When Karen Young got divorced a few years ago, she was looking for somewhere affordable for herself and her two sons to live and thought she had found her dream home at a great price.
She bought a three-bedroom house in the village of Thorpe Willoughby, north Yorkshire, in June 2020 under a shared ownership scheme, costing her £58,000 for 40 per cent ownership of the home.
Karen still had to pay rent on the remaining 60 per cent of the property and service charges, but, at first, all these fees felt reasonable.
“When I first bought the house, my mortgage on the 40 per cent I owned was about £300 a month and my rent and service charges were £225 a month, which felt affordable,” said Karen, who works in retail.
“My plan was that as time went on, I would hopefully buy more of the home and own a greater percentage. However, I haven’t been able to do that.”
Karen, 59, initially moved into the property with her two sons. However, her eldest son, 25, has now moved out and is living with his fiancée. She now lives with her 23-year-old son, as well as her partner and his 25-year-old son.
“I just feel like I wasn’t given the full information about shared ownership when I bought and I feel a bit duped by certain things that I didn’t fully understand or appreciate,” she said.
“My circumstances were that I had sold a property after divorce and couldn’t afford to buy one on my own and shared ownership seemed the perfect solution.
“It was sold to me as affordable housing, but as time has gone on, I have realised it is not affordable as the rent and service charges just keep going up.”
Karen said her mortgage has now gone up to £400 a month. But she is more concerned by the fact her rent and service charges have increased from £225 a month to £394 a month – a rise of 75 per cent – and she fears they will keep rising rapidly.
She ideally wants to staircase, which is the process of gradually buying larger shares of a shared ownership property until you own it outright. When you buy more shares, your mortgage payments increase while your rent payments to the landlord decrease.
However, Karen says there are concerns with doing so.
“Ideally I would like to own my home outright. You can increase ownership by 1 per cent at a time, but if you did that, it would work out very expensive, as each time you would have to pay for a surveyor and legal and admin costs.
“It is also based on the current market value of the house and not when you bought it. So it would be like buying a new property.
“I only own 40 per cent of the house but I am 100 per cent responsible for it and don’t really get anything for the rent part, which doesn’t seem right.”
Karen is also worried about selling her home in the future as not only is it a shared ownership property, it is leasehold with a 125-year lease.
“If I had my time again, I would not have bought shared ownership,” she admitted. “I wish I had saved up for longer and bought outright. But at the time, this suited me.
“Each year, my rent is going up by 4 per cent and I feel the service charges are too high for what we are getting. I am also worried about the length of the lease.
“My mortgage is due to be renewed next year and shared ownership mortgages are more expensive than normal ones. I am currently on a rate of 6.9 per cent, which is about 2 per cent higher than a normal mortgage. It is wrong.
“I love my home, garden and the area. I just wish it wasn’t shared ownership. I feel like it was almost mis-sold to me as affordable housing, but instead, I am trapped in a situation where I am paying more and more.”
‘It’s like the Wild West of unregulated territory’
Max Letvenenko, 47, bought a two-bedroom shared ownership flat in Harrow in 2023 as it suited their requirements at the time and was affordable.
But he described shared ownership as the “Wild West” of unregulated territory and says every year, the service charges keep creeping up without any real justification.
Max, who is a surveyor and lives in the flat with his partner Clarissa and their four-year-old son and eight-month-old daughter, said the value of their flat was £425,000, so buying 35 per cent of that cost them around £148,000.
Max Letvenenko with his partner Clarissa and their two children. He says every year, the service charges keep creeping up without any real justification“At the moment, we are paying about £1,800 altogether, which is for our mortgage, the rent and the service charge.
“We are paying over £1,000 in rent each month, but that is linked to inflation so the annual rise is pretty fair. It is the service charge we are concerned about as that seems to go up rapidly. It is unregulated, a bit like the Wild West and they seem to be able to charge whatever they want.
“Our biggest concern is the service charge as when we moved in, we were paying £130 a month and we are now paying £210 a month.”
Max says that at some point within the next five years, they would like to sell their flat and be able to fully buy their own property. However, he is concerned that if the service charges escalate even higher, the property will become less attractive to potential buyers.
“It is a question of affordability. We couldn’t really afford to buy a property outright so we went for the shared ownership option.”
“We are happy in our flat and we know we won’t be kicked out by a landlord, so in that respect, it feels safe and secure.
“However, it is the longer-term financial implications and understanding of what costs are around the corner which are an issue.”
A spokesperson from the Shared Owners’ Network, which is dedicated to advancing the rights of shared owners, said: “Our inbox is full of emails from shared owners who bought what was marketed as an affordable home, only to find it has become unaffordable.
“Ministers cannot continue to ignore this crisis: we urgently need a government-funded buyback scheme for those left with no way out.”
A Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government spokesperson said: “We know there are issues faced by some who have entered the scheme and we are working at pace to fix these.
“We’re strengthening shared owners’ rights, making it easier to challenge unfair service charges, and ensuring buyers are given better information upfront – we’re continuing to look at what more can be done to improve the experience of shared owners.”
Hence then, the article about i regret buying a shared ownership home my rent and service charges are up 75 was published today ( ) and is available on inews ( Middle East ) The editorial team at PressBee has edited and verified it, and it may have been modified, fully republished, or quoted. You can read and follow the updates of this news or article from its original source.
Read More Details
Finally We wish PressBee provided you with enough information of ( I regret buying a shared ownership home – my rent and service charges are up 75% )
Also on site :
- 20 Years Later, This 2000s Emo Band Remains 'One of the Most Significant Rock Bands' Amid Sold-Out Tour
- Wide-Leg Capri Pants Are a Summer 2026 Wardrobe Staple, and You Can Snag a Pair for Just $10 at Amazon
- Costco's New 12-Piece Glass Food Storage Set Looks So Much More Expensive Than It Is