I bought my shared-ownership flat when I was 26 and now believe it's a total scam

[shlomo]

https://www.glamourmagazine.co.uk/article/shared-ownership-pros-and-cons?fbclid=IwAR2VcxeTXuSn6FUD6BNPgc-wvM145APUpq0W-6r4Ws7vHQm7XjFecRmLH6M

I moved to London (from Rome where I’m originally from) five years ago to work as a radiographer in the NHS. After a few years of renting in the city I decided it was time to think about putting down roots and getting a home of my own. I had £30,000 in savings and wanted to live somewhere that made it easy for me to get to different hospitals for work. But I found that with my annual salary I could only borrow around £185,000 which meant the options available to me were very limited -- even with what I thought was a generous deposit.

I was genuinely blown away by how inaccessible the property market was. So I looked at the option of shared ownership. It’s a government scheme that’s supposed to be a good way to get on the housing ladder. You pay part of the mortgage and rent on the rest of the property. In 2018 I bought a 2-bed flat that was one stop away from Bank Station in London. The property was £395,000 which I never would’ve been able to afford in my wildest dreams. But with my deposit of £30,000 I could take out a mortgage of £108,000 on it and the rest would be paid as rent under the scheme.

You’ll end up in a mortgage prison
Bear in mind, at the time I was buying it was before the negative headlines about building standards in the UK with the cladding scandal and before the terrible news about Grenfell tower. I had complete trust in the system. Coming from Italy, where public trust in politicians and the housing system is low, I had a very positive perception of the UK. My family and I trusted it as a place that was above board, socially-minded, fair and progressive. But in the past year I have realised this is not the case.

[HowMuch!]

"trust in the system", not really the issue, buying a 3rd of something and renting 2/3rds and thinking it was a good idea is the problem.

Not everyone in life can be a winner and it really is the case lost of these people need to be burnt for things to correct. 

[msi]

"I trusted it as a place that was above board, socially-minded, fair and progressive."

 

Not any more.  Br*xit, the rabid right, and the foaming 'spoons squad ruined that.

[shlomo]

 

"I trusted it as a place that was above board, socially-minded, fair and progressive."

 

Not any more.  Br*xit, the rabid right, and the foaming 'spoons squad ruined that.

It was a good trick but it no longer works

 

[Si1]

A little bit similar

https://www.lbc.co.uk/radio/presenters/nick-ferrari/cladding-crisis-huge-removal-fees-means-caller-will-be-homeless-by-christmas/

 

[MonsieurCopperCrutch]

 

"I trusted it as a place that was above board, socially-minded, fair and progressive."

 

Not any more.  Br*xit, the rabid right, and the foaming 'spoons squad ruined that.

Foaming 'spoons squad. 😂

Nice one. Have to remember that one. 👌

[steve99]

She was about 40 years out of whack with ''My family and I trusted it as a place that was above board, socially-minded, fair and progressive. ''   Thatcher ended that and seeing as Thatcher's ''children'' as I now call them are running the show now, being spoilt brats full of arrogance and contempt for real people and any sense of altruism, fairness, progressive society and cohesiveness has long been flushed down the toilet in order to fill the pockets of the scrounger class that pays little or no tax and operates their finances from some sunny isle.  Just look at our billionaire business leaders line of talk during the lockdown to see what I mean .   Blair and chums was supposed to undo the regressive Tory monetization of everything but instead carried on with it while tinkering with social policy (better than nothing and better than today however) 

[A.steve]

 

You’ll end up in a mortgage prison

The OP is still free to default and escape 'prison' as a bankrupt.  From what I see, the problem is with having made spectacularly poor decisions about a very expensive purchase.  Willingness to pay absurdly expensive prices on credit is exacty why everyone is in the mess we are all in today.

[spacedin]

 

"I trusted it as a place that was above board, socially-minded, fair and progressive."

It's kinda mad that anyone whose spent time renting in the UK could think that. 

Edited November 26, 2020 by spacedin

[Byron]

Can anybody explain why foreigners have this inflated opinion of the UK and not realise what a tatty run down thoroughly nasty place it is?

The UK is best suited to chancers, trouserers, snouters, glib talking merchants and other spivs.

She says,

I trusted it as a place that was above board, socially-minded, fair and progressive.

Where did this idea come from? it is so out of kilter with what the place really is.

[ucnvpe0]

 

Can anybody explain why foreigners have this inflated opinion of the UK and not realise what a tatty run down thoroughly nasty place it is?

The UK is best suited to chancers, trouserers, snouters, glib talking merchants and other spivs.

She says,

I trusted it as a place that was above board, socially-minded, fair and progressive.

Where did this idea come from? it is so out of kilter with what the place really is.

I'm not sure where it comes from but i think it's always been the case. Maybe it's linked to the British empire.

A European will grow up seeing a rose tinted view. They might visit London as a tourist, like the fact they speak English and have nostalgic mental images of the Queen/ British institutions.

[dryrot]

 

The OP is still free to default and escape 'prison' as a bankrupt.  From what I see, the problem is with having made spectacularly poor decisions about a very expensive purchase.  Willingness to pay absurdly expensive prices on credit is exacty why everyone is in the mess we are all in today.

+1. I might go and work in Italy, but would be cautious before semi-buying a Euro 410k flat in a Milan suburb.

(I noted the source was "Glamour UK" magazine. The lifestyle does'nt sound very glamourous to me

[Pop321]

Shared ownership. Worst of both worlds. 😉

[24gray24]

 

She was about 40 years out of whack with ''My family and I trusted it as a place that was above board, socially-minded, fair and progressive. ''   Thatcher ended that and seeing as Thatcher's ''children'' as I now call them are running the show now, being spoilt brats full of arrogance and contempt for real people and any sense of altruism, fairness, progressive society and cohesiveness has long been flushed down the toilet in order to fill the pockets of the scrounger class that pays little or no tax and operates their finances from some sunny isle.  Just look at our billionaire business leaders line of talk during the lockdown to see what I mean .   Blair and chums was supposed to undo the regressive Tory monetization of everything but instead carried on with it while tinkering with social policy (better than nothing and better than today however) 

Prime example being philip green?

Shareholders trousering the pension fund at BHS. And now topshop hollowed out from the inside out and then left to go bust. 

While sir p is sitting on his yacht in Monaco, laughing with the other shareholders.   

"We're all in this together" as the saying goes...

[This time]

 

Bear in mind, at the time I was buying it was before the negative headlines about building standards in the UK with the cladding scandal and before the terrible news about Grenfell tower. 

Lies - Grenfell was in 2017, anyone buying a flat in a clad building since then is an idiot.

[shlomo]

 

Lies - Grenfell was in 2017, anyone buying a flat in a clad building since then is an idiot.

Perhaps, but why did no one tell him/her why did the solicitors allow it why did the government change the legislation, I am so happy I did not buy it a flat I cannot see a way out of this problem 

Edited November 29, 2020 by shlomo

[This time]

 

Perhaps, but why did no one tell him/her why did the solicitors allow it why did the government change the legislation, I am so happy I did not buy it a flat I cannot see a way out of this problem 

You'd need to have been hiding under a rock to not have been aware that the cladding was a major problem at Grenfell and that it met fire safety standards at the time.

[Sprrite]

Correct me  if I'm wrong but I thought the ews1 form covers cladding issues. Lenders won't lend without it post grenfell.

[shlomo]

 

You'd need to have been hiding under a rock to not have been aware that the cladding was a major problem at Grenfell and that it met fire safety standards at the time.

No, by coming to HPC we are experts on the subject matter we thrash out the pros and cons, some people do not get out much, and are bamboozled by suits and monkey see monkey do. 

[shlomo]

 

Correct me  if I'm wrong but I thought the ews1 form covers cladding issues. Lenders won't lend without it post grenfell.

Most people were not knowledgeable on this until they tried to sell, i think this is a more recent issue but i could be wrong. 

[scottbeard]

 

"I trusted it as a place that was above board, socially-minded, fair and progressive."

 

Not any more.  Br*xit, the rabid right, and the foaming 'spoons squad ruined that.

If you actually read the article, there is absolutely nothing that she has encountered that isn't above board, socially-minded, fair or progressive.

What she is complaining about is that the lease will eventually run out and cost money to extend, and that it wasn't easy to convert to a BTL mortgage when she had to move to Ireland for work but wanted to keep the flat in London, and that she needed to pay £600 for a safety certificate because of the problems with cladding on the building etc.

I'm not clear how Brexit, the rabid right, or drinkers in Wetherspoons have impacted this.

[richmondtw]

 

I'm not clear how Brexit, the rabid right, or drinkers in Wetherspoons have impacted this.

Nor can anyone

msi just rants about Brexit and tries to show how woke he it at every opportunity

He is obsessed 

[Si1]

More whingeing

I haven't made a fortune from random home ownership with no due diligence, telegraph says something must be done:

https://www.telegraph.co.uk/property/uk/dont-want-die-flat-first-time-buyers-trapped-shared-ownership/

 

[dryrot]

Ross Clark comes galloping in (a bit late but welcome nonetheless):

https://life.spectator.co.uk/articles/the-perils-of-shared-ownership/

I noted:

"Moreover, I have a suspicion that shared ownership has contributed significantly to house price inflation – even if we can never know for sure. Would developers really be able to sell all these £400,000 one bedroom flats in pretty ordinary parts of London were it not for shared ownership? They certainly wouldn’t find enough owner-occupiers to pay those sums – without substantial capital, you would need an income of near £100,000 to buy such a property outright, an income enjoyed by only around two per cent of the working population. Shared ownership has allowed developers to put fancy price tags on properties which they might otherwise struggle to sell."

+ 100

 

[Pop321]

 

Ross Clark comes galloping in (a bit late but welcome nonetheless):

https://life.spectator.co.uk/articles/the-perils-of-shared-ownership/

I noted:

"Moreover, I have a suspicion that shared ownership has contributed significantly to house price inflation – even if we can never know for sure. Would developers really be able to sell all these £400,000 one bedroom flats in pretty ordinary parts of London were it not for shared ownership? They certainly wouldn’t find enough owner-occupiers to pay those sums – without substantial capital, you would need an income of near £100,000 to buy such a property outright, an income enjoyed by only around two per cent of the working population. Shared ownership has allowed developers to put fancy price tags on properties which they might otherwise struggle to sell."

+ 100

 

Good spot and nicely extracted.

Will he make the connection from shared ownership to HTB, low interest rates, stamp duty holidays etc etc 

it’s becoming increasingly obvious to many that house prices have been allowed to rise for the benefit of house builders, banks and Co. 😉

It is also becoming increasingly obvious it not a good thing. 👍🏻