Am I Eligible?
HomeBuy helps people to get their first foot on the property ladder. HomeBuy also helps those people who wish to rent but cannot afford to pay market rents.
If you are interested and wish to apply you should contact the Local HomeBuy Agent in the area where you wish to live. Local HomeBuy Agents work with local authorities and other housing associations to provide HomeBuy options to people in housing need.
Your HomeBuy Agent will assess your application and advise you of all the HomeBuy options for which you may be eligible.
Priority:
There is high demand for all HomeBuy options which means that applicants must be
prioritised. Priority is given in the following order:
1.Existing social tenants and serving MoD personnel.
2.Local priorities based on local needs that are agreed by local authorities and
housing providers. These are explained in the property details of the homes
found on this site.
3.Other first time buyers who fit all other qualifying criteria detailed below.
Eligible serving MoD personnel includes:
•Regular service personnel who have successfully completed basic Phase 1 training
•Clinical staff (excluding doctors and dentists)
•MoD Police Officers
•Uniformed staff in the Defence Fire Service
•Full-time reserve service
•Ex regular service personnel
•Surviving partners of regular service personnel who died in service within the
last 12 months
Criteria:
To be eligible for all government funded homes available through HomeBuy:
•Your household income must be under £60,000 per year.
•You must also be able to demonstrate that you do not have adverse credit
history and can afford to sustain the costs involved in buying or renting a
home.
•You must show that you are not in mortgage or rent arrears, or in breach of
your current tenancy agreement at the time of application.
•You cannot afford to buy a property that meets your current housing needs
without assistance through HomeBuy.
Home owners:
If you own a home, including one bought through shared ownership or a home ownership product designed for key workers, you are not eligible for assistance through government-funded products.
If you own a property and wish to buy or rent a home through HomeBuy, you must
demonstrate that you are in housing need, have local authority support or have
sold your property before you apply.
Savings:
You must have savings or access to at least £4,000 to cover the costs of buying
a home. This amount is a guideline figure and will vary depending on the HomeBuy
option you buy through. In addition to this amount your mortgage lender is
likely to require a minimum 5% - 10% deposit of any share that you buy,
depending on the option you buy through.
General
Some homes can only be allocated to people with a local connection (live, work or family connection) to the local authority area in which the property is located.
Although most homes through HomeBuy are available to all first time buyers, some can only be allocated to qualifying key workers.
Social HomeBuy is only available to existing local authority and housing association tenants.
Any specific information regarding eligibility is usually stated within the property marketing information.