But the sea air and island life wasn’t all it was cracked up to be – with Lorna tiring of the strict rules and regulations of the park. She set out to find a place of her own, and began looking back on the mainland.
She explains: “The kids were nearing secondary school age so I was keen to move back to this area. I started looking for a house and came across one that ticked the boxes – but it was on the market for £20,000 and it was a three-bedroom house. I was understandably confused, but when I spoke to the agent and he talked me through how the Your Home scheme worked, I thought this could be perfect!”
Your Home is a gradual home ownership scheme* by Heylo Housing. Customers purchase a minimum 25% share of the market sale home from Your Home, paying rent on the remaining share. This approach gives buyers the flexibility they need to secure their dream home without traditional financial constraints of needing a full mortgage.
“We started the process and gave notice on the lodge – you only have 28 days to move out, so things got underway quickly! That purchase fell through, but the agent explained that with Your Home I could choose any home (within reason!) and apply the scheme to it. Once I got my head around it we got house hunting again – we did have to rent for a bit but we quickly found the perfect house and everything went smoothly from then.”
Lorna viewed a three-bedroom terraced house in Southampton in October 2023, and moved in mid-January 2024. With a large garden and rear access, the house was newly renovated and didn’t require any works.
“The house felt brand new and the girls can walk to school at the end of the road; the secondary is only around the corner. It’s perfect.
“I would have been able to get a mortgage on a property up to around £300,000, but when I came across Your Home it didn’t make sense to me to go down that route.
“This way I was able to put down a good deposit – 25% - and pay rent on the remaining portion, which works out less each month than I would’ve spent on mortgage repayments. Then, when I can, I can staircase and buy more shares in the house. In my work, sometimes I get lump sums, so this is when I would look to buy more.
“The Your Home team were brilliant – they answered any questions quickly and because we were renting at that point I really felt they were doing their best to get us in as quickly as possible.
“It felt like the obvious choice – I have stability, I own this house. I can increase my equity at a time that suits me. It’s perfect for my circumstances.”
For more information on Your Home, visit the website.