Vicki shares how shared ownership opened doors and new opportunities for her and her family…
We looked at lots of different options of buying or renting, and some different locations but none seemed to fit quite right for our family. I hadn’t thought about shared ownership at first but knew that we would struggle to buy a property in the location we wanted on the open market.
Vicki speaks about how shared ownership was a new option to stay local
How did you find your property?
We were aware of some houses being built in the next town, so we drove to have a look at them, that’s when we noticed a development being built in a village on the way and that’s how we found Settle. It felt like the right time for some more research into shared ownership, so we read the information on the Settle website and felt it was right for our circumstances. After speaking to the sales team, shared ownership was the definitely the right option for us.
What were your circumstances before finding shared ownership?
Myself and my husband grew up in the local area and wanted to stay here. Now with a family of our own we knew we wanted to live locally. However, we also knew that we couldn’t afford to buy there and have the property size that we needed for our 3 children. My husband has his own business, which has been particularly challenging due to the pandemic over the last 2 years. I also had some debt, and with minimal savings we had never even really looked into buying a property, I think we were resigned to the fact that it was just out of our reach, especially for what we needed in terms of number of bedrooms for the children.
We had always rented, however we are both in our forties and knew that we didn’t want to rent any more and wanted some security for our children.
It’s ours!!! We feel so much more secure now we own our own home, it felt like a weight had been lifted when we moved in. We love that we can paint or decorate if we want to, and our children (& the dog) feel really secure too. I also felt reassured that as a new build property, we were protected if anything went wrong as there was a defect period.
Vicki feels secure in her new home
Would you recommend shared ownership to others?
I would 100% recommend shared ownership. From the very first phone call with Settle, I knew this was the right path for us. I felt like I had a connection with the staff team and everyone was so personable. We love our home and the location is just right for us. I love that I can staircase in the future. We’ve got our feet firmly on the housing ladder now which is great for us.
with provisions of staircasing, shared ownership continues to provide new opportunities.
Ready to take your fist step into shared ownership? Click here to view our current developments.
