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Shared Ownership and Home Buy

Shared Ownership is specifically designed to help those who cannot afford to buy a property outright on the open market. From the 1st April 2006 Bedford Pilgrims Housing association have been appointed zone agent for Bedford to carry out all marketing and applications for shared ownership schemes. 

 

Shared ownership is a part buy, part rent scheme. The relevant Housing Association helps you by letting you buy a share in the property that you can afford, usually between 25% and 75%. You then pay rent to the Housing Association for the part you do not own.

 

Over time you can buy extra shares in your property until ultimately, you could buy out the Housing Association by 'staircasing' up to 100% to become a full owner-occupier. However, the price you would pay for the extra shares is based on the full value of the property at the time you want to buy the shares, not on the original price you paid. Therefore, if the property goes up in value you will have to pay more for the next share than you might have done originally and if property prices go down, you pay less.

 

It is important to check whether you can buy shares up to 100% ownership on each shared ownership property as on some developments there is a maximum you can buy, particularly in rural areas where affordability is even more of a problem and it is important for houses to remain affordable in these areas.

As the share of the property you own increases (along with mortgage payments), the rent level decreases.

 

HomeBuy

Homebuy is targeted at Council and Housing Association tenants to enable them to buy a home on the open market. It consists of an interest free loan of 25% of the value of the property to help buy through the private housing market and is lent by the Housing Association, in the Bedford area this is Bedfordshire Pilgrims Housing Association.

You would need to contribute the remaining 75% of the purchase price of a home through a mortgage and personal savings. The loan is tied to the value of the property that you buy and is not repaid until the property is sold.

The money available for Homebuy is limited, so not everyone wishing to take part can do so.

 

Do you want to own your own home but can't afford to buy outright?

...then Open Market HomeBuy may be the answer.

Open Market HomeBuy is a government-backed product that aims to help certain groups of people who cannot afford to buy a home on the open market without assistance.  The scheme provides access to additional money called equity loan(s), which run alongside a conventional mortgage loan.

Who can apply?

  Existing council or housing association tenants

  People on the housing waiting list

  Key workers

  Some other priority first time buyers

  People coming out of a relationship breakdown who need to buy a new home

How does the scheme work?

You would need to raise at least 82.5% of the price of the property via a mortgage and/or savings and Keyhomes East can provide up to 17.5% of the value through an interest free  equity loan.  When you come to sell the property you repay the loan as a percentage of the property value at the time they sell, i.e. 17.5% of the new price of the home.

More information on Shared Ownership and Homebuy can be obtained from bpha on 0845 456 6757, email  info@keyhomes-east.org.uk or click on the following link Key Homes East.

 

Key Homes East Poster

Please see the document below from Key Homes East offering help about how to join the property ladder.

 

Help to join the property ladder

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Housing

This section provides helpful housing advice for people interested in and currently living in the borough. You can find information on private and social housing, related support services and homelessness.