‘It was offered as a dream however grew to become a nightmare’

Touted as a stepping stone to getting on the property ladder, shared possession was designed to be one reply to a troublesome housing market.

However behind the hope lies a rising wave of discontent, as complaints to the housing watchdog – over repairs, prices and promoting – have soared.

“We had not one of the rights of house owners, and all of the obligations of renters,” mentioned Diana, who collectively along with her husband Chris, purchased a shared possession property in east London in February 2020.

Shared possession schemes contain buying a share of a property and paying lease on the remainder.

However the couple determined to promote in 2021 after discovering it “traumatic”.

They mentioned they needed to attempt to promote by what is named a nomination interval throughout which the housing affiliation or landlord has the unique proper to discover a purchaser for the shared possession residence.

Two years later and £10,000 worse off, after the property was re-evaluated at lower than what they paid, they ultimately offered.

“It is a massive con and we felt trapped,” mentioned Diana.

“Not having the ability to promote was a trauma.”

They’ve gone again to non-public renting as a result of, in keeping with Chris, it’s “a lot less complicated and simpler”.

Now out of it, Diana says she wouldn’t advocate the scheme as a result of “they promote it to you as a dream however then it grew to become a nightmare”.

There are presently about 250,000 shared possession households in England, in keeping with figures.

In 2019-20 there have been about 202,000, in keeping with the English Housing Survey.

Though extra shared possession properties have been being delivered 12 months on 12 months, the criticism figures, obtained by way of a BBC Freedom Of Data (FOI) Act request, present shared possession complaints have risen by virtually 400% up to now 5 years, and are persevering with to rise.

The FOI additionally discovered:

• There was a speedy enhance within the variety of complaints the ombudsman has obtained regarding shared possession tenures; in 2024 it obtained 1,564 – virtually 5 instances the 324 obtained in 2020
• Shared possession complaints have risen quicker than wider social housing ones
• Of the complaints made during the last 5 years, 44% have been primarily based in London, and the South East having the second highest quantity

The commonest complaints relate to repairs, prices, managing relations, and transferring and promoting properties.

Kathy purchased a 40% share with a buddy in a two-bedroom flat in north London in 2017. She pays a subsidised lease on the remaining 60%.

“I haven’t got the financial institution of mum and pa. It was both that or put most of my wage into lease and have this sense that I would by no means be on the property ladder or have my very own area,” mentioned the 44-year-old.

“I like my flat and the group. By way of the place the constructing is situated and the way shut it’s to London, these are all superb issues.

“However it has mega downsides, notably concerning funds and transparency and the extent of service that we obtain from the housing supplier.”

Previously eight years, she mentioned her prices had elevated a lot, together with greater than £200 a month rise in service expenses, that she has needed to get a lodger and can’t afford to extend her share.

Repairs take years to finish, she mentioned, including a buzzer was damaged for a 12 months and a sewage system has been defective since 2012.

“The sewage was overflowing and flowing immediately into the river, and going into the youngsters’s playground. It stank in summertime,” she mentioned.

“They despatched out all these consultants they usually charged every little thing to us. The sewage system was not match for objective so why are we paying?”

Kathy’s housing affiliation just isn’t being named as a result of her neighbours are scared it should devalue the property.

“It is not reasonably priced anymore. I’ve to have a lodger stay in my home simply to assist me pay and maintain my head above water,” Kathy added.

“My long-term plan is to promote – I can not proceed like this.”

Fatima purchased a shared possession property in 2019 after being evicted from two rental properties when her two kids have been youthful.

As a single father or mother, she mentioned there was “no means” she would have been capable of get a mortgage so shared possession was “the one choice”.

Now “in a bind” on account of an 80% enhance in service expenses throughout the final 12 months, Fatima, together with others within the block, complained and mentioned they’d not pay the rise till it had been investigated.

Repairs have been a difficulty for a very long time, she mentioned. When the BBC filmed at her flat, the communal corridors have been heated to 31C (88F) and the elevate was damaged.

“The most important difficulty is all of the heating prices that go into our service expenses are heating the communal hallways. The constructing is cooking from the within.”

She mentioned the shared possession mannequin was an “in-between choice which may work if there weren’t so many corporations concerned”.

There was a freeholder who had appointed a managing agent, in addition to a housing affiliation, she mentioned.

“We do not know who to go to, every little thing takes so lengthy.”

Fatima added: “I’ve an asset but when it is unsellable and unaffordable it isn’t an asset.

“It is all the time on my thoughts. It causes loads of nervousness.”

Housing Ombudsman Richard Blakeway mentioned the “inherent complexities” of shared possession offered challenges to landlords and residents.

“Shared possession has been round for many years, and there are nonetheless some inequities with the best way during which it really works that’s driving complaints to us,” he mentioned.

He described a “mismatch” between the expectation and understanding of the shared proprietor and the owner.

“While it may well begin off as smiles, in a short time we will see that relationship break down.”

He added the variety of events concerned could possibly be “miserable for a shared proprietor; that feeling of being handed from pillar to submit and being fobbed off at completely different elements of the method”.

“I also can see from a landlord’s perspective they do not essentially all the time have all the levers of their palms to resolve the difficulty,” he mentioned.

“Put all of that collectively and you have got an ideal storm – and that is what lands on our desks.”

He added that landlords should enhance communication and transparency, and the federal government ought to deal with “elementary inequities in the best way during which shared possession is designed”.

The Shared Possession Council, a cross-sector initiative, mentioned whereas it believed shared possession had a “key position to play” in addressing housing wants, it recognised it “has not all the time labored in addition to it ought to for everybody” and “key challenges” should be addressed.

“We take the considerations raised by the Housing Ombudsman and shared house owners very severely,” it added.

It has not too long ago developed a code to “standardise greatest practices and shopper safety” making certain, it says, “transparency, equity, and improved assist for shared house owners in advertising, buying and administration of properties”.

However Timea Szabo from the marketing campaign group Shared Homeowners community says it’s “too little, too late”.

“It is a sector that has persistently didn’t adjust to their statutory obligations – a few of the housing suppliers who again the code have a number of maladministration findings to their identify,” she mentioned.

“We don’t assume {that a} voluntary code of follow could have a lot of an impression on their day-to-day expertise.”

Figures shared solely with the BBC present 83 of 140 (59%) of Shared Homeowners members surveyed in February 2025 have struggled to promote their share, for causes together with unresolved constructing issues of safety, excessive service expenses, and a brief lease that the shared proprietor can’t legally prolong.

A Ministry of Housing, Communities and Native Authorities spokesperson mentioned it was “conscious of the challenges confronted by some who’ve entered the scheme”.

The spokesperson added the federal government was “contemplating what extra might be carried out to enhance the expertise of shared house owners, alongside consulting this 12 months on implementing measures to drive up transparency of service expenses, making certain leaseholders and tenants can higher maintain their landlords to account”.