CASE STUDY

SHARED ownership did not just get BBC engineer Ultan Molloy on to the housing ladder back in 2011.

Over the next three years he bought further shares in his flat until he owned his whole home.

Now he can enjoy the full benefit of future house price growth.

Ultan, 35, whose job sometimes takes him to far-flung places such as Ukraine and Iraq, had spent seven years renting in London’s Islington before he found out about shared ownership.

He says: ‘I knew the area well and wanted to stay – but with prices so high I never thought it would be possible.’

The one-bedroom flat with a private terrace that Ultan found on Family Mosaic’s Aquarelle House development next to Regent’s Canal was valued at £275,000 – and out of his reach – when he saw it in late 2011. He says: ‘I did a lot of research, had housing association Family Mosaic staff break down the figures for me and then bought a 45 per cent share.

‘It was the only way I could get on to the housing ladder.’

Since then, a higher income and some extra savings allowed him to buy further slices and this year he bought the final share making him the full owner of his flat – though he does, of course, still have his mortgage to repay like any other property owner.

‘The process has been surprisingly straightforward – and I know that without shared ownership I might still be renting today,’ he says.