In rural areas in the North East where replacing affordable housing is
difficult, new shared ownership properties will have to remain shared
ownership to ensure future buyers also have a chance to step onto the
property ladder.
Generally, shared owners can staircase up to full ownership. But in some
rural areas it is incredibly hard to replace homes that become fully owned
and are subsequently sold on the open market.
Now under new powers in the Housing and Regeneration Act 2008, more than
13,000 small rural settlements will be designated protected areas across
England, including parish council areas in Tyne and Wear, Northumberland,
County Durham and Tees Valley. These will be areas where land to build new
affordable homes is severely limited or where it is not possible to buy
existing properties for shared ownership because of the small size of the
housing market.
Shared ownership properties in these protected areas will be retained by
either restricting to 80 per cent the share owners can buy or
allowing owners to acquire up to 100 per cent but ensuring the
provider, for example a housing association, buys the property back to
retain it for future purchasers.
Shared ownership has already helped thousands of first time buyers onto the
property ladder by allowing them to buy a share of a property from a
housing association and then pay rent on the remaining share.
Ian Austin said “We are determined to help provide more homes in
rural areas and help first time buyers on to the property ladder.
“These new measures will not only help protect affordable rural homes
but also boost the number of properties available.
“We simply can’t afford to lose shared ownership homes in areas
where they are difficult to replace which is why these new provisions on
ownership are so important.”
The provisions allow organisations and companies, other then housing
associations, to provide shared ownership properties, while benefiting from
the same protections as housing associations with leasehold properties that
owners wish to staircase up to full ownership.
Mr Austin is also today boosting the Government’s support for
Community Land Trusts (CLTs) to help ensure more are set up to provide much
needed affordable housing.
This is the first Government to recognise the potential of CLTs and has
already supported their development by both providing funding through the
Homes and Communities Agency (HCA) and by carrying out a successful pilot
study.
CLTs are private bodies that own or control land and assets for the benefit
of the community. This mainly involves providing shared ownership or
social rented homes on land provided by the CLT. Support for these
trusts will now go even further to help enable more grass roots
development.
A £500,000 grant is being made to the charity Carnegie UK to further
develop the CLT sector by developing a trade body, launching a website with
portal and forum to provide information on creating a Trust and providing
training courses for professionals working for lenders and local
authorities. Carnegie UK will also look at sources of finance and set up a
steering group of lenders, local authorities and housing associations to
drive forward the sector.
The HCA will explore the role of local authorities in developing affordable
housing through CLTs and commission a study to examine the non-cash
benefits CLTs bring about.
Matthew Taylor MP, who recently produced the Taylor Review into rural
housing said “Rural villages will die if the people who work in local
shops, farms and businesses can no longer afford to live there.
Today’s move to ensure affordable homes for local people stay
affordable in the long term, and communities are encouraged and supported
in building small scale, new affordable housing though Community Land
Trusts, are vital for many villages.”
