Affordable homes for teachers
Open Market HomeBuy is a Government-backed scheme that aims to help teachers in England who cannot afford to buy a home on the open market without assistance. The scheme provides access to additional money called equity loans, which run alongside a conventional mortgage loan.
Two equity loans, each worth around 12.5 per cent of the value of your home, are provided:
- One is provided by the same lender that you select to provide your conventional mortgage loan.
- The other is provided by the Government and administered by a HomeBuy Agent: a housing association in England that has been appointed to operate the scheme.
No interest is charged on either of the equity loans for the first five years and you will never be charged interest or need to make monthly payments on the HomeBuy agent's equity loan. However, the amount you will have to repay the lender and the HomeBuy agent will be linked to the value of your home at the time you sell it, plus a redemption fee where this is levied.
The effect is similar to a loan under which you pay credit charges at the rate at which your home has increased in value. As an illustration, if your home increases in value by 4 per cent or 8 per cent a year, the sum you will repay will be equivalent to borrowing under a loan with an APR of 4 per cent or an APR of 8 per cent. The amount repayable would include a redemption fee, where that is charged.
HomeBuy is the single website for the South East of England and is operated jointly by Moat, Thames Valley Housing Association and Catalyst Housing Group. It covers Kent, Essex, Sussex, Surrey, Berkshire, Buckinghamshire and Oxfordshire. If you wish to buy a property in these areas but cannot afford to raise enough money for a mortgage or wish to rent but cannot afford to pay market rents, then HomeBuy may be able to help you.
This initiative aims to give more people, 50 per cent of whom will be key workers, the opportunity to own their own homes by increasing the supply of affordable housing for sale.
