Property TV | Property Question Time – Ep 52 – Getting a Deposit for Help To Buy Shared Ownership
Jemma Forte: Okay, Paul, somebody here is saying, “I’m not really sure what the best choice is for my wife and I. We’re aiming to get on the housing ladder, albeit a little late to the party.” Understandable. “My wife is late 30s and I’m in my early 40s. We’ve got a child and another one on the way. House prices are very high where we live, so help to buy shared ownership appears to be the only realistic option. For the size of property we need, deposits required a mortgage amount. This way is affordable, so how do we get that deposit? We can’t move in with our parents. We don’t have any inheritance or the like, so it will just be save, save, save.” It’s so hard these days, isn’t it? What are the best choices open to us?
Paul Mahoney: There are a few options that can help. There’s the first home buyers ISA, where the government makes quite a large contribution to the returns. I believe it’s … it may even be 50%. I don’t know off the top of my head. But it’s quite a large contribution the government makes on a yearly basis. Although, I believe you can only save about 12,000 pounds [inaudible 00:19:54] through that or something. So depending on the price of the property they’re buying, I suppose that will determine how useful that might be for them. From a budgeting perspective, I suppose very simply how we often talk to our clients about how they should try to budget is allocated around 30% of their net monthly income toward their sort of accommodation, the other 30% toward living, and another 30% towards savings. Some people can’t do that, but very roughly, there’s a simple formula. That’s something to aim for and I suppose that extra 30% will help them save toward getting their deposit. Aside from that, of course, it’s just generally being frugal, I suppose, that will get them there.
Jemma Forte: Yeah, yeah. Okay, thank you so much. Yeah and good luck with that. Where there’s a will, there’s a way.
