Shared ownership schemes are 30 years old and have helped 155,000 households get a foot on the property ladder. However many lenders are refusing to lend to people wanting to buy shared ownership homes because they mistakenly view them as potentially 'sub prime'.
The National Housing Federation has hailed the success of the schemes since the first home was sold under the ground-breaking initiative 30 years ago. Thousands of low-to-middle income families have seized the chance to buy a share in a new home, since the scheme was launched in 1979.
Shared ownership has helped key workers, first time buyers and social tenants to live and work in areas which have seen house prices rocket well beyond what they could afford to pay on the open market. And now as the country is gripped by recession, housing associations - which build and manage the vast majority of shared ownership schemes - have found demand for shared ownership remains as high as ever.
Such households average earnings are around £27,000 a year. The scheme offers eligible people the chance to buy between 25%-75% of a property from a housing association, and pay an affordable rent on the remaining share. People can increase the share they own over time and ultimately own the property outright.
Banks' discrimination
But banks turned away an estimated £500m of valid business on shared ownership products last year – resulting in 9,000 low cost homes being left empty, even though around 90,000 households had expressed an interest in moving into them.
The Federation has called on the Government to ensure state owned and partially state owned banks, such as Northern Rock, Lloyds TSB, RBS and Bradford and Bingley, take on a social purpose and commit mortgage funds for people on low-to-moderate incomes.
Federation chief executive David Orr said: “Shared ownership has been one of the country’s great housing success stories and has helped 155,000 families onto the property ladder. Thirty years on and demand for shared ownership homes is as strong as ever, but the banks' current reluctance to lend on these properties means thousands remain empty and unsold.
“There’s no evidence whatsoever that people buying shared ownership properties pose a greater risk of defaulting. This discrimination is denying thousands of people with good credit ratings the chance to own their own home. The banks which have been bailed out with billions of pounds of taxpayers’ money should now take on a greater social role and take a lead in committing mortgage funds for shared ownership properties.”
