When managed well, shared ownership
schemes can offer owners a holiday home at a
fraction of the price of an outright purchase,
finds Liz Rowlinson
T
he responsibilities
and costs of
ownership can put
many people off
owning a holiday
property abroad.
How much will they actually use
the property, enough to justify the
upkeep expenses? Why not just
rent a gorgeous property every
summer and not worry about
cleaning the swimming pool?
Fractional ownership sits
somewhere between the two
options, and is not to be confused
with timeshare, because owners
typically buy a share of the
freehold, rather than just a period
of usage. It's often billed as
offering a 'champagne lifestyle
on a lemonade budget' because
ownership of a luxury property
can be enjoyed (part-time) for a
relatively low cost.
It's well established in
North America, but still a niche
sector in Europe. The key to
successful schemes is whether
the management company can
maintain occupancy levels and a
A slice of
the South
happy set of owners.
So how does it work? A
property is divided into shares
- 1/8ths, or 1/16ths, for example -
and these are available to purchase
for a fraction of the total value, with
each fraction equating to a period
of use and share of the equity.
If owners each get five weeks'
exclusive use, the weeks they can
have each year are organised on
a rota basis, and sometimes they
can trade weeks, or purchase extra
weeks, depending on the scheme.
Buyers must understand that
the high running costs of a multiowned
and serviced property will
be factored in somewhere - how
much extra will they need to pay
for annual ownership fees? They
also need to find out how and
when they can sell their share.
Some schemes promise a share of
any capital appreciation gained
during their term of ownership.
But let's look at one current
example, where you can still
purchase shares: €83,000 for
a 1/16th or 1/8th share at
€166,000. Mas du Figuier is a
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SHARED OWNERSHIP LEGGETT MAGAZINE
nine-bedroom farmhouse close to
the mediaeval town of Vézénobres,
in the Languedoc, half an hour
from Nîmes, and an hour from
Montpellier. The property comes
with a heated swimming pool
within lush, private gardens.
There are currently seven
owners, including the Canadian
chef and author Michael Olsen. "At
first I wasn't interested in fractional
ownership as I thought we wanted
100% control. But we looked
around other properties, and as
much as we liked them, we could
not get over the issue of managing
the home and responsibilities
that came with it," he says. "Living
in Canada, we can't go over for a
weekend to take care of things. The
idea of security, maintenance, bills,
and other things actually started to
scare us off."
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