Other affordable housing tenures
Listed below are some other forms of affordable housing tenure that are promoted by government normally through registered providers (formerly known as housing associations).
Some of these types of homes become available from time to time.
Contents
Shared ownership
The household buys a share of the home, normally between 25 and 75 per cent, and rents the remainder percentage from a registered provider.
You would have the opportunity to buy further shares at a future date if you wanted and were able to do so, and have the ability to buy the full value of the home in most cases (occasionally rural housing is restricted to sales of 80 per cent of the equity).
Help to Buy equity loan
Help to Buy equity loan is a Government scheme that allows you to borrow a low-interest loan to put towards the cost of purchasing a newly built home.
The equity loan is for the value of up to 20 per cent of the purchase price for homes that are outside of London. For homes inside London, the equity loan is up to 40 per cent of the purchase price.
You add the equity loan to the deposit you have saved and to the amount you need to borrow on a repayment mortgage. Together these cover the total cost of buying your newly built home.
The Help to Buy: Equity Loan scheme will close to new applications at 6pm on 31 October 2022.
First Homes Schemes
If you’re a first-time buyer, you may be able to buy a home for 30% to 50% less than its market value. This offer is called the First Homes scheme.
The home can be:
- a new home built by a developer
- a home you buy from someone else who originally bought it as part of the scheme
Other tenures for those unable to buy or rent on the open market include:
- intermediate rented housing from a registered provider – for these homes rents are capped at 80 per cent of the open market value
- Rent to Buy from a registered provider - a rent is charged and the household purchase the home as shared ownership at a later date (normally within five years)
How do I apply for these schemes?
These tenures are not applied for through us and there are very different requirements to those for joining the Housing Register for social housing.
To apply for intermediate and other low cost home ownership homes you will need to register with the South East Homebuy Agent (currently Radian Housing).
All properties available in the borough for low cost home ownership and other intermediate housing tenures as defined above will be advertised through the Homebuy agent or by individual registered providers.