“We would never have been able to own a property like ours if it weren’t for Your Home”
“We would never have been able to own a property like ours if it weren’t for Your Home”
October 2023
Andrea Rowland and her husband Peter had been living in a flat in Walsall for many years, when, following Andrea’s early retirement, the couple begin to consider their future plans, deciding that a move to the seaside to be closer to family was on the cards.
Andrea comments “Between Peter and I, our dream had always been to move to the south coast, and be close to his family. We knew the location, so we just needed to find the perfect house for the right price.”
The Rowlands started their property search like most other purchasers – applying for a mortgage, and speaking to estate agents about their options. Andrea had taken early retirement, giving her a large lump sum of money, which was taken into consideration when applying for mortgages.
She explains “We thought that the process would be fairly straightforward, but upon applying we were told that our maximum allowance was £176,000, and that was with our £100k down payment. We’d have been looking at monthly repayments of over £800, which was well beyond our means. We let our agents know that we were struggling to find something that we could afford, and that’s when they told us about Your Home.”
A revolutionary product for the home ownership market, Your Home turn existing properties already for sale into gradual homeownership, giving buyers added flexibility and more choice when it comes to buying a home. Unlike the Government’s shared ownership scheme, Your Home must be a freehold property and cannot be less than one-year old, so it isn’t available on new builds. Buyers will put down a minimum of 25% deposit of the home’s full value, and pay rent to Your Home on the remaining share – which could be more affordable than buying with a traditional mortgage.
Pleasantly surprised by the offer, and the agent’s understanding of the product, the couple immediately booked a call with Your Home to chat about their options.
Andrea says “We had never heard about Shared Ownership before, so it was great to get a deeper understanding of the Your Home product and how it’s different to some of the other options available. We were over the moon to discover that the scheme would make our home ownership dreams a reality, and an affordable one too. We’d considered rental properties which were also through the roof, so to find out that we’d be paying less than £500 a month to own our own home – it was a complete no brainer.”
The couple purchased a 2 bedroom terraced house in Sandown in the Isle of Wight, and haven’t once looked back.
“The house is perfect – we’re living the dream. We’ve had to make hardly any changes to the property other than some painting and getting a new boiler, and we truly couldn’t be happier. We’ve got our first ever garden which is unbelievable to me. I love being outside in nature, and now I can relax in the comfort of my own garden and tend to my very own vegetable patch!
“Location wise, its everything we could want and more. I’ve been swimming in the sea, and we both generally feel like our lives are so much better and healthier living here.
Touching on the process with Your Home and the journey to their new home, Andrea comments; “It’s been amazing, we’re so thrilled. The Your Home team were so helpful and understanding, and we’d recommend them to anyone.”
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