‘JUST THE SECURITY OUR FAMILY NEEDED’
JENNY ONGLEY and husband David had been renting for more than a decade when they decided to find a permanent base for their family. ‘We’d hoped to buy somewhere in 2008 but the crash hit and postponed things. 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,’ explains Jenny, a civic officer for Kent council.
Buying outright was too expensive and although they were familiar with shared ownership, the new homes they’d looked at were outside their preferred area. However, Jenny found a home available through shared ownership resale scheme in Rainham, close to where they were living. It was listed on Share to Buy, a nationwide portal for shared ownership homes.
Resale properties are ones that existing shared owners wish to sell on, and buyers must purchase a stake that’s the same size as or bigger than that currently owned. ‘I didn’t expect the house to be so spacious,’ says Jenny. ‘The kids used to squabble about who got which bedroom at our old rental property, but all three bedrooms here are good sizes,’ she says. ‘It was a doer-upper for sure but David’s a decorator and we knew it could be made ours. And the location was ideal, near our girls’ school and all their clubs.’
The couple quickly purchased the 25 per cent share on offer. ‘The process took three months, and we also found our mortgage through Share to Buy,’ continues Jenny. ‘Because David is selfemployed, he didn’t have three years’ worth of accounts, but the sales team smoothed it over and made everything straightforward, rather than a chore.’
As a family, they now have security of tenure, and their monthly overheads work out at £200 per month less than when they were renting. In time, Jenny
‘I WAS SO FED UP WITH RENTING... IT FELT LIKE MONEY DOWN THE DRAIN’
AILISH FOAD, a solicitor in her twenties, moved to London from Reading three-and-a-half years ago to start her training contract. She rented homes in Acton and Stratford before deciding to buy. ‘I was keen to get on the property ladder because I was so fed up of renting,’ she explains. ‘I was paying almost £1,000 every month and it felt like I was just throwing money away.’
Without a deposit big enough to buy a flat outright, Ailish researched her options carefully before settling on shared ownership. ‘I decided against Help to Buy because I was worried about having to pay interest on the equity loan after five years. Buying a shared ownership property enabled me to get a home quickly and with a relatively small deposit,’ she explains. Last September she visited the First Time Buyer show
– a one-stop shop for firsttime buyers with representatives from housing associations and developers all under one roof – and came across Newlon Living, which provides shared ownership homes across east and north London.
She was drawn to Pimento at Goodman’s Fields built in conjunction with Berkeley Homes and located on the edge of the City near Aldgate
East station. After viewing, she made a formal application and purchased a share of a one-bed apartment. ‘The development appealed to me instantly.
Ailish enjoys having the freedom of her own flat on the Pimento development (above)