Shared Ownership helps couple get more for their money in Moreton

February 27, 2026 | Dan Todd

After renting a home for 14 years, a family from Moreton, Wirral, were left in the lurch when their landlord suddenly announced that they were selling up.

Fortunately for James (36), Katie (36) and their four sons, they were able to make the move to a brand-new home at Onward Living’s Foxfield Park development – and are now paying less each month whilst taking their first step on the property ladder with the help of Shared Ownership.

Katie, a midwife, says: “Last year, our landlord suddenly came along and said they had decided to sell up, which was never on the cards. She’d always said the house was going to stay in the family forever and we could stay there until we wanted to move.”

The landlord gave James and Katie the option to buy the home themselves, but with just a couple of months’ notice they would have struggled to come up with the necessary deposit.

“We went straight to a financial advisor and got a mortgage in principle for the house we were living in,” says Katie. “However, they wanted a big deposit. The lowest we could get it down to was a ten per cent deposit of £22,000. We needed time to save that up, but the landlord wasn’t prepared to wait around.”

With the family urgently needing a new place to live, Katie discovered Foxfield Park, a new development of 66 homes being built in the area.

Katie says: “I was already aware that these were being built as I’d seen the Onward sign. My parents have lived in an Onward home for over 30 years, so straight away I was interested and started looking into it.

“Initially, we thought we’d only be eligible for Rent to Buy, but because we already had a mortgage in principle we said, ‘let’s try for Shared Ownership’. Obviously, the smaller deposit was a bonus as it was easier for us to get our hands on this amount at short notice.”

James and Katie soon had their hearts set on a move to Foxfield Park and did everything they could to make it happen.

Katie says: “We started driving past nearly every day, spying on the development. I had my eye on this plot from the get-go. I was adamant that we were getting this house, so I was in touch every day.”

James and Katie purchased a 25% share of 3-bedroom Crompton house type at Foxfield Park for £76,250. The family moved in at the end of October 2025 and couldn’t be happier with their new home.

Katie says: “I still can’t quite believe it’s ours. I keep thinking we’re on holiday and we’ll have to leave soon.”

James, a storeman, adds: “It’s all happened so fast. We were settled in our old house and would have just kept paying the rent to live there for the next 20 years. Out of nowhere, they said we’re selling and our whole world turned upside down. We had no plan. To go from that to owning [part of] a house, it’s amazing.”

Since moving in, James and Katie are already seeing the benefits of swapping renting for buying with Shared Ownership.

Katie says: “It’s already been cheaper for us to live here than it was in our privately rented house, even when you factor in our mortgage payment and our rent payment.”

James adds: “It’s also helped by the fact that it’s so much cheaper to run this house.

“We’ve got solar panels that bring the electricity bills down. It holds the heat really well, the taps are low pressure, the lights are low energy, so it’s really energy efficient.”

Renting the remaining share of the home from a housing association has also given James and Katie the security they wanted following their experience with a private landlord.

James says: “As we learnt last time, we thought that we could rent that home for as long as we wanted and then, out of the blue, they decided to sell. With this home we’ve got stability and we know we can definitely stay here.”

James and Katie would recommend Shared Ownership to others who are in a similar position to them.

Katie says: “Since we’ve moved in, I’ve been telling anyone who will listen about what a good opportunity Shared Ownership is. It’s a great way to get on the ladder if you’re not able to save a huge deposit to buy on the open market.”

“Shared Ownership gives people like us the chance to get on the ladder,” adds James. “We’d tried getting a deposit on our old house and it just wasn’t do-able. We could have tried but it would have put us in loads of debt, and we would have bought a house that still needed a lot of work doing to it and a lot of investment. With this, it’s brand-new and it’s under the builder’s warranty.”

Katie ends by saying: “In hindsight, the landlord telling us that they were going to sell felt like the end of the world at the time, but it’s actually worked out better than we could have imagined.”

If James and Katie’s story has inspired you to find out more about Shared Ownership, you can contact the Onward Living sales team on 0300 555 0130 or email sales@onward.co.uk