MINE. ALL MINE!
STAIRCASING TO OUTRIGHT OWNERSHIP HAS PUT A SMILE ON THE FACE OF THIS DENTAL HYGIENIST, SAYS ANDREA DEAN
WHEN Hesham Elnagar bought a 60 per cent share of a property seven years ago, like many of those using shared ownership, he had always aimed to eventually own it outright.
Research from So Resi and Cambridge University found that between two and three per cent of shared owners staircase to full ownership each year – and this year Hesham, a dental hygienist, is delighted to be one of them.
After renting locally for six years, in 2014 he purchased 60 per cent of a two-bed apartment with a full market value of £160,000 at SO Resi’s Shillibeer Court development in Edmonton, with the eventual goal of purchasing the remaining share.
‘I wanted to get onto the property ladder, but with a single income it would have been impossible to buy a similarly sized property on the open market as house prices are quite high in Edmonton,’ he explains. ‘Shared ownership seemed like a logical option as it meant I could become a homeowner at an affordable price. I always knew that I wanted to increase my share and after moving in I started saving up, putting aside any extra money each month.’
Prior to staircasing, Hesham’s apartment was valued at £245,000 and he paid £98,000 for the 40 per cent share.
‘Owning 100 per cent of my home feels like a really big achievement and I am proud that I managed to do this thanks to the flexibility of shared ownership,’ he says. ‘The value has also increased as Edmonton and the surrounding areas are becoming more popular, so I know I have made a good investment by buying early.
‘Purchasing through shared ownership and then staircasing last year was actually very straightforward. It has allowed me to become a homeowner in an area that I love, close to friends and family, which otherwise wouldn’t have been possible.’