I’m happy to say I’m one of those lucky people who enjoys going to work every day.. no really!. I’ve been passionate about property since I can remember, so working for Open Door and the amazing team here, I get to do what I love which is helping customers find their dream home.
For many people, the idea of owning a home can seem like a distant dream, especially with house prices on the increase, and people feeling the pinch more and more with the cost of everyday essentials creeping up but I’ve worked with Open Door now for 5 years, and in that time I’ve helped people with a range of financial and family circumstances make owning a home a reality.
From young couples taking their first step onto the property ladder, single parents needing extra space, to people who have owned their own home previously but are having to start over after a relationship breakdown, one thing they’ve all had in common is that Shared Ownership has been a perfect option for all of them.
When I first follow up on an enquiry for one of our homes, I often get asked if I can explain what Shared Ownership is as the customer either hadn’t heard about it before, or they’d heard a bit but still didn’t really ‘get it’ so let me explain a bit more.
Shared Ownership is a way to buy your own home if you can’t afford to buy a house outright. It’s a great way to get onto the housing ladder and costs are often lower than other home ownership options.
Based on what you can afford, you buy a share in a home and pay a reduced rent on the share that you don’t own. We ( Halton Housing) owns the share that you rent.
Of course, like any responsible business like ours we have to carry out eligibility and affordability checks to make sure the customer can afford the property, and that
it’s sustainable too. We’re always honest too, so if we don’t think Shared Ownership is right for a customer, we’ll be upfront about it to avoid any disappointment further down the line.
If Shared Ownership isn’t quite the right route to home ownership we also have other ways to get onto the property ladder such as Rent to Buy, which you can read about here. We even have some ‘pre-loved’ rent to buy homes which you can find here, so there are so many affordable home ownership options, but we work closely with our customers to find the best for them.
At Open Door, we pride ourselves on helping people get onto the property ladder, and I love being part of that, our great team are genuinely always happy to help, whatever the question or query – we’re only a phone call or email away.
As the saying goes; ‘as one door closes, another one opens’ so although my job is done (well almost), at Orchard Meadows, I’m excited that I’ll soon be taking the lead at another exciting development.. I can’t say too much about that for now, other than watch this space..our Open Door followers will be the first to know.
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