A family have taken up a home offer with a difference to help their disabled son.
Denise and Christopher Ambler live with their son, Jake, who has Duchene musclar dystophy and is autistic.
The family owned a two storey home in Biggleswade but as Jake grew older it became clear that he was going to need special adaptations to get around.
Denise, 52, realised they would have to move as their home in Biggleswade could not be adapted – but they could not afford to buy a home that suited their needs.
Additionally, her husband Christopher suffers with chronic fatigue syndrome and had to give up his job as a systems analyst so they were unable to get a mortgage.
Denise said: “We couldn’t go on the housing waiting list for an adapted property as we already owned our own home.
“I didn’t know where to turn so I spoke to my local MP Alistair Burt. In the end the council got in touch with various housing associations and Grand Union Housing Group (GUHG) came up.”
The housing group, which runs Aragon Housing Association, enabled the Amblers to sell their house and use the equity to buy a 25 per cent share in an adapted shared ownership home in Stotfold.
Denise added: “For us it was the only option. We were lucky we found a buyer who was prepared to wait until our new home was ready.
“We were worried that Jake wouldn’t cope very well with the move but he loves it.
“He has total freedom here whereas in the old house he was restricted.”
The family were lucky because GUHG came up with the plot of land and worked with them to design the adapted three bedroom bungalow. It provides access for the wheelchair that he will have to rely on one day.
The house has a car port so that Jake can be transferred in the dry from a car to the house, it has a wet room, a special bath and level access at both sides as well as a special ‘safe room’ where Jake can relax if he gets overwrought.
Last week was Shared Ownership Week. Shared ownership is where households part buy and part rent a home. It is a more affordable option for many with nearly half of first time buyers turning to shared ownership.
The housing group has new shared ownership homes in Blunham, Shillington and Stotfold.