Help to Build Prospectus Launched

THE GOVERNMENT HAS published its prospectus for Help to Build, a £150 million scheme announced in April to make self and custom build housing more affordable.

The prospectus outlines how the scheme works, so that those thinking about building their own homes but are held back by affordability, can plan their projects and apply when applications are open.

The scheme is for land and building costs up to £600,000 and offers a loan for 5-20% of their value (40% in London). Interest is charged on the loan after the first five years.

Help to Build

The Help to Build scheme reduces the deposit required to gain a mortgage. Lowering the required deposit will free up capital, so people can build a home – whether it’s a commissioned, made to order home or a new design from scratch. The scheme will provide an equity loan on the completed home, similar to the Help to Buy scheme.

Today’s prospectus launch follows on from Richard Bacon’s review into Self and Custom Build in the summer, which proposed a major scaling up of self-commissioned homes to boost overall housing supply.

The government says the self and custom build sector could deliver up to 40,000 new homes a year, providing opportunity for small building firms and creating jobs.

First Homes

Another government home-buying scheme, First Homes is currently in its pilot phase with a number of early delivery projects. First Homes offers homes at a discount of at least 30% of the market price to local first time buyers and keyworkers.

Sites in Bolsover, Cannock and Newton Aycliffe are among the first to put homes on the market. A nurse and a police officer are among the first people to buy using the scheme, the Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities announced.

The government estimated that at least 10,000 First Homes will be delivered across the country each year by 2027/28.

First-time buyers can visit the government’s Own Your Home website to find out more about routes on to the housing ladder.

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