Shared Ownership Success Stories: Renata

First time buyer staircases in her Shared Ownership home in Zone 3

A one stop shop for first time buyers, Share to Buy offers all there is to know about Shared Ownership! On our website, you can search for properties in your area, check out our helpful FAQs and guides, and even access budget calculators which outlines the monthly repayments of a Shared Ownership home including mortgage, rent and service charge.

It was this calculator that attracted first time buyer, Renata, to the website back in 2014. The 44 year old first visited Share to Buy when researching where she could buy in London, and using the estimates it gave her, found that she could afford to buy a one bedroom apartment in Harlesden, NW10, through Shared Ownership with Catalyst. Facilities Manager Renata revisited the website 18 months ago when she remortgaged, using the specialist staircasing calculator to work out her best options.

Renata explains: “I’d struggled to save while renting, slowly putting aside whatever I could. A friend who had used the scheme previously suggested that I looked into Shared Ownership, so I started my search online and came across Share to Buy. I learned a lot on the website – all the information I could have ever needed was on there; it became my bible. The Shared Ownership calculator was the best thing of all, as it gave me a good starting point of what I could afford. It showed me that I had enough saved to buy immediately, something I thought I was a while away from!”

She continues: “The huge number of properties listed on the Share to Buy website gave me a lot of choice all in one place, even with my limited budget. Shared Ownership meant I could afford a brand new home in Zone 3, which I didn’t think I would be able to manage in a million years for my first home.

“I bought a 40% share in my apartment initially, but last year I decided to weigh up my options and looked into remortgaging. I headed back to the Share to Buy website and found that, by again using their calculator tools, I could afford to staircase, and bought an additional 10% of my property. It was so worth doing, as I’m now on a much better interest rate, in addition to owning more of my home, meaning less rent to pay.”

Share to Buy is a one stop shop for affordable homes. On our website, you can search for properties, compare mortgages, and find out all you need to know about alternative home buying schemes using our FAQs and guides. You can also hear from more buyers on our Shared Ownership Success Stories and Help to Buy Success Stories!