Dream home for Melanie, thanks to shared ownership

A home of her own in the village where she grew up seemed a distant prospect for nursing assistant Melanie, but now she’s seen her dreams come true with the help of a Severn Homes shared ownership scheme.

Melanie has now moved into a newly-built home and says she’s delighted to be living in an area that had always seemed out of reach.

She explained: “Saving enough money for a deposit on any home can be difficult but in popular rural locations, house prices tend to be even higher than average.

“My parents still live in the village, but I didn’t think I would ever be able to move close to them until I heard about shared ownership.”

As part of a small development in the area, two homes were made available for shared ownership by Severn Homes – part of Housing Plus Group – for people with local connections like Melanie’s. Buyers were able to purchase up to a 75% share of their property, paying rent on the remainder.

“I certainly couldn’t have afforded to buy a home as nice as this if it wasn’t for the shared ownership scheme offered by Severn Homes,” said Melanie, who has worked at a hospice for the past 13 years.

“I have found my ‘forever’ home and would advise anyone struggling to buy a home outright to consider shared ownership.”

Melanie’s new home was completed earlier this year as part of our pledge to build 2,000 new homes by 2023. Income generated from shared ownership sales is used to help fund the building of much-needed affordable homes.