Can't Afford A Low-cost New Home? Rent To Homebuy Could Help

Can't Afford A Low-cost New Home? Rent To Homebuy Could Help

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If you are not currently in a position to buy an affordable new home, the Government's Rent to HomeBuy scheme could provide the perfect solution: reduced rent on a newly-built home for up to five years, giving you the chance to save up for a deposit to buy a share of the property at a later date.

In Merseyside, for example, 40-year-old Geoff Scotton was rapidly losing hope of finding an affordable, good-quality place to live with his son Alex, 18, following his recent divorce. A former gardener who now supports local people into work, Geoff was struggling financially.

"I was going through a marriage separation and had to find a new place," Geoff explains. "I was in a state and didn't know if I was going backwards or forwards. I'd come from a life where I had a nice house, a garden - a lovely home. All of a sudden I was looking at grotty bedsits because I couldn't afford to buy."

Geoff then learned about the Rent to HomeBuy scheme, and the fact that customers can rent at typically 20% less than market rate for five years before they decide whether to buy through shared ownership.

Geoff contacted HomesHub, the Government's HomeBuy Agent for Cheshire and Merseyside, and was guided by them through the entire process. With their advice and support, Geoff is now delighted to find himself renting a new-build two-bedroom home in Netherton, Liverpool. "As soon as I saw the house I fell in love with it. By the time I saw the living room - and the way it opens out onto the garden - I had to have it," he says.

Open to council and housing association tenants, first-time buyers, and those who have owned a home previously but can't afford to buy now, you can only benefit from the scheme if your total household earnings are £60,000 a year or less, and you would otherwise be unable to afford a home in your area.

Your rent will be no more than 80% of the market rate - so, for example, if the market rent is £800 per month, you will pay a maximum of £640. If you want to buy your rented home, you do so through the shared ownership scheme. You pay for a share of between 25% to 75% of the home's value, and the housing association owns the remaining share. You then pay a rent on the part owned by the housing association - up to 3% of the share's value.

Finding the security of a quality new home within his limited budget has given Geoff Scotton renewed confidence and a positive outlook on his future. "If it wasn't for HomesHub, I don't know what I would have done," he says. "Being here is the best therapy I could have wished for. I've been helped enormously by the Rent to HomeBuy scheme. I would say to anyone who is in a similar position to the one I was in, to look at Rent to HomeBuy. It has worked brilliantly for me."

About the Author:
Whathouse.co.uk is the web portal for new homes and new affordable homes in Britain, the online face of What House?, which has promoted the best of new homes in Britain for over 100 years. Our site features hundreds of new-build homes in the UK as well as news, articles, expert advice, opinion and comment.



Article Originally Published On: http://www.articlesnatch.com


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