A single mum who works 50 hour weeks for the NHS has had her dream of owning her own home dashed by a £37,000 price hike.
Ellen Perry from Chester has been working extra shifts for the past two and a half years in a bid to save up enough money to get her feet on the property ladder. She was hoping to move into a new three-bed property through a shared ownership scheme at a development in Saughall.
Ellen, a healthcare assistant at the Countess of Chester Hospital, wants to provide a home of their own for her and her teenage daughter. She said she had agreed the price of £250k with Flintshire-based Thompson Developments and paid a £500 deposit on the house back in November 2021.
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The mum told Cheshire Live she signed up to buy it through a shared ownership scheme, which involves buying 50% of the property, while a landlord owns the other 50%. Ellen said she had even been given a completion date of the end of March 2022.
But Ellen said the move has been hit with delays and the date kept being pushed back. She said she was told in October her mortgage rate was going up by £140 a month due to interest rates rising.
She is now devastated to have been told the price of the three-bed property has gone up by £37,000, taking it out of her reach financially. Ellen said she simply can't afford this higher price and is now out of pocket to the tune of around £1,000.
Ellen said she has also had to fork out for solicitor's and mortgage fees, as well as a deposit on new flooring for her dream home.
She said she had been told that the developers, North Wales-based Thompson Developments had moved the shared ownership contract from Knutsford-based Auxesia Homes to Leeds-based Heylo Housing and she would now need to deal with them if she is still interested in purchasing the property.
Ellen said she had been visiting the house on a regular basis, taking photos and videos, as her excitement at the prospect of moving into a house of her own grew. However, looking back, she said she noticed the focus in terms of building at the development appeared to go on the privately-sold properties rather than the shared ownership homes.
And so, as time went on, and she was still no closer to moving in, she was horrified to get a phone call this month to inform her that the price of the three-bed property had now gone up. Ellen's mortgage offer has also now expired and she said she would not be able to get a mortgage for the new higher price.
She said she has managed to arrange for the return of her £500 deposit to reserve the plot on the 28-home development called Pear Tree Grange in Saughall. She had even told her landlord that she was moving out and is now having to see if she is able to stay on there for the time being.
Ellen told Cheshire Live: "I’m a single parent and I’m on a low wage working for the NHS. I’ve worked 50-56 hrs per week for the past two and a half years to be able to afford this house. I've been going to what was meant to be my dream home regularly, taking pictures and videos of the progress, thinking soon this house will be mine."
Explaining the process she had gone through to try to buy her dream property, Ellen said: "I put the reservation fee down in December 2021 and everyone else seems to have moved in now apart from the 50% shared ownership property owners.
"They seemed to stop working on my house in October 2022. Two days before Christmas I received a WhatsApp message from the owner of the development company advising me that they’ve parted ways with Auxesia and if I was still interested in buying the house he would put me in the right direction.
"After a telephone conversation he advised that he was dealing with a new affordable company called Heylo and that I would know more after the new year. I contacted Auxesia, as I wondered why they hadn’t told me they were pulling out, and they were shocked and unaware that the development company were doing this.
"On January 9, I was asked to give a number a ring as they’d spoken to the new affordable company. When I phoned, the lady advised that the price of my house had increased from £250,000 agreed in November 2021 to £287,000.
"I can’t afford any increase. My original mortgage was £440 a month then rent on top at £290. After the interest increase my mortgage went to £570.
"When I found out, I couldn't stop crying. We'd even started packing to move to our new home. It's just horrendous. Me and my daughter are devastated."
She is out of pocket to the tune of around £1,000, including around £250 plus VAT on solicitor's fees, £395 to her mortgage company and £500 as part payment on flooring, which she says she will not get back.
Ellen added: "Originally I was going to go for a two-bed house but the affordability let me go for a three-bed so I did. If I'd gone for a two-bed there would only have been a £5,000 increase.
"It's been really upsetting. It's caused me so much stress. "Talk about happy new year for 2023. It was meant to be a fresh start in a lovely new home. Now it's out of my reach.
Ellen said she had been informed that Auxesia had now terminated their contract with Thompson Developments. Cheshire Live contacted Thompson Developments and Auxesia Homes but at the time of publishing no response has been received.
A Heylo spokesperson said: ""Heylo has not entered into any contract with Thompson Developments on this property and at this time has no involvement at all with the property, including any increase in price charges or mortgages.
"All enquiries should be made directly to Thompson Developments who are responsible for delivering the homes on the scheme."
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