The Government has plans for a new national model for shared ownership will help thousands of lower earners step onto the housing ladder.
People will be able to buy their home in one percent chunks, rather than being forced to stump up 10 percent at a time
There will also be changes made to Help to Buy to make it easier for people to take out a mortgage
Housing Secretary Rt Hon Robert Jenrick MP said:
Building the houses this country needs is a central priority of this government. We know that most people still want to own their own home, but for many the dream seems a remote one.
My mission is to increase the number of homes that are being delivered and to get more young people and families onto the housing ladder, particularly those on lower incomes.
That’s why I am announcing radical changes to shared ownership so we can make it simpler and easier for tens of thousands trying to buy their own home.
Help to Buy, the cut to Stamp Duty and our home-building programmes are already making a real difference, but I am clear we need to go much further if we are to make the housing market work.
I will be looking at ensuring young people from Cornwall to Cumbria aren’t priced out of their home areas and how we can build public support for more house building and better planning.
This government will help a new generation to own their home.
The Housing Secretary also announced he will look to reform the planning system to increase housing delivery and make home ownership more affordable for people looking to buy their first property, particularly in areas which are least affordable.
This could include increasing the number of homes sold at discounted prices to people trying to get onto the property ladder, boosting homeownership and helping build local support for new development.
Homeowners buying a property under Help to Buy will be given new freedoms which will make it easier to take out a 35-year mortgage, in measures announced today.
The government has also today closed a loophole with immediate effect that prevented people from taking out a mortgage with a term of more than 25 years.
The change means homeowners can reduce their monthly mortgage repayments by spreading their borrowing over a longer period.
Director of Benham and Reeves, Marc von Grundherr, commented:
“The latest changes to shared ownership are a novel idea from Robert Jenrick but as we’ve seen before through the likes of Help to Buy, an idea that will further fuel demand rather than address any real supply imbalance.
While helping those in shared ownership will provide a leg up to some, the 200,000 homeowners in this position account for less than one percent of UK properties.
Reducing the barrier to homeownership via shared ownership properties doesn’t supply more homes and it will be interesting to see if any concrete strategy on doing so comes from this latest government rhetoric.”
