House Sharing Tips Part 5: now you've opted for sharing a house with others as your way onto the property ladder, you'll need to ensure that anyone you share with will help you create the right environment for sharing. Not only must you find sharers that you personally get on with but these must also be aligned to the goal of developing an individual equity and therefore be prepared to sell up, if conditions seem favourable.
The Green Party's chief concern is the environment. If it managed to win enough seats alongside no party having an overall majority, it might choose to lend its support to a major party to get into No 10. Regardless of whether the major party is led by David Cameron or Ed Miliband, the Greens would most likely demand considerable concessions from that party towards support for the right environment!
The more sharers have things in common, get along and have pre-agreed goals and aspirations, the better will be the likelihood of a good outcome. Sharers can protect themselves even more with a legally-binding agreement.
Find out about Shared Ownership Protection, the legally-binding agreement for house sharers - call 0207 112 5388
How do I pick someone who creates the right environment?
As noted in previous house sharing tip articles, you will most likely be looking to pick a partner, members of your family or friends to share a mortgage and a house with, or you can join Share a Mortgage - our platform is devoted to helping you find someone who is a good match for you.
But beyond making a fine calculation about the likelihood that you'll get on when sharing a house, unless you're living with a partner, you'll want to ensure that a sharer is prepared from the start to dissolve the house share if you all stand to make a large enough capital gain.
The aim of the share is primarily to get you all on the property ladder. It need not have to turn into a lifelong arrangement. The possibility that one or other of you might want to either live on their own or with a future partner must be recognised.
The main political parties jockeying for a place in No 10 in May 2015 will also have to calculate if a potential power sharer can create the best environment for agreement. A party's attitude towards, for example, taxation can reveal much.
How can I ensure that we have common goals to start with?
You have to have as much discussion as you can before being satisfied that you can commit to house sharing with someone else. You must clearly communicate your goals for the share - as must all others involved.As discussed previously, the expense you would all incur if you sold up before the end of the early repayment charging period would normally be too much to justify. You must therefore all agree to keep the share going for at least that long. After that, it depends on how the housing market has behaved in the interim.
Is there any way we can set down what we've agreed in a legally-binding document?
Yes you can. You can set down pre-agreed strategies within a legally binding document which not only look at what you expect to happen but also can cover what might happen in adverse situations. Sharers, for example, need to have clear ways to leave any share in an emergency.
You set these strategies down in a form of cohabitation agreement. Share a Mortgage's Shared Ownership Protection not only offers this but also a declaration of trust, which makes it easy to calculate what any sharer's beneficial ownership in a share is at any given time. All sharers have equal input into Shared Ownership Protection and each agreement is bespoke.
Political parties in coalition rely on binding agreements to help their power sharing arrangements; residential sharers can now also do the same, for the benefit of all parties.
