If you live in England and can’t afford to buy a home, you may be able to get some financial help through one of a range of Government backed home ownership schemes. If you are a "key worker" you may also qualify for help to buy a home under special schemes.
Not everyone can afford to buy a home on the open market. Recognising that most people want to become homeowners, the Government supports a number of schemes, under the umbrella of "Affordable home ownership schemes", that provide first time buyers and existing home owners looking to upsize to a new property with a lower-cost way of buying a home.
Affordable Home Ownership Schemes is the name given to a number of government schemes aimed at helping first-time buyers get on to the property ladder.
Full details of all affordable home ownership schemes is available here.
Further details are available from MoneyHelper.
Schemes for Council and Housing Association Tenants
- Right to Aquire
Right to Acquire allows most housing association tenants to buy their home at a discount. Full details are available at GOV.UK.
- Right to Buy
Right to Buy allows most council tenants to buy their council home at a discount. Full details are available at GOV.UK and ownyourownhome.gov.uk.
- Voluntary Right to Buy
The Voluntary Right to Buy (VRtB) is a scheme where assured tenants of housing associations will have the chance to buy their homes discounted to the same value as council tenants enjoy under the Right to Buy scheme. It is operated on a voluntary basis by housing associations and underpinned by a national agreement between the National Housing Federation and government. These discounts are being funded by the government. Full details are available from National Housing Federation.
- Preserved Right to Buy
Most housing association tenants do not have the Right to Buy. But if you were a secure council tenant and were living in your home when it was transferred from your council to another landlord, like a housing association, then you may have a ‘Preserved’ Right to Buy. Full details are available at ownyourownhome.co.uk.
- Social Home Buy
With Social HomeBuy, you may be able to buy a share of your council or housing association home and pay rent on the rest of it. Full details are available at ths link.
A complete to guide to all Government schemes for first-time home buyers and existing homeowners is available from HomeAlliance.
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