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 [...]]]>

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.

Housing co-operatives

For those who want to move on from the house/flat/home share scenario, who need more space and somewhere long term to live, and who may have children too, the [...]]]>

The second of two posts about ways that sharing can help people find suitable accomodation solutions, specificaly looking at:

• Homeshares – see previous post
• Housing co-operatives – below

Housing co-operatives

For those who want to move on from the house/flat/home share scenario, who need more space and somewhere long term to live, and who may have children too, the options are getting ever more constrained. Even if they can pay the mortgage, have they got the deposit? Is their credit rating good enough? Is the bank feeling helpful today.

One route forward is to get together with a group of like-minded people and families, and buy a large property together. One mechanism which protects everyone (in what can be a complex legal and financial situation) is to form a not-for-profit, fully mutual co-operative which purchases the property. Each person pays rents to the co-operative, which is used to pay the mortgage taken out by the co-operative. This arrangement makes it easier for people to leave/join, but also gives the “tenants” total control upon the property.

The end result is that people have a way of affording a decent living space, usually with a bigger garden and living area, often in a better location. There may also be other benefits such as helping each other with childcare etc. Radical Routes website has some good information and they also lend money to housing co-operatives to form the deposit. They are rightly very demanding of potential housing co-operatives; they want clear evidence that people have discussed all the possibilities and fully understand what they are doing.

Homeshare and housing co-operatives won’t work for everyone and they need careful consideration, but I can see both growing steadily over the next few years.

One of the panellists was [...]]]>

Last Sunday I was in the audience at the BBC’s The Big Questions programme.  I went along because one of the questions being discussed was “Is it still acceptable to have a second home?”  As you might expect my view is generally “yes, but I’d be happier if you shared it”.

One of the panellists was Jonathan Bartley, director of the religious think-tank Ekklesia.  During the debate he explained that he lived with another family and several other people in several properties.  Well I had to find out more.

I had an interesting chat with Jonathan and found out how his sharing arrangement works.  Several years ago, he was working with a good friend on a charity dot.com.  Like Jonathan, his friend was interested in communal living.  Following an idle “what if we buy a house together” conversation, Jonathan and his wife wound up buying a six bedroom terraced house on several floors in Streatham, London with his friend.  Jonathan and his wife’s share was 75% and his friend had a 25% stake.

Then his friend’s brother moved in too.  When his friend married, his friend bought the house two doors down and Jonathan bought out his friend’s stake in the first house.

Time moved on, both families had children and one of Jonathan’s children is a wheelchair user, which isn’t easy to accommodate in a tall terraced house.  So Jonathan bought the ground floor flat in the house in between and connected it to his house.  This created a three bedroom apartment on the ground floor of both houses. On the upper floors of Jonathan’s house live his son’s carer and three other adults who rent rooms. There is also a shared office.

All three gardens have been joined together and everyone contributes to expenses and food costs. The group is a mix of Christians and non-Christians, with many different lifestyles, but everyone gathers together for a communal meal on Wednesdays, which alternates between the two houses.

Jonathan is understandably delighted with the sharing arrangement.  They live in a great house, in a great location, and everyone enjoys being part of the group.  The arrangement succeeds not only because everyone is like-minded and willing to make it work, but also because the ownership has always been clearly defined. When the first property was joint owned, there was a formal contract in place. Jonathan clearly understands the importance of clarity and contracts.

When he first mentioned the sharing set-up on The Big Questions I was intrigued as one thing I’ve learned with yours2share is that arrangements between friends are the most likely to fail because friends can’t or don’t want to discuss them properly at the outset.

It’s lovely to see an example where friends have worked it out a sharing arrangement so well.

I’m glad that the major managed car clubs such as City Car Club are starting to become more mainstream.  But I’m keen to ensure people [...]]]>

I’ve added a new page to yours2share explaining the various types of car clubs and all the associated terminology: fractional ownership, joint ownership, shared ownership, car share, liftshare etc etc.

I’m glad that the major managed car clubs such as City Car Club are starting to become more mainstream.  But I’m keen to ensure people also know that they can set up their own informal car club.  This is particularly appropriate for people who live in rural areas and villages and towns where the managed car clubs are not ecomonic.  The baked bean club is a great example of an informal car club operating in Hastings.

Informal car clubs are also appropriate for people who want to share a less mainstream car: a convertible or classic car.  Often these kinds of informal car club have only two or three owners.