By Richard Johnstone in Birmingham | 29 September 2014
Communities Secretary Eric Pickles has set out details of two new government housing schemes that are intended to open home ownership to more first-time buyers.
Pickles told the Conservative Party’s conference that both a Help to Buy Starter Home Scheme and a Rent to Buy programme would help those with the ‘spirit of aspiration’ who want to own their own home.
He said that, in the last year, a total of 230,000 homes had received planning permission in England, while the government was ‘getting on with the job’ of delivering 200,000 affordable homes in this parliament.
‘On Saturday, the prime minister announced that Conservatives will support an extra 100,000 first time buyers get their foot on the housing ladder, through a new Help to Buy Starter Home scheme,’ Pickles told delegates.
‘We are also introducing a new Rent to Buy scheme to help young people save for a deposit before they buy their home.’
Under the extension of the Help to Buy programme, buyers in England under the age of 40 could buy a house at 20% below the market after David Cameron committed the Conservatives to build 100,000 new homes on brownfield land aimed at first time buyers.
In addition, the Rent to Buy programme will offer housing associations and other providers a share of £400m in loans to build up to 10,000 new homes across the country to be built from 2015 to 2018.
These will mainly consist of one- and two-bedroom apartments, which landlords must make available at below-market rates for a minimum of seven years. This fixed period will give tenants the opportunity to save up for a deposit and get ready to buy their own home. At the end of the period, the tenant will have first refusal to buy the property.
Pickles said this would increase the provision of low-cost rented accommodation and provide a springboard for young people to upgrade to home ownership.
