process of buying more of a shared property) I’ll need to be quite careful. If the people I want to sell to need to buy the flat as a Shared Ownership property, I'll need to make sure I don't buy too much of it and make it unaffordable for them.

Basically I wouldn’t want to buy such a big share that someone in my position wouldn’t be able to afford it. So I think I’ll either stay at 35% or go for the full 100%. That way I’ll either be able to sell it to a Shared Ownership buyer or someone who wants to own it outright.

Was it easy or complicated?

There were a few delays with the build, so it took slightly longer than expected.

It was supposed to be finished in November 2019 but I was emailed to say it had been delayed until January. Then that got pushed back to March, but luckily they brought the move forward to February.

So it was a bit of a waiting game. But one advantage was that it was a new-build, so I wasn’t waiting for anyone to exchange.

How do you make it work financially?

I’m self-employed, so I had to give three years’ average accounts. My accountant sorted it all out and it was really easy actually. I went for a five year fixed mortgage. So even with the cost of the mortgage, rental repayments and service charges, it’s still cheaper than renting.

I would never rent on my own in London. I have friends paying a stupid amount of monthly rent and I just couldn’t justify it. I’ve always lived in house shares and that’s how I managed to save up for my deposit.

Any regrets?

None at all. I’m just so happy I live here. I moved into the flat and three weeks later we were in national lockdown.

Obviously, there would have been pros and cons to lockdown in a shared flat, but I’d much rather have my own place. I wasn’t totally isolated either because one of my colleagues also lives in the building. I moved in the day she had a baby, so that was a massive help.

We’re also really lucky to have a rooftop garden, so I met a lot of the other neighbours up there over the summer when we were all sunbathing.

Any advice for others looking to buy via Shared Ownership?

One thing that is a bit annoying about Shared Ownership is before you can even look at a property or speak to someone about applying for it, you have to fill out an online form to show your wages and deposit and that sort of thing. And then they’d come back to you and say: ‘Sorry, you’re not eligible for this property’.

Luckily, I was able to speak to someone at Motion and, although at first they said my income made it look like I could only afford a studio, I was able to explain that I could put a bigger deposit down, even though my wages might be on the lower side.

So I would say to other people: try and speak to a real person about what is possible, rather than just filling out the forms.

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