Government’s Starter Home scheme, offering 100,000 first-time buyers big discounts on new homes, opens for registration.
Registration is now open to first-time buyers under 40 in England who are interested in buying a new-build home with a discount of up to 20%.
The offer, first announced in December 2014, is part of the Government’s Starter Homes scheme.
It’s designed to help more young people get onto the housing ladder by lifting charges and levies associated with the development of ‘brownfield’ land for new homes.
Under the initiative 100,000 new homes will be built for first-time buyers by 2020.
How the scheme will work
The Government is looking at making changes to the planning system to allow house builders to develop under-used or unviable ‘brownfield’ sites (land previously used for industrial and commercial purposes).
It wants to ‘unlock’ these sites by lifting the planning costs and levies charged by local authorities to make it cheaper for developers to build new homes.
House builders for example have to make contributions under Section 106, which currently attracts an average bill of £15,000 per home.
In return the new homes would have to be brought to the market with a minimum 20% discount exclusively for first-time buyers under 40.
The homes could then not be re-sold at market value for a fixed period.
The Government says first-time buyers can expect ‘high quality and well-designed’ homes.
So far seven councils are on board and over 30 house builders have pledged their support for the scheme.
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How to get involved
Prospective first-time buyers can now register their interest in the scheme at: www.starter-home.co.uk.
Registering will put your name on a waiting list for homes under the initiative in your area and keep you up to date on any developments.
More details are expected to follow in the spring when the Government has reviewed the feedback from its consultation on the scheme.
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