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Oh my goodness, i am viewing a 1 bedroom apmt on sat 25% shared ownership scheme, I graduated last year and have been in my job a year, so cannot really afford to buy in open market, having read all of the above comments, i really am thinking twice about this scheme now. I always saw renting as 'dead money' but it looks like i would loose a lot if i went on this scheme. If i wanted to move in the future wow, it looks like it would be difficult. I do not understand mortgage lenders apr charges and fixed rares etc anyway. One shall stay with the folks and keep saving some more...lol

- Lisa Leonard, United Kingdom

Hi, I have just bought on shared ownership. This was the only means of myself and girlfriend to get on the ladder. We are paying a good 450 cheaper than renting in that area. Our incomes are low but we still managed to get a 4.5% fixed rate. This was the only option for us. To be honest all the problems are down to lack of research and thought. In a falling climate you will obviously find it hard to sell property. Not only this but we have gone into this scheme planning on staircasing to 100%. I dont think anyone can say this is worse than renting as I am saving 450 per month to go on more equity.
as a long term I dont see this as an investment but a foot up. To me its less risk of neg equity if circumstances change i.e break up. If you go in to this thinking its an easy way then you will find problems every day.
as for the overpirced bit. Ours was on the market for 300,000. We got them to go down to 250,000 due to our independent survey we got and they accpepted as they knew we would pull out othwerwise. this is about 10% cheaper than all 2 beds in the area on the open market.
I think if you look at this as an easy way to own a home by still having the same rights as renting you will be in for a big awakening.
I also have friends who have bought and sold on this scheme and because they did thier research they have come out with no problems and quids in.
So I part own a 2 bed apartment right on the river in london next to canary wharf for 800pcm inclusive. Bad??!!

- Josh, London

I too, am in a similar predicament to the other people commenting. After securing a good job in Norfolk I informed my housing trust (Metropolitan Homes) that I needed to sell my 40% share of my one bedroom flat. It has taken them 5 weeks to market the property, a valuation (for which I had to find and pay a surveyor) £15,000 below one estates agents valuation and £30,000 below a second estate agents valuation. They have sent only two people to view in the two weeks since marketing and I now have only 6 weeks till I take up my new post with NHS Norfolk. (I am a nurse)
Everyone recognises that selling a house is stressful but the 'don't care' attiutude of housing associations just makes the whole situation worse!

- Gillian, London

I to am in the same situation trying to sell my 45% of shared ownership property to no success.
My rent and service charge has doubled it is just ridiculous! now in the predicament of taking it of the market to try and gain some equity as if we sold now we would loose so much, however have a baby on the way and need out!
Feel completely stuck in this flat, but had no where else to live and no deposit so had to go shared ownership! A2 Dominion housing association are also unhelpful, time wasters and money grabbers.
good luck to anyone trying to get out!

- Sarah, London

We are trying to sell our 50% share of shared ownership flat. We went through the housing associations procedure and they failed to find a buyer for us, we were allowed to put it on the open market last October. In January we found a cash buyer for the 50% share who was declined for reasons we can't find out due to data protection! Three weeks ago we found another cash buyer who is also a council tenant at their current property - they have also been declined again for reasons we cannot find out due to data protection. What a joke.

We can't buy the other 50% share as the prices have dropped somewhat we now don't have enough equity as a deposit and we can't rent our flat out as we only own 50% and therefore are not allowed to sub-let....

This scheme is a farce and I would definitely not make the mistake of doing something like this ever again.

- Angela Cowan, Bournemouth, UK

We were all set to purchase a shared ownership house but have just 'pulled out' due to the many problems we have encountered. The first being that the solicitors fees to purchase were £500 more than buying a standard property. Secondly we needed a 10% minimum deposit of our share and even with that there were only three mortgage lenders willing to offer a shared ownership mortgage. One of these being Abbey who wanted a £2500 product fee in advance which could not be added to the mortgage. The second being Halifax with a £995 fee and then an extortionate interest rate of 7%. The third Leeds building society who in comparison wanted a £199 non refundable booking fee, but a very high 7.89% apr.
On top of all of this we have found that shared ownership properties are leasehold and not freehold so even if we do 'staircase' to owning 100% of the house it will only be for the lease which will decrease the value of the property if we sold.
We have also found that the property is somewhat overpriced and they won't accept offers on the property, you have to pay what they consider to be the current market value.
We would be buying 45% of the property but would be responsible for 100% of repairs and any improvements we make would be out of our own money but the housing association would profit from this if we sold.
So we have decided to save up a bit longer and get a mortgage in the open market, with falling house prices as well I think it is best to wait before buying anyway.

- Lisa, Cornwall

We are currently in the same position they expect 100% on time payment from you every month but when any repairs or maintenance needs carrying out we are expected to wait forever!we have 50% ownership and its the worse decision i ever made i would not recommend shared ownership to anyone especially not in my area anyway!

- Laura, Southampton

I think that the Shared Ownership scheme is all a little dodgy.
We are trying to sell 45% of our property we have a buyer and eveything was about to go through, when the buyers mortgage company requested a mortgage protection clause and the council are refussing to add this in because it may open the flood gates for others, which is compeletly unecceptable, we are currently fighting this disision.

- Rebecca Stevens, london

I think the people who have commented before are missing the point. There are certainly downsides to shared ownership, in that generally the outgoings for mortgage plus rent are not hugely different from having just a pure mortgage. The advantage is that it is looked on more favourably by banks because they have first rights to any monies in the event of default; therefore, they are more willing to lend the money. In this risk adverse market, this is a distinct advantage. Whilst my experience of shared ownership was positive due to the nature of the market at the time, which gave me the equity to purchase a property outright, I think people are missing the point. In any housing situation, you might be subject to a downturn, making it harder to move when you wish to, however whilst all economists are pointing towards a continued fall in the housing market into 2009, longer term they are expecting housing to continue to climb, meaning it is still a good investment for those able to weather the storm. It is better to be on the ladder than not, when the upturn finally starts. The article above is not that shared ownership is bad; it is just some housing associations seem shoddy.

- John, London

Ryan Haert, instead of attacking Mr Howard, you ought direct your fire at the politically appointed Socialist sewer rats in charge of these Housing Associations. If these were not a bunch of self-serving politically correct spivs on vast salaries and expense accounts to match , there would not be so many problems with shared-ownership.

Financially illiterate are those people who having borrowed 10x their income, now they are having their houses repossessed. I paid off my mortgage in just 10.5 years and the rent I pay on the bit I don't own wouldn't even cover the cost of a shed in the area where I live in West London.

What we need are some proper reforms, hopefully from the next government,where the buyers are protected, in addition to having the maggots in charge of these schemes thrown behind bars.

- John Smith, London, UK

I have no sympathy for these people. Any person with half a brain-cell can see that it is a ridiculous idea to buy 40% of a property and rent the remainder. It is the worst of both worlds - all the downsides of renting and owning and none of the advantages of renting, such as flexibility. But no doubt Mr. Howard was guided by greed and the irrational need to "get on the housing ladder". The problem with these people is that they are financially illiterate and have no concept of the risks they are taking on. People like that should should just rent.

- Ryan Haert, London

Never been able to get my head around shared-ownership.

You should either own outright - or rent.

Shared-ownership looks like very expensive renting to me, and locks you down if you want to move, especially in a falling market.

- David S, Manchester

I had a very, very similar experience with a shared ownership flat in Stepney, this time with Spitalfields Housing Association.

I informed them that I needed to put up my flat (of which I owned half) for sale, as my partner was 3 months pregnant and the flat was a tiny one bedroom studio. I made it very clear of the urgency of this move and of the reasons. One year to the day exactly of when they received my official request I finally moved.

They were incompetent and uninterested beyond belief. Something like 4 months went by without the flat 'officially' going on sale - and they held me to their 3 month resell rule too. After 6 months they made me get and pay for a second valuation, as due to their own rules after 6 months a valuation is out of date (despite all the delays being their fault).

At every possible stage they messed things up and caused my family and others further up the chain unbelievable stress and anxiety - they didn't seem to care one bit.

The first six months of my babys life were spent in a shoebox, so would I recommend a shared ownership now?

Not a chance.

- Jason, London

I had a shared ownership flat for 10 years and it's been a nightmare. I only found out afterwards the original building contractors had gone bankrupt and so the association found another firm to complete the building quickly - they did a shoddy job and we have had problems since. The new building guarantee is a waste of paper and we have been involved in arguments since on where the responsibility lies.
The building has moved so we have huge cracks in most flats, leaking roofs etc. We have had the same contractors come and 'fix' the problems three time and still problems keep coming back. We tried to get another contractor in but the housing association said we had to use contractors on their approved list. We were then given three estimates - 50,000 ,150,000 and 200,000 so we were forced to go for their "favorite" company yet again. This flat was the worst financial decision I have ever made in my life. This scheme was for people who could not afford to buy on the free market but yet we have ended up with a flat that is hard to sell and costing thousands in remedial work. It's awful. If you are thinking housing association be careful because you get to pay the bills without any control of how the money is spent. Also don't assume because the house is built by the association that it will be well built. Ours has major structural problems and 10 years down the line we are still trying to sort things out.

- Irene, London

Shared ownership is a minefield. I've had a great house for ten years through it but the Housing Association refused to honour the guarantee on the building when I moved in and huge defects were found. I had to pay myself to put the problems right and then employ a solicitor to get my money back. As the man says above you have all the responsibility but none of the rights.

Now my rent goes up and up, I can't buy out any more shares and when I got a valuation to try I was told by the Borough surveyor that there were two prices, one for if I'm buying and one for if I'm selling. When I bought the place I was told I could sell my share for the going market value, now there are two versions of it depending on if I'm buying or selling? The Borough surveyor would not tell me why there were two or which was higher.

Like Mr Howard above I have to give the Association first opportunity to supply a purchaser when I want to sell. I am very worried about the whole thing.

I think there needs to be some independent body who can give real legal advice to shared ownership buyers and defend them against unfair practices to make sure they are not being ripped off. But in this day and age all such bodies are big on talk but don't actually do anything.

- Rhd, London UK

I've been living in a shared-ownership house for some 20 years. It's a terraced house with a garden and a secure parking space. Although the mortgage has been long paid off, I'm still liable for the rent on the 50% I don't own plus maintenance and management fees.

The trouble is that the HO, which is based in Hammersmith, couldn't organize a booze in a brewery, specially due to their very high staff turnover. And whenever there is a problem with the building, it's always got to do with someone else, despite paying the HO substantial amounts of money.

I have no doubt that most of the money I pay the HO goes toward their luxury offices, they diversity officers and other idiotic PC schemes in addition to gold plated pensions, all in the very best ZanuLab tradition.

- John Smith, London, UK

I know this young man, and he won't be exaggerating: very sorry to hear of his predicament.Is he not allowed a neutral evaluation of a fair rent and service charge? If not, the question of unfair contract terms could come into play. Now that housing associations handle such huge sums of money they are money-pots that attract just as ruthless characters and practices as the private sector. It seems that the landlord can impose service charges at will: these seem as bad as the notorious exploitation that used to exist on caravan sites.
We should all beware governments that come bearing gifts: they make more out of us as home-owners (CGT, Stamp Duty, VAT on fees )than as tenants.Another dubious concept is the key-worker home, which is basically a modern take on the tied cottage. And it's funny, isn't it, how key jobs don't seem to exist in the private sector? I read lately of someone very happy in his new key-worker flat in Haggerston: but if he gets a job in the private sector, even if it's the same kind of work, he's on his bike!

- Mdj, Leyton, London

At last, Newlon have been 'outed'. I have been living with rats in my flat for months now, and I have a mortgage on my Newlon property. There are serious defects in the building and I have been fighting with them for a long time to carry out repairs. We now have a residents association, but it doesn't seem to matter how loud I shout, they don't listen.

- Lisa Burns, Walthamstow

Everyone is suffering from the market 'falling flat' in the current climate and shared-ownerships sellers are in the same boat as the rest of us when it comes to selling their property.

Did this couple bother to read their contract and go through the full legal procedures that a housing association would no doubt advise? Or did they view it in the same way they might a tenancy? I do not think Newlon are entirely to blame for much more than some rather poor customer service.

Shared ownership properties exist to help those on moderate incomes struggling to get onto the housing ladder and should rightly be kept in this sector if possible, so of course Newlon should have first refusal over selling this property onto someone on the waiting list.

What appals me about this example is that Newlon doesn't have the systems in place to react quickly enough to begin marketing a property to their own waiting list within the eight-week window of opportunity. The couple are now able to go to their own estate agents and sell on the open market - what a waste.

Oh, and did I mention that the shared owners will get to keep any increase to the value of the share they own in the property once it is sold? So being 'mostly tenants' is not 'entirely disadvantageous'...

- Nicola Miller, Ealing, UK

So who exactly is the Government's "Regulator" when it comes to regulating the often questionable operating systems of "Housing Associations" and other "Social Housing" businesses?

- Fraser, Telford Park

I sympathise with the people in the article.
The shared-ownership scheme has been around for years and the Government are always attempting to promote it, it's a way of getting people off council waiting lists.
I have lived in a shared-ownership property for 15 years and I would never recommend it to anyone, in fact I would advise people to think very, very carefully before taking part. My housing association owns the larger percentage of the house, but do not pay a penny towards the upkeep, as a 'home owner' I am expected to do this myself. There are lots of pitfalls with these schemes so my advice is "buyer beware"! I

- Aji, London

It seems to me they bought without proper legal advice. The govt. has tried to make buying property like buying cornflakes. Legal services are not a commodity as such. With proper time spent on reviewing the documents and reporting to the client they would have been fully aware of the position. As the cost of conveyancing is forced so low then detailed advice will be hard to give. People need to respect the law and those that try and explain it.

- Simon - Bucharest, bucharest - Romania

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