*Shared ownership review* I recently sold my Riverside shared ownership property. Before I start, I would have never got on the property ladder without Riverside so for that I will be eternally grateful and I always found the staff friendly and helpful. Unfortunately, the sales experience left a bad taste in my mouth. You can only communicate with the sales team via email. The response time was meant to be 7 working days (which is ridiculous when trying to sell a house) but found they would take 2 weeks, sometimes longer. I miraculously managed to get the house sold somehow and would like to thank Eleanor, as it would have never happened without her. So 3* for Riverside. This part of the review is about shared ownership in general. The rent and service charges get reviewed annually. On the 75% I didn't own in 4 years the rent went up by £150. Not really "affordable" housing as this wiped out pretty much all the pay rises I had in that period. As a single person, it would essentially be impossible to staircase the property to 100% due to the fact you have to purchase the remaining shares at market value and not at the value you purchase it at. This combined with the rent rises, it is just unfeasible without getting a huge salary increase. The worst thing about it all though... You are responsible for 100% of the property repairs, even if you only "own" 25% of the property. New boiler, new roof, subsidence etc the housing association will NOT contribute to the repairs. This has the potential to leave people in a state of financial ruin. So would I recommend shared ownership with Riverside. I would, however I would go into it with eyes open.
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