Plumlife, part of the Manchester based Great Places Housing Group, is supporting a national campaign to promote shared ownership in the run up to the next election.
Nineteen of the largest providers of low cost home ownership in the country have joined forces to urge MPs of all parties to support the building of more shared ownership properties.
Part of this campaign involves banishing some of the myths surrounding shared ownership and today Plumlife deputy chief executive Matthew Harrison tackles the idea that somehow shared ownership pushes marginal buyers into buying property they can't really afford and they would be better off renting.
Matthew said: There is no evidence that shared owners are marginal buyers. Housing associations apply strict affordability tests to ensure applicants can afford to buy and are able to sustain ownership.
"Indeed, repossession figures are lower for shared ownership than for the market as a whole (0.24% of shared ownership homes compared to 0.34% of all market homes in 2008), which would suggest that other groups of buyers must be more marginal or get into financial difficulty more easily than shared owners.
"Housing associations have a long-term commitment and involvement in the communities they build. Marginal owners do not make for sustainable communities and it’s sustainable communities we are interested in."
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