Homeshare scheme for first-time buyers (From Gazette Series)

Homeshare scheme for first-time buyers

AN INITIATIVE has been launched to help make house prices more attainable for young people and first time buyers in the region.

A recent Gazette report told how mortgages were often out of reach in places such as Dursley, Thornbury and Yate.

Young couples have said they simply cannot afford to stay in the towns and villages where they grew up and have been forced to move to areas with cheaper housing such as Gloucester and Bristol.

Following the report, Stroud District Council contacted the Gazette to point out that it had launched a scheme aimed at reversing the trend and says it is doing all it can to help those trying to get on the property ladder.

Earlier this year the district council decided on a work plan which outlined how it would actively try and improve the supply of affordable housing.

One initiative is a Homebuy shared-equity scheme in which the district council works with a housing association to enable homebuyers to pay just three-quarters of the purchase price of a house.

Applicants for the Homebuy scheme can either buy a new-build home or find a property on the open market. The applicant has to pay 75 percent of the cost but is not charged any rent on the remaining 25 percent. They can then later buy the outstanding 25 percent at its market value.

Similar schemes are operated by South Gloucestershire Council and have resulted in a popular self-build scheme in Hawkesbury Upton.

Stroud's cabinet member for housing Cllr John Jeffreys said the district council hopes the new scheme would relieve supply problems in the area.

He said: "Our measures will increase the supply of all types of affordable homes.

"It is essential to supply more homes overall so that we do not increase competition in the market and make home buying more difficult for others."

It is hoped the scheme will help up to 30 people a year to buy their own homes at an average cost of £37,500. It is estimated the Homebuy initiative in 2006/07 will cost the council approximately £1million.

Funding for the scheme comes from reinvesting the proceeds from the sale of council assets and not from Council Tax.

SDC says this cost will be significantly reduced if a bid to the Housing Corporation to fund a third of the project is successful.

For more information about the scheme contact Andrew O'Brien or Sophie Shuttlewood at Stroud District Council on 01453 754099 or 754095.