Affordable Home Ownership in Brent
Thanks to all those people who attended this year's Affordable Homes Open Day on 11 June. The event was a great success, helping many households to find out more about affordable housing opportunities in Brent. Find out more information about the event.
If you missed it, then why not attend Housing Options' London Affordable New Homes Show on Saturday 20 June, 11am to 4pm in The Great Hall at Wembley Stadium. For further information visit www.housingoptions.co.uk
Welcome to Brent's affordable home ownership webpages. Here you can
- discover how a moderate income won't stop you from buying your own home in Brent
- learn about how affordable home ownership works
- find out more about the available schemes in Brent, including
- NewBuild HomeBuy
- MyChoice HomeBuy
- OwnHome
- and various other options
- browse a showcase of the affordable homes available in Brent
- find out how to apply for an affordable home ownership scheme in Brent, through the "HomeBuy Agent" Housing Options
- find out about your eligibility
- and read an online copy of Brent's new dedicated affordable homes magazine Your Own Brent Home
Dreaming of owning your own home?
Buying a home is now more than just a dream for Brent's moderate income earners.
The reality is that there are many affordable or "low cost" home ownership opportunities in Brent. They are based on one simple idea: you can buy a partial share in a property, while the rest of its value is retained by a government-regulated housing association.
This is why affordable home ownership is often called "shared ownership": because the costs of home ownership are shared between you and a housing association.
Stepping up
The contribution from the housing association acts like a couple of extra steps on a staircase, helping you to step up to the first rung of the property ladder (see the diagram below left).
Once you have bought your home, your share and the housing association's share will increase or decrease in proportion to the overall value of the property (see the diagram below right).
You can even buy back the housing association's share at a later date in instalments, based upon the value of the property at that time.
Myths and reality
Shared ownership is not like buying a timeshare property which you can only use for a limited amount of time. And its not like buying or renting a property with strangers who you have to share your living space with.
In shared ownership you buy the property and move in as the legal owner occupier - just as you would in conventional full home ownership.
But in shared ownership you do have to pay an additional monthly charge to the housing association based on the size of the share of the property they retain.
This charge is calculated to be much less than the amount you would have had to pay in mortgage repayments if you had taken out a mortgage on this share. This is what makes shared ownership affordable home ownership.
Affordable home ownership schemes are designed to cater for people in a wide variety of situations. As a rough guide, affordable home ownership may be suitable for you if you are
- on Brent's housing waiting list
- a key worker such as a nurse, policeman, fireman or teacher (among others)
- a couple starting out in life
- an aspiring young family
- a single person or someone who has experienced a relationship breakdown
- a disabled person looking to get onto the property ladder
- a council tenant or a housing association tenant looking to own a place of your own.
- In general, your annual income level (as an individual or a couple) must be between around £17,000 and £60,000 to qualify for an affordable homeownership scheme.
This is not an exhaustive guide to eligibility, however, and individual schemes may have their own distinctive eligibility criteria. More details are available at the housing options eligibilty pages or on 0845 230 8099.
How to apply
It's simple. You just need to contact at www.housingoptions.co.uk or on 0845 230 8099
Housing Options are the "HomeBuy Agent" for London: a one-stop shop for all shared ownership enquiries and applications throughout the capital, including Brent.
On their website you can find out more about shared ownership, browse available units in Brent and other London boroughs too, and fill in an online application form which will receive a reply in 8 days. Good luck!