How Shared Ownership helped couple secure their first home.

After five years of wanting their own home, Katherine and Aiden decided to explore Shared Ownership.

As first-time buyers, the couple knew their chances of being able to afford to buy their dream home on the open market was unlikely, so they wanted to discover more about affordable home ownership. That’s when they turned to our Mays Place development in Bourne and they’re now the proud owners of a home which they can call their own.

What does Shared Ownership mean?

Shared Ownership is an affordable way of buying a home and getting onto the property ladder if you can’t afford to buy on the open market. Depending on how much you can afford, you can usually buy up to 75 percent of a home’s shares.

This means you need a smaller mortgage and deposit, and then you pay an affordable rent on the remaining share.

Is Shared Ownership affordable?

Katherine and Aiden were living with family and struggling to take their first step onto the housing ladder. By buying a share in a home and paying affordable rent on the rest of the property, Shared Ownership  is an attractive model to many.

“We originally looked at buying outright, but we were struggling with the deposit and the amount we could get on a full mortgage limited what we could look at.

"We considered private rent, but we knew it wouldn't be sustainable in the long term. After learning about Shared Ownership, we looked into it further and discovered Mays Place on the Longhurst Group website. We had a viewing and were very interested."

Can I ever own 100% of my home through the Shared Ownership?

Staircasing allows shared owners to buy more shares in their home at a time that’s affordable to them. It’s a simple process, and our Asset Sales Team will help you through the purchase at each step of the way. This was another attraction for Katherine.

“We bought 40 percent initially, but we want to staircase gradually and eventually own the home outright.”

We can buy more of the property over time, while still owning our own home now.

Why Mays Place?

The quality of the homes at Mays Place was a significant factor in Katherine's decision to make it her home.

She added, "We liked the fact the the homes were finished to a high standard and that the development is quite open and less boxed in than other new build sites we looked at. The home is laid out well with an open plan kitchen and larger rooms. Mays Place appealed in particular because it had garage options, which are often hard to come by.”

Katherine recommends Shared Ownership

Now moved in, Katherine has been reflecting on her experience. She said she’d highly recommend Shared Ownership as an affordable way of buying your first home.

“We found the process very straightforward and were kept up-to-date all the way along. Everyone we dealt with was very helpful.

“I’d recommend Shared Ownership – it’s a useful way to get on the property ladder with various options, as well as the ability to own the property outright eventually.”

 

Search for your dream home with Longhurst Group

 Search our homes today to see what we currently have available in your area.