Anca & Lucian’s Story

Anca Iliescu moved to the UK from Romania four years ago when her husband Lucian was successful for an international position at his company’s Chertsey headquarters. Their oldest son who was 12 at the time needed to join a new school in a new country.

Just a few months later and with Anca now newly pregnant, the couple needed to find somewhere permanent to live. Anca recalls, “We found a two-bedroom apartment to rent close to the school. It was on the second floor. I knew I would struggle with the stroller and the baby and everything, but the rent was within our budget, so we took it”.

They had discussed buying a home but felt disheartened. “Scrolling through property websites to check availability in the area, I was very discouraged by the high values of homes in this area and thought we will never ever succeed in buying a house here”.  Anca says that at the time they felt rushed to find a solution as their landlord had given them notice that he wished to end their tenancy.

Anca spotted a brand-new development called ‘Coomblelands’ in Addlestone. “One weekend we just drove to Coombelands to see the houses being built and the surrounding neighbourhood. It’s at this point we discovered ‘Shared Ownership’ when we saw a signboard promoting it”. The couple enquired about a two-bedroom house; however, they were heartbroken as it had already been reserved. But some good news was just around the corner. 

Anca recalls, “It was the summer holidays, and we were incredibly stressed about receiving notice to leave the apartment, so we decided to visit our family back in Romania. While abroad, Homemade Homes by Accent contacted us to advise that one property had become available again and to ask if we were still interested in a Shared Ownership home”.

When we asked what their brand-new home means to the family, Anca says, “We love the house. It has woodland behind it which you can really appreciate whilst out in the garden. Every day looks amazing as we see a lot of wildlife and both my sons love it. My youngest son can jump up and down all day, as we don’t have neighbours living directly below us anymore… We never in our wildest dreams thought we could buy a new home. And it’s still within walking distance to my older son’s school; a long walk, but still, no buses or trains needed.”

Shared Ownership is a government scheme and offers another way to buy your home. You buy a percentage and pay rent on the rest. You own part of it – but you are living there, you decorate it as you wish and decide when to sell. Buying a percentage means a smaller deposit and a smaller mortgage. It is a sooner first step on the ladder for lots of people. Usually, you can carry on buying further shares to own it 100%.

Eligibility to buy a home using Shared Ownership. In summary, you need to be over 18 and resident in the UK. When purchasing using Shared Ownership there is a maximum household income of £80,000 in this area.

When we asked what their brand-new home means to the family, Anca says, “We love the house. It has woodland behind it which you can really appreciate whilst out in the garden. Every day looks amazing as we see a lot of wildlife and both my sons love it. My youngest son can jump up and down all day, as we don’t have neighbours living directly below us anymore… We never in our wildest dreams thought we could buy a new home. And it’s still within walking distance to my older son’s school; a long walk, but still, no buses or trains needed.”

Asked if she would recommend Shared Ownership to others, Anca says, “We believe it is worth it. Just inform yourself first and everything will just fall into place. I read a lot of experiences of buying all sorts of houses; I never thought we would get a chance to buy a new build house.”