Fourteen households in Bolsover are being given the opportunity to move from being renters to homeowners, thanks to a unique ‘affordable rent to buy homes’ scheme offered by Bolsover District Council working with Rentplus-UK Ltd.
The new partnership offers an affordable pathway to homeownership for working families on low or middle incomes. It benefits those unable to save the large deposits required to access other types of housing, including shared ownership and ‘Help to Buy’ which need 5-10% deposits often amounting to £15,000-£30,000 plus fees.
Labour Councillor, Sandra Peake, said, “This proves once again that Labour is looking after local people and providing them with somewhere decent to live. This is our first project with Rentplus and we are delighted to be able to offer this unique route to homeownership.”
One of the benefits is that poor historic credit is by no means a barrier to acceptance as tenants have a minimum of five years to be able to rebuild their credit history.
Residents move into a brand new home without having to pay an initial deposit. They pay an affordable rent for the duration of their lease which runs for a minimum of five-years and up to 20-years, giving residents time to clear debts and save towards a deposit.
At year five and at key points during their lease, residents can purchase the property, and Rentplus gifts them 10% of the purchase price towards their savings for their mortgage deposit.
The Bolsover scheme is the first time that Rentplus has worked with Bolsover District Council and house builder, Jones Homes.
The successful applicants all have a local connection and were taken from the Council’s Housing Choice Based Lettings scheme. Most are key and essential workers, including social care and NHS staff, enabling them to continue to live and work locally.
Sandra added, “Not only will it extend the tenure of properties we offer, but we are now part of a unique nationwide offer, which is going to benefit our key workers and others less able to raise the deposit but able to afford the rent and mortgage.
“A key aim of ours is to provide good quality, affordable homes for local people and that’s what this project is doing. Giving people the ability to rent their home with the option to buy is incredibly important, especially with the current cost of living crisis and we’re pleased this agreement with Rentplus is in place.”
Labour locally is delivering. Labour in government will also deliver.