Buying affordable housing

Buying a home is a big commitment and you should be sure that it is the right thing for you. If you are in doubt, you should take your own legal advice as we can not advise you. There are four main options if you are looking to buy an affordable home.

Discount Market Sale

These are properties where the developer sells a home with an agreed percentage reduction on the Open Market Value. The percentage discount is passed on during every sale and there are criteria around local connection and income that have to be met by the purchaser. These properties should not be rented out as they are aimed at giving local people the chance to get on the housing ladder. 

The criteria to purchase differ for each site, based on the development's Section 106 Agreement document. You can fine the relevant document at View and comment on current planning applications.

Generally, however, to qualify, you would need to not own another residential property either in the UK or abroad and be buying the property to live in it. You can have owned a property previously or be in the process of selling one you live in, for example to downsize, however the sale must be completed as you purchase the Discount Market Sale property. Your household would need to earn less than £80k per year and have a local connection to the area. 

A few Discount Market Sale homes are restricted so only people over a specific age can purchase. If this is the case for your new property, your sales team or estate agent should let you know, but we will also contact you.

How to apply

If you are wanting to buy a Discount Market Sale home you will need to complete our application form to confirm that you are eligible.  To do this you will need the property reference number that either the sales team (new development) or the Estate Agent (resale). You will also need to supply evidence of your household income and local connection.

Selling your Discount Market Sale home

Once you decide to sell your home you should Contact Housing Development immediately as you will need us to confirm you have complied with the resale requirements. We would need to know the address, and also agree the maximum sales price of your property to make sure that the discount has been applied, which will need an independent valuation.

First Homes

First Homes are a discounted homes, similar to Discount Market Sale, but they can only be sold to people who have never owned a property before. These properties are discounted to 30% and on the first sale are subject to a maximum price cap. Some First Homes are also restricted to Key Workers. As this is a national scheme, there is a guide at Gov.uk: First Homes scheme: first-time buyer's guide. In some circumstances these homes may be rented with our permission.

How to apply

If you are buying the property brand new from the developer you would complete an application form with them for us to confirm that you are eligible to purchase. Some evidence would be required as part of the application.

If you are buying it preowned you would need to complete the application through the estate agent who is selling the property.

Selling a First Home

Once you decide to sell your home you should Contact Housing Development immediately as you will need us to confirm you have complied with the resale requirements. We would need to know the address, and you will need a RICS valuation of your property - you can find a local RICS surveyor at RICS: find a surveyor.

Renting out a First Home

First Homes are not intended to be rented out, however it is recognised that there may be some circumstances where you need to leave your property for a period of time and want to rent it. If you own a First Home this is possible, but you would need permission from your mortgage provider and us. Further details are at Gov.uk: First Homes scheme: letting the property.

We would require that the property is rented at a professional standard. Although accreditation is not required, we would recommend that you Contact Private rented housing for advice. See The Durham Rental Standard Scheme (DRS) for details.

Shared Ownership

This is where you buy a part of a house and a Housing Association owns the rest. You would pay a mortgage as well as rent to the Housing Association. The purpose is to allow you to buy a home with a smaller deposit as your mortgage would be less. The Housing Association may have restrictions on who they will sell to and resales are done through them. To apply for these properties you would need to contact a housing association to see what they have available.

Rent-to-Buy

This is operated by housing associations. You would rent the house from a housing association at an affordable rent (a maximum of 80% of market rents) to give you the chance to save a deposit. After a set number of years you are given the option to either buy the house at Open Market Value using your saved deposit, pay market rent or move. Some housing associations also offer the option to convert to a Shared Ownership if you are not able to afford the purchase price when your fixed term is at an end.