Shared Ownership offers hope to first time home buyers in Wokingham

Sovereign Living Press Release
Date: 03 February 2012


Shared Ownership offers hope to first time home buyers in Wokingham

The housing situation in the South East is worsening. The average price of property in Wokingham is £312,545, which is 11.5 times higher than the average local income, £27,269.

However, shared ownership offers a low-cost way for people to meet their aspirations to buy a property of their own.

A government initiative, shared ownership allows you to part-rent and part-buy your property, making it much more affordable.

Entry levels can start from as little as 25 per cent, with the homebuyer paying a subsided rent on the remaining share; the bigger the share you own, the less rent you pay.

The other share of the property is usually owned by a housing association. At a later stage, if the property owner wishes, they can purchase a larger share of the home.

In a report published in December 2011, the National Housing Federation (NHF) warned that many families in the South East, as well as younger and older people, were facing huge difficulties in finding suitable places to live.

“As the NHF report showed, the average house price in Wokingham is now around £312,000, more than 11 times the average income; a whole generation risks being locked out of the housing market, and that ‘affordability gap’ looks set to grow as supply fails to keep up with demand,” said Tony Quigley, Sovereign’s Director of Home Ownership. “Shared ownership offers a way in and constitutes a fantastic opportunity for young local people to realise their aspirations to own their own home.”


Notes to Editors

* Sovereign Living is a non-charitable part of The Sovereign Housing Association Limited, a charitable body. Sovereign Housing Association Limited is one of the largest providers of affordable housing in the south and south-west of England. It owns or manages more than 33,000 properties, offering a variety of tenures.

* If you would like more information, please contact Roy Probert, Public Relations Manager for Sovereign, on 01635 277406 or 07827 356479, or email roy.probert@sovereign.org.uk