There are many Government initiatives in place to help you get on and move up the property ladder. Please be aware that we do not support all of these schemes.

Right to Buy

We support the Government’s Right to Buy scheme.
This scheme is for tenants who rent from their local council or housing association and allows you to buy your home at a discounted price. There are maximum discount amounts, and more information of these can be found on the Government's website. To qualify for the Right to Buy scheme you must have been a public sector tenant for at least three years.

View the Right to Buy website for more information and to see if you qualify.

Shared ownership is where you buy a share of your home and then pay rent to a Housing Association for the remaining share of the property. You will pay a reduced rent on the share of the property you do not own and will need a mortgage to fund your initial share, which can be anything from 25% to 75%. You will later have the opportunity to buy a bigger share in the property up to 100%, this is known as ‘staircasing’. Anyone living outside of London whose household earns below £80,000 per year, or £90,000 per year in London can buy a home through the shared ownership scheme.

To enquire about Shared Ownership, please complete our online form or speak to one of our mortgage advisers by calling 0121 557 2551.

For those aged 55 or over, you may be entitled to receive help from another home ownership scheme called Older People's Shared Ownership (OPSO). The Older People Shared Ownership Scheme works similar to the original Shared Ownership scheme detailed above. However, you will only be entitled purchase up to a 75% share of your property. Once you own 75%, no rent will be payable on the remaining share.

Please note, we are not currently accepting mortgages under this scheme.

The Help to Buy: ISA scheme was introduced towards the end of 2015 and was designed to support first time buyers by boosting their savings by 25%. This Government supported scheme can help aspiring homeowners save a larger deposit, making it easier for them to buy their first home. For example, for every £200 saved in a Help to Buy: ISA, a government bonus of £50 will be received.

As the minimum government bonus is £400, savers would need at least £1,600 in your Help to Buy: ISA in order to claim any bonus. The maximum amount of bonus that can be claimed via the government is £3,000. In order to qualify for this, a minimum of £12,000 needs to be saved in the account.

The Help to Buy: ISA scheme is no longer available for new accounts to be opened, as of 30th November 2019. But, if you opened an account prior to this date, you are able to continue saving in your Help to Buy: ISA until November 2029.

The Starter Home scheme is a proposed government incentive, set up to help first time buyers between the ages of 23 and 40, to gain a foothold on the property ladder by entitling them to at least a 20% reduction off the purchase price of the property. The discounted price for these homes should be priced no more than £250,000 outside London, and £450,000 inside London.

Although the scheme is yet to begin, it is specifically designed for new build homes. Aspiring homeowners can register their interest by visiting the New-Homes website.