Help to Buy – Starter Home initiative

As we move into 2015 people considering moving house should be aware of the Government’s Help to Buy schemes currently available. The second phase of the Scheme introduced in 2014 means that buying a home will continue to be a financially viable option for a greater number of people across the UK. Chartered Legal Executive Jane Stewart of Coodes Solicitors explains more.
The schemes currently available to potential purchasers who require assistance in purchasing their first or later property are:

• Help to Buy Equity Loans (available to both first time buyers and home movers on new build homes in England with a purchase price up to £600,000)
• Help to Buy mortgage guarantees (available to both first time buyers and home movers for new build and older homes with a purchase price up to £600,000)
• Shared Ownership
• Help to Buy/New Buy (available to both first time buyers and home movers purchasing a New Build property with a deposit of only 5% of the purchase price on a property priced at £500,000 or less)

The Government in December 2014 also proposed a new scheme that will offer 100,000 first-time buyers under the age of 40 new homes with a 20% discount, as part of a major push to help people onto the housing ladder.

Aspiring home owners will be asked to register their interest in buying via the Starter Home initiative from the start of next year – at least 6 months earlier than planned. And many of the country’s leading house builders and councils are already looking at sites that could be used for new homes.

The government is today setting out how the scheme will work with a change to the planning system to free under-used or unviable brownfield land from planning costs and levies in return for a below market value sale price on the homes built on the site.

Developers and councils are being asked to respond to the proposals to ensure the changes will unlock a range of sites across the country.

Although the scheme is not yet available, work on the first draft will start this year and it is advisable to register your interest with any of the major developers across the UK.

For more information on any of the above schemes or for conveyancing assistance generally please contact Jane Stewart on 01872 246200 or email jane.stewart@coodes.co.uk.