The story of how an MHO equity loan home buyer became and outright owner with help from the MHO after sales team.
Katy White, a school teacher at the Robert Clack School of Science in Dagenham, originally applied to the Key Worker Living scheme with her partner David White, an aviation underwriter, in February 2005. Key Worker Living was a government funded initiative which provided equity loans to key workers to help them buy their first home. Having been accepted onto the scheme, Katy and David went on to buy a 3-bedroom home in Hornchurch with an equity loan of 15% of the value of the home. They moved into the property just four months later, in June 2005 - making home and working life that little bit easier for them both.
“We bought in Hornchurch as we wanted to live close to our families - Sunday roasts and laundry being key factors! Seriously though, I had recently graduated after living away from home for four years and, as David and I had been together for some time, we wanted our independence and to own a home of our own. Buying in Hornchurch meant just a 20 minute car journey to work for me and easy access to the local tube station for David to commute to London."
The additional affordability provided by Key Worker Living, meant that the young couple, who were both in the early stages of their careers, could put down some roots in a home that was big enough for them to live in for years to come.
“We went for a big, bay-fronted, 3-bedroom house because it had lots of room, a large garden, and offered lots of potential.”
It was not too long before Katy and David set about realising that potential, adding an extension, renovating most of the rooms and truly making their home their own. They let MHO know about the work, as changes to a property’s floor-plan can add value to a home, so that when it came to redemption (paying off the equity loan), the couple would not have to pay for any value that they had added.
Being just a short commute away from work has also meant that Katy has been able to make time to realise potential of a different sort, coaching the 11 to 18 year old netball teams at her school on Saturdays. This has helped her players to gain confidence and team skills, winning both Borough and County titles as well as reaching National finals.
After almost five years of affordable home ownership, Katy and David were ready to take the next step to becoming outright owners.
“Being able to buy in the first instance helped us to settle and progress in our careers, resulting in us being in a better financial position now.”
In April 2010, Katy contacted the After Sales team at MHO, who provide a range of services to home owners who have bought with a government funded home ownership product, to get the ball rolling on her redemption (buying out the government funded equity share), which would take place as the couple remortgaged. An independent valuation was then instructed to establish what Katy and David would have to repay for the equity share on their home.
“Helen at MHO was brilliant and helped advise us through the whole procedure. She sorted it out to ensure that we did not have to pay for the increased property value that we had added by investing time and money into our home.”
By early July, the process was complete, and Katy and David’s redemption on their equity being exactly the amount that the original equity loan had been for, giving MHO the opportunity to recycle the funds into the provision of more affordable home ownership. For a £145 fee, the couple moved to outright ownership in the space of 12 weeks. So we asked Katy what was best about being a home owner and what’s next?
“The independence - and we have choices. We’ve put down roots and we’re happy here but if we choose to move in a couple of years – it’s up to us!"