Last night’s edition of Channel 4′s Location, location, location with Kirsty Allsopp and Phil Spencer was interesting as it showed three friends buying a property in London together.
What I particularly liked was this was a sensible look at the shared option, with the neither the pros or cons sensationalised, just simply laid out. It struck me that the three friends had thought about it carefully and it was likely to work well for them. It would be very interesting to go back to see how they get on after a year.
I’m always a bit concerned by young first time buyers buying together: often money is extremely tight and they try to cut corners with insufficient legal advice, their careers are moving swiftly so they may need to move on within a year or two, and they simply lack the wisdom to think everything through. In this case, the three friends were older, had evidentally thought things through and understood the compromises that they were prepared to make.
The point that the friends need their solicitors to draw up a Trust Deed was clearly made, defining exactly how the sharing arrangement will work, and particularly the exit strategy.