Jenny & David – Shared Ownership buyers in Gillingham
Shared Ownership success story in Kent
Jenny and her husband David had been renting for over a decade, when they decided it was time to jump onto the property ladder.
“We’d hoped to buy somewhere in 2008 but the crash hit and postponed things. But we’re in our thirties now and have young daughters, so want to give them a place they can put down roots and call home.”
Buying outright was too expensive and previous Shared Ownership properties the couple had looked at were outside of their preferred area. However, after a bit of research, Jenny found a three bedroom semi-detached home available through Shared Ownership resale in her local neighbourhood of Gillingham which was listed on Share to Buy, the UK’s best-established property portal for Shared Ownership homes.
It took a single viewing for Jenny to realise it was the right home for her family: “The location was ideal. It was near our girls’ school and all their clubs, so there wasn’t any disruption to their routine. I also didn’t expect the house to be so spacious. The kids used to squabble about who got which bedroom at our old rental property, but all three bedrooms here are good sized. It was a doer-upper for sure but David’s a decorator and we knew it could be made ours.”
Two months in, Jenny and David still love their first home – and so do their two daughters: “I was really worried that the kids wouldn’t like it”, she confesses, “but they’re really happy. We’ve discovered the house backs onto a nature reserve, so they spend a lot of time running around exploring that.”
The Shared Ownership system has also worked well for the family. With all the costs that raising young children entails, Jenny and David had struggled to get together the deposit for a private sale home. However, the £3,000 deposit on their current property was far more manageable, as are their monthly overheads – they pay £200 a month less than when they were renting!
It’s also made them feel far more secure: “The landlord at our old place kept threatening to sell up and leave us in the lurch, which produced a lot of anxiety. Now we’ve got a stake in something, we aren’t at the mercy of someone else. It’s a good feeling.”
Jenny and David decided to purchase an initial 25% share in their home; the process took just three months and they also found their mortgage through Share to Buy. In time, they hope to purchase more shares in their home, with the ultimate aim of owning the house altogether.
For now, though, they’re enjoying their new life: “There’s actually money left over to buy stuff for the house and the kids. We wouldn’t have that freedom if we stuck in renting or bought somewhere outright. This has been a perfect solution.”