Homebuy

Homebuy is a range of low cost home ownership options funded by the government in England to help enable eligible first time buyers and Key Workers buy a home that they would not otherwise be able to afford.

Introduced in April 2006, Homebuy is part of the Government's target to assist 100,000 housesholds into home ownership by 2010. [http://www.housingcorp.gov.uk/server/show/nav.00100h005]

There are many different types of Homebuy:

* New Build HomeBuy - Newbuild HomeBuy is a great way into home ownership. If you can't afford to buy outright, you can part buy and part rent your home. You might buy a 25%, 50% or 75% share in your home. You pay a small rent on the share that you don't buy. The bigger the share that you purchase, the less rent you have to pay. The monthly cost of buying a 50% share is about two-thirds of what you would pay on a mortgage if you bought the property outright. When you can afford to do so, you can buy more shares until you own your home outright.

* First Time Buyers Initiative - A new Government initiative funded by English Partnerships to provide affordable new homes for first time buyers. The First Time Buyers' Initiative (FTBI) aims to make more affordable homes available to first time buyers priced out of the housing market. It is part of the government's new HomeBuy low-cost home ownership initiative. First Time Buyers' finding it difficult to get that first foot on the housing ladder often feel this is an affordable solution.

* Ownhome - is a Government backed low cost, homeownership programme. It allows you to receive an equity loan towards the cost of purchasing a home on the Open Market. After being accepted you would simply choose a suitable property (usually through an estate agent) on the open market. You then receive up to 40% of the value of the property in an equity loan from Places for People. Ownhome is provided by a partnership between Places for People and the Co-Operative Bank. Applicants pay nothing for the first five years on the equity loan. After these five years a low rate would be paid on the sum – starting at a fixed rate of 1.75% interest per year for the next five years, and then increasing to 3.75% interest per year from year eleven.

* MyChoiceHomeBuy - is another Government backed low cost, homeownership programme. It allows you to receive an equity loan towards the cost of purchasing a home on the Open Market. After being accepted you would simply choose a suitable property (usually through an estate agent) on the open market. There are charges on the equity loan you are granted of around 1.75% per annum

* Rent to HomeBuy - this scheme was launched in July 2008 as a pilot. Rent to HomeBuy allows applicants to rent their new home at a lower than normal rent to enable them to save for a deposit. After a certain time frame applicants can then excercise their right to purchase the home.

* HomeBuy Direct - is a £300 million scheme which will help up to 10,000 first time buyers into affordable homeownership between January 2009 and January 2011. HomeBuy Direct will give eligible first time buyers keen to own a place of their own the chance to buy some newly built properties. Buyers will be offered an equity loan of up to 30% of the value, co-funded by the government and the developer, free of charge for five years.

* Mortgage Rescue - Mortgage Rescue is for applicants that are most affected by the credit crunch and rise in mortgage rates. For some extreme cases help might be available in the form of a mortgage rescue scheme. Local authorities will have a major role in this scheme by helping assess applications but applicants should contact their HomeBuy agent for information and advice.

To apply for all Homebuy schemes, applicants must contact their local Homebuy Agent.

HomeBuy Agents are as follows:-

Bedfordshire, Cambridgeshire, Peterborough and West Suffolk - http://www.keyhomes-east.org.uk

Essex, Kent, Sussex - http://www.homebuy.co.uk

Hertfordshire - http://www.leavalleyhomes.co.uk

Avon, Gloucestershire, Wiltshire, North Somerset - http://www.homebuysouthwest.co.uk

Devon and Cornwall - http://www.home2own.org.uk

Dorset, South Somerset - http://www.search4myplace.co.uk

Norfolk and Suffolk http://www.orbithomebuyagents.co.uk

Derbyshire, Leicestershire and Nottinghamshire http://www.emhomebuy.org.uk

Lincolnshire - http://www.home2you.co.uk

Northamptonshire - http://www.keyhomes-east.org.uk

London - http://www.housingoptions.co.uk

Tees Valley, County Durham, Tyne and Wear, Northumberland - http://www.nomad-homes.co.uk

Cheshire - http://www.cheshirehomebuy.org.uk

Cumbria - http://www.affordable-homes.co.uk

Greater Manchester, Lancashire - http://www.plumlife.co.uk

Merseyside - http://www.homes-hub.co.uk

Berkshire, Buckinghamshire, Oxfordshire, Milton Keynes - http://www.catalysthomebuy.org.uk

Hampshire - http://www.homesinhants.co.uk

Surrey - http://www.homebuy4u.co.uk

Coventry, Warwickshire, Sandwell, Solihull, Staffordshire, Shropshire, Birmingham, Dudley, Walsall, Wolverhampton - http://www.homebuyagents.co.uk

Hereford, Worcester http://www.home2own.uk.com

North Yorkshire and Humberside - http://www.jrht.org.uk

South Yorkshire, West Yorkshire - http://www.my4walls.org.uk