Affordable Housing For Purchase
Cheshire East is committed to helping
local people secure their own homes who might not otherwise be able
to afford a property at the full market value
What is affordable housing for purchase and how does it
work?
There are several types of affordable housing
for purchase available:
Discount for
Sale
Properties are offered for sale to eligible
purchasers at a discounted price of the full market value. For
example, a £100,000 house with a 25% discount would be
offered to eligible applicants for £75,000. This is not a shared
ownership scheme and even though there is a discount on the sale
price, the purchaser still owns 100% of the property. When you want
to sell the property, you must do so on the same terms, which means
you must sell it with the same level of discount you received and
to someone who meets the criteria for affordable housing.
Shared
ownership
Shared Ownership is available to help
people to gain home ownership even though they cannot afford to
purchase a property outright.
A developer will sell the
affordable properties to a Registered Provider (RP), who then
sells a percentage (25% - 75%) of the property to you. As well as
any mortgage you take out, you will also pay rent to the RSL on the
remaining percentage. In some cases, if a high percentage is bought
at the initial stage, you may not have to pay rent. You would
usually be able to buy further shares in the property from the
RP – this is called “staircasing”.
In many cases it may be possible to staircase
to 100% and own the property outright; however, on certain sites
(especially in rural areas) staircasing may be restricted, for
example to 80% ownership. This way, the RP retains ownership
of a small percentage of the property, to ensure that the
property continues to be available as affordable housing for the
next buyer when you move on.
Assisted
Purchase Scheme
The Assisted Purchase Scheme is designed
to assist first time buyers to get onto the property ladder.
Eligible applicants are helped to buy a property up to a price of
£180,000 (dependant on salary and savings) with an interest free
loan to cover 25% of the purchase price.
The loan is expected to be repaid after a ten
year period or alternatively if the property is sold within ten
years the Council will recover 25% of the value at that
time
How do I apply for affordable housing?
If you would like to apply for relevant types
of affordable housing you need to:
What properties are available?
There are a variety of affordable
homes currently available across Cheshire East, including
new developments and low cost discounted re-sales. To view
the properties currently available for sale please visit
our Property
Search page.
Contact details
Our Strategic Housing
Customer Charter and Strategy and
Development service standards tell you what you can expect from
our service.
If you want to register for affordable
housing to purchase, please visit Cheshire Home Choice
website and complete the online application form.
