With the average UK house price at a whopping £226,129 (as of September 2020), to many of us, the dream of owning our own home now seems a distant reality.
And, as headlines continue to report gloomy stats for first time buyers, for those of us struggling to afford the now less available "lower deposit mortgages", could Shared Ownership offer a solution?
Shared Ownership is a government-backed scheme that offers you the chance to buy a share of your home – taking out a smaller mortgage or using savings to do so - and then paying a subsidised rent to Connexus for the remaining share. Later on, (for some properties) you have the option to ‘staircase’ up to owning 100% of your home. As you buy more shares, your mortgage and monthly rent payments are adjusted accordingly.
Connexus works with estate agents to advertise our Shared Ownership properties. We caught up with Shrewsbury-based estate and letting agents DB Roberts to find out more about Shared Ownership and who this scheme may appeal to...
The flexibility of Shared Ownership also appeals to many customers. Lucky enough to grab that promotion at work? With Shared Ownership, you can request to buy a larger percentage of your home. You can buy or sell shares any time you want (subject to approval).
And you’re not ‘locked in’ to your home once you enter the Shared Ownership scheme. If you do want to sell your home - for whatever reason - Connexus has a dedicated sales team to help you with this. The value of your share will be calculated on the current open market value.
As a young couple, my husband and I were becoming so disheartened by the ever-increasing local house prices. We always wanted to own our home and value the security that comes with that. We could afford the mortgage deposit on 25% of our Shared Ownership property and have now staircased up to owning a higher percentage. Shared Ownership has enabled us to take steps towards the dream of fully owning our family home.
Emma (name changed), Connexus Shared Ownership customer
