Low Cost Home Ownership
Low cost home ownership schemes are designed for those people who cannot afford to buy a property outright. With Homebuy you part buy, part rent a property with a housing association such as West Kent. So you can own your own home – at much the same cost as you may now be paying privately renting! This is because the typical market rent of a two-bedroom house is similar to the total cost of buying a two-bedroom Homebuy home. You may qualify if:
- You are an existing tenant of a housing association or Local Authority
- You are a key worker – for example a nurse, policeman or teacher
- You have a local connection to the area
- You are a first time buyer
- You have gone through a relationship breakdown.
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There are three types of LCHO schemes under the Homebuy banner:
There are two other schemes that fall out of these three types - Intermediate Rent and Resales (properties where the current owners are selling a share). In all these cases you would need to approach the appointed Homebuy Agent to join the registration scheme for low cost home ownership properties in the area where you wish to live. |
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All housing associations that build affordable housing for sale will contact the local Homebuy Agent to get a list of potential applicants for their scheme, so it is essential that you register.
How much do I need to earn?The Income levels needed will depend on the value of property (which will change according to location and size) and the percentage of the property you wish to purchase.
With New Build Homebuy you purchase a percentage of a property and rent the other part which you do not purchase. This means you have a mortgage for the portion you wish to buy, and then you pay an affordable rent on the remainder. For example: (please only use these figures as a guide line)
A 3-bed house has a full market value of £225,000. If you were to purchase 35% or 50% of the property your monthly payments would be as follows:
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Percentage Purchased |
35% |
50% |
|
Mortgage (approx 5% interest on repayment mortgage) |
£540.00 |
£708.00 |
|
Rent |
£243.75 |
£187.50 |
|
Total |
£783.75 |
£895.50 |
On average you would need around £3,000 to cover legal costs, fees, surveys and so on. Obviously costs would vary depending on the size of the property.
The percentage you can buy really depends on the scheme. If you wanted to buy a Resale (already occupied) property, we would sell you the percentage already held by the current owner.
Yes you can!
You would have the option to buy a larger share in the property at any time after you move in. This could be another 25% or up to the full 100% and is known as ‘staircasing’. The only time you would not be able to staircase to 100% is if the property was built as part of an 'exception site'under what’s known as a Section 106 Agreement. This is because properties built on an exception site have been built on greenbelt land where there is a restriction which ensures it well be kept forever as affordable housing.
If you require more information or would like an application form please contact:
You could also contact the local Homebuy Agent. For Kent and specifically the Sevenoaks district, this will be:
More information on Homebuy can be found at www.affordablehomeskent.org
Homebuy leaflet
(61 KB)
Date Published : 22/02/2006
