How Shared Ownership helped this family move out of their rented home

Shared Ownership is designed to enable those who can’t afford to buy their own home on the open market the ability to do so.

This is exactly what Liam Fish and his family did by buying a Shared Ownership home at Longhurst Group’s affordable housing development, The Spires in Grantham.

Liam has moved into his home with his partner Katharine and his 18-month-old daughter Maisie on a Shared Ownership basis, having been the first person to enquire about the development many months ago.

Can Shared Ownership help you out of renting privately?

Yes. For most people, Shared Ownership is more affordable than renting an equivalent property through a private landlord. This is because you’ll own a percentage of your property and will only need to pay rent on the remaining shares. This rent is also capped at 80 percent of the market rate.

Shared Ownership has meant we can move up the homeownership ladder, be out of private renting and into our own home

This was certainly the case for Liam. He said: “Having been renting privately for nearly eight years, we found it hard to save for a deposit and with house prices rising each year, we knew that Shared Ownership was our best option. We knew we’d be silly not to go for it.

We also thought about Rent to Buy, as well as properties that weren’t Longhurst Group homes, but we always had The Spires in our hearts from day one. We’d been walking past the development most weekends and now we’re very happy we stuck with our gut instincts.

Shared Ownership has meant we can move up the home ownership ladder, be out of private renting and into our own home, which is great for peace of mind. It’s made everything more affordable and with prices rising, I believe Shared Ownership may soon become the only way for people in the same situation as me to own their own home."

Can you own 100 percent of your shared ownership home?

Liam is already setting his sights on owning 100 percent of the property and praised the Shared Ownership model for making homeownership more affordable.

The process of purchasing more shares in your home is called staircasing. For most homeowners, this means having the opportunity to purchase up to 100 percent of the property. This can be done in five percent increments until you own the freehold.

Liam said: “I’m aware of staircasing and have my eyes on purchasing more shares. Our aim is to own 100 percent one day.”

Finding the right Shared Ownership home

Finding your dream can be one of the most exciting things you’ll ever do. For some homeowners, it can mean a search on a property website. For first-time buyers, Liam and Katharine, it was a case of following The Spires from planning permission to reservation.

I love that the property comprises everything we need, with a spacious garden, a driveway and everything is brand new

Talking about how they came to reserve their home, Liam said: “As soon as we saw that planning permission had been granted, we registered. Longhurst Group produces beautiful and affordable homes, giving people like me the chance to own their own home.

Liam and Katharine had been interested in another Shared Ownership property by Longhurst Group in the area that they unfortunately missed out on. That's why they jumped at the opportunity to buy a home at The Spires. Liam said: "I love that the property comprises everything we need, with a spacious garden, a driveway and everything is brand new."

Liam and his family were also the first people to move into their home at The Spires – something he’s pleased to be able to claim.

“It’ll be a great addition to the history books in time to come. When people ask about the history of the site in future generations, we’ll have our own little piece of it."

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