A steppingstone to a brighter future

A change in your circumstances, like breaking up with a partner, can mean a huge change in the types of properties you can afford to live in, which can lead to former homeowners having to rent instead of buying their own place.

Following a breakup with his partner, Tony wasn’t in a position financially where he could own his own home, but going from being a homeowner to renting wasn’t a move he wanted to take.

I didn’t want to force the sale of our home as it was where my daughter was living with her mum, so I had to find somewhere of my own, but I also didn’t want to throw away money on renting somewhere.

After passing Torus’s Liberty Place development, Tony noticed a sign promoting our shared ownership scheme and he decided to investigate.

With the funds I had available for the deposit, the shared ownership scheme was the ideal move for me and I was able to move into a 2-bedroom duplex on the development.

Following the initial building phase of two apartment buildings, Torus Homes built an additional 28 homes on the development, also available on shared ownership. With Tony’s three-year mortgage up for renewal, he was in a position to move from the 2-bed duplex to a 3-bed semi-detached house.

I moved into my apartment before the houses had been built. My initial plan was to start staircasing on my apartment when my three-year mortgage was up, but when I went to look around the new homes, they were perfect for me.

In the three years I’d been living in the apartment I’d managed to build up enough equity to be able to purchase the shared ownership home.

I put my shared ownership property on the market and I was lucky that the first people who saw it decided they wanted to buy it!

Within 5 months of viewing the new build, Tony was able to move into his new home, just in time for Christmas.

I was able to pick out the exact house I wanted and I went for one with the best sunlight in the garden. Coming from an apartment it was a luxury to have that outdoor space, especially when my daughter came to visit.

Now, six months in, Tony is enjoying his new home.

I like having the security of knowing I’ve got the equity behind me and knowing I’m not wasting my money on rent.

Being built through a housing association, you know the house is going to be build to a good standard and you know it’s going to be cheap to run, which gives you extra peace of mind.

The plan is to continue to increase my ownership of this home and hopefully one day own it outright.

A shared ownership property with Torus Homes can be the steppingstone you need when you don’t have to funds to purchase a home through the traditional means. If you want to know more about our ownership schemes, get in touch with our friendly and knowledgeable team:

Contact us to find out more about the schemes we have available.