Affordable rent to buy homes in Plymouth

Details of the UK’s first affordable rent to buy homes on a development in the South West of England have been announced.

Housing companies Persimmon Homes and Rentplus, based in Plymouth, have both signed an agreement to develop 19 new affordable rent to buy homes in the city. It is hoped that this will assist in countering the region’s housing shortage and greatly help first-time buyers onto the ladder.

Development

These properties are part of a development of 139 homes built by Persimmon Homes on William Prance Road, Derriford, as part of Plymouth’s Council’s Get Plymouth Building scheme.

Chief Executive of Rentplus, Richard Connolly, said, ‘with average house prices in the South West now close to £230,00 and in some places more than £300,000 and average earnings in the region among the lowest in England, we have an unbelievable housing situation where many houses cost more than 10 times the average annual household income.’[1]

‘Rentplus is designed to make housing accessible for all those who wish to own their own home and we look forward to working with partners in Plymouth and across the country to help to tackle the housing crisis,’ he added.[1]

Affordable rent to buy homes in Plymouth

Affordable

The first set of homes are now complete, with Rentplus working with Tamar Housing Society to try to identify suitable tenants. These Rentplus properties are available at affordable rents up to 80% of the local market rent, for a period of between five and twenty years. Once this tenancy has concluded, tenants will be given the chance to buy their rental home, given an additional 10% deposit by Rentplus in order to achieve this.

Figures from the recently released South West Housing Initiative indicate that the region is the largest growing in the country. However, the area also has the largest housing crisis. Further research from the National Housing Federation shows that renters in the South West spend an average of 35% of their wages on rent. This is the third highest rent to income ratio in the country.

Julie Barnett, chief executive of Tamar Housing Society, thinks that it is critical to provide affordable housing to those who are most vulnerable. Encouragingly, she believes that, ‘these new homes go a long way towards helping to tackle the housing crisis we are currently seeing across the South West.’[1]

‘At a time when social landlords across the country are facing cuts, companies like Rentplus are offering an alternative, sustainable opportunity for long term tenancies and home ownership for residents without the need for any public subsidy,’ she concluded.[1]

[1] http://www.propertywire.com/news/europe/uk-buy-rent-homes-2015120211271.html