In January, the Government announced that they are reinvigorating the Right to Buy scheme throughout 2014 with a new £100 million fund.
The Right to Buy scheme was introduced back in 1980 and was designed to help social tenants in England buy their home at a discount.
The Government stated that additional revenue from the Right to Buy scheme will now be put back into making quality affordable housing available for rent, which they claim will increase the amount of house building programmes across the UK. Communities Secretary, Eric Pickles pledged to “continue to plough the cash from additional sales back into delivering new affordable homes for rent, which will help drive up the rate of house building across the country.”
Since 2011, according to Department for Communities and Local Government figures, almost 50,000 households have gained a footing on the housing ladder – over 13,400 social tenants through the Right to Buy and over 36,000 through Help to Buy and earlier schemes.
Help to Buy was launched in April 2013, the first phase of which allowed homebuyers equity loans of up to 20% of the price of a new property.
The purchaser needs to contribute at least 5% of the property price as a deposit, with a 75% mortgage to cover the rest, with no charges on loan fees for the first five years of owning the home. In the second phase, the Help to Buy mortgage guarantee scheme offers lenders the option to purchase a guarantee on mortgage loans, therefore having 15% of the value of the mortgage underwritten . Lenders are able to offer home buyers more high-loan-to-value mortgages, even up to 95%.
If you decide to purchase a property, Harold Stock & Co Solicitors are members of the Conveyancing Quality Scheme and provide high quality property law services. For more information on this and for a no-obligation appointment to discuss your needs, contact us today.
In writing this blog, we looked at the Help to Buy website and this BBC News article.
Email: info@haroldstock.com.
Tel: 01457 835597.
