What is Low Cost Home Ownership?

As house prices rise on the open market, many people are finding it increasingly difficult to buy a home of their own. Aragon offers various Low Cost Home Ownership schemes to help people onto the housing ladder:

New Build HomeBuy (Shared Ownership)

New Build Homebuy, formerly Shared Ownership, acts as a stepping-stone between renting and home ownership. You buy a share of new build property (normally via a mortgage) and pay a rent to Aragon on the share that you don’t own.

Usually the share is between 40% and 50%. When you can afford to do so, you may purchase additional shares and eventually own the property outright.

Re-Sales

Previously owned shared ownership properties will occasionally come up for sale. You purchase the share that the vendor is selling (usually via a mortgage) and pay a rent on the share you do not own.

Right To Buy

'Right To Buy' is the opportunity for eligible tenants to purchase the home they are living in, at a discounted price.

The Right to Buy only applies to those tenants who transferred from Mid Bedfordshire District Council to the Association on 3 October 1994 (west of the district) and 5 November 2001 (east of the district). Those tenants may have what is known as a ‘Preserved Right To Buy’ (subject to specific eligibility criteria).

Tenants who have joined the Association since these dates do not have the ‘Right To Buy’ but may have the ‘Right To Acquire’.

Right To Acquire

Similarly to the Right To Buy, Right To Acquire is the opportunity for eligible housing association tenants to purchase the home they are renting, at a discounted price.

As with the Right To Buy, eligibility for the scheme is subject to certain criteria, relating to the property and to length of your tenancy.

Social HomeBuy

Social HomeBuy will enable some Aragon tenants to buy their current home either outright or on a shared ownership basis, with the benefit of a small discount. This is similar to Right to Buy and Right to Acquire in that you buy the property you are currently living in. The minimum purchase share will be 30%, with a rent payable to Aragon for the remaining share.

As with the Right to Buy and the Right to Acquire, eligibility for the scheme is subject to certain criteria relating to the property and to length of your tenancy.

How to apply

Aragon’s Low Cost Home Ownership schemes are specifically designed to help you purchase your own home, so please contact us to find out more and to request the relevant application form.

For New Build HomeBuy (Shared Ownership) and Re-Sales enquiries please contact us on (01525) 844460.

For Right To Buy, Right To Acquire and Social HomeBuy enquiries please contact us on (01525) 844401.

HomeBuy Agents

HomeBuy Agents are appointed housing associations who provide a ‘one-stop-shop’ and point of contact for affordable housing options in a given area. You can find out which Low Cost Home Ownership options are available in your area by contacting the relevant HomeBuy Agent below:

Keyhomes East are the HomeBuy agents for Bedfordshire and Cambridgeshire (including Fenland and Peterborough, Forest Heath and St Edmundsbury). Their contact details are as follows:
Telephone: 0845 456 6757
Email: info@keyhomes-east.org.uk
Web:www.keyhomes-east.org.uk

Catalyst are the HomeBuy agents for Berkshire, Buckinghamshire and Oxfordshire. Their contact details are as follows:
Telephone: 0845 601 7729
Email: homebuy@chg.org.uk
Web: www.homebuy.co.uk

Lea Valley Homes are the HomeBuy agents for Hertfordshire. Their contact details are as follows:
Telephone: 01582 869 440
Email: leavalleyhomes@aldwyck.co.uk
Web: www.leavalleyhomes.co.uk

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