Many people would like to buy a home of their own but find that local house prices are just out of their reach. There are two schemes in this area which can help you buy your own home.
MyChoiceHomeBuy
This scheme is offered by MOAT Housing Association. It allows you to buy a home on the open market:
The scheme offers a loan of between 15 per cent and 50 per cent of the property price
You pay a monthly interest charge on the loan based on 1.75 per cent a year
You can obtain a conventional mortgage of your choice from any qualified lender
You do not have to pay a deposit although you can if you want to
For further details contact MOAT Housing Association - telephone 07002 662846
Ownhome
This scheme is provided by Places for People and the Co-operative Bank. It also allows you to buy a home on the open market:
- The scheme offers a loan of between 20 per cent and 40 per cent of the property price
- You are required to get your conventional mortgage loan from the Co-operative Bank at the start
- You do not have to make any payments on the equity loan for the first five years
- After these five years, you would be charged at a fixed rate of 1.75 per cent interest on the equity loan each year. After a further fives this would rise to a fixed rate of 3.75 per cent
- You do not have to pay a deposit although you can if you want to
For more information on Ownhome contact the Ownhome information line on 0845 607 0110.
What do you need to qualify for these schemes?
To qualify for either of these schemes you must:
be able to finance a minimum of 50/16% of the house purchases through a combination of savings and a conventional mortgage loan
not have a household income of more than £60,000
have sufficient savings to cover all the other costs of buying a home, such as Homebuyer's survey and valuation report, legal fees, stamp duty, etc. (estimated as between £3,500 and £4,500)
pass an eligibility assessment carried out by a Homebuy Agent or equity loan provider
not be in rent arrears or in breach of your tenancy agreement if you are a tenant of a Housing Association or the local Council.
Who is eligible?
What if I don't have enough savings?
The Government has recently announced that they will make grants of up to £1,500 available to help people who don't have enough savings for these schemes. We don't yet know details of these grants, but will add information to this web page when it is available.
If you are a Council tenant you may also be able to get help through our Cash Incentive scheme.
New Build Homebuy
There is no new build shared ownership available in Eastbourne at the moment, although we do expect there to be a programme in the future.
Other local authorities in the area may have some shared ownership properties and Eastbourne residents may be eligible to apply for these.
Sometimes properties built for shared ownership become available through resale.
For more information and to register your interest in these schemes please contact Moat Housing Association on 07002 662846.
