Open Market HomeBuy provides financial assistance to buyers who cannot afford to buy a home on the open market. The scheme offers access to ‘equity loans’, which run alongside a conventional mortgage.
Two equity loans, each worth around 12.5% of the value of your home, are available:
1. From a participating mortgage lender.
2. From the government and administered by a HomeBuy agent (housing association).
Interest is not charged on your mortgage lender’s equity loan for the first five years. After five years the interest is capped at 3%, rising up to the lender’s standard variable rate after 10 years.
Interest is never charged on the government’s equity loan and monthly repayments are not required for the first five years.
When you sell the property, interest is charged on both loans according to how much the property has increased in value.
Am I eligible?
You could be eligible if you are:
· an existing tenant of a housing association or a local council
· on a waiting list for social rented housing and nominated by your local council as being in housing need
· a key public sector worker in London, the South East and the East of England
· a ‘priority’ first-time buyer
Key public sector workers must be based in London, the South East or the East of England and currently include:
· School teachers
· Nurses and some other NHS staff
· Police officers
· Prison and probation workers
· Social workers
· Fire and rescue workers
· Educational psychologists and occupational therapists employed by local councils
A HomeBuy agent must confirm in writing that you are eligible for the scheme before you contact a lender.
Read an affordable housing case study
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