Housing association tenants will now be able to take their first step to owning their own home under the government’s plans to extend the Right to Buy.
Housing association tenants will from January 25 be able to take their first step to owning their own home under the government’s plans to extend the Right to Buy.
They will be the first in the country to be able apply to the new Voluntary Right to Buy scheme as part of a pilot that is being run by 5 housing associations ahead of the national rollout later this year.
It follows an historic voluntary agreement between the government and the National Housing Federation to extend the Right to Buy to 1.3 million housing association tenants. Under the agreement, every home sold will be replaced nationally with a new affordable home.
The existing Right to Buy gives social housing tenants the opportunity to buy their home with a discount of £103,900 in London and £77,900 elsewhere.
Communities Secretary, Greg Clark said: Anybody who works hard and aspires to own their own home should have the opportunity to realise their dream. The Right to Buy is central to that and has already helped more than 46,000 into homeownership since we reinvigorated the scheme in 2012.
Thanks to the historic voluntary agreement with the sector a further 1.3 million housing association tenants now have the chance to open the door to their own home, starting with this trailblazing pilot scheme.
The pilot will help inform the design and implementation of the main scheme before it is rolled out across the country following the passage of the landmark Housing and Planning Bill. Applications for the pilot scheme open.
The government is committed to getting 1 million more people into homeownership by 2020.
It has recently announced the doubling of the investment in housing to more than £20 billion over the next 5 years to support the largest housing programme by any government since the 1970s.
Anyone thinking about home ownership and those who believe it is out of reach can find out what government help they could get by answering a few simple questions at www.ownyourhome.gov.uk
