Need help to buy a home in Harrow?

If you cannot afford to buy a home outright, you may be eligible for help. The Council promotes a number of low cost home ownership options to enable people to get their first step on the housing ladder.

On these pages you can find information about each of the low cost home ownership options, how to register for opportunities in Harrow, and how to find out about properties currently available for purchase. There are also extra details about the Government programme aimed at key workers , which offers opportunities for certain key workers to buy or rent a home. You can find information about key workers in the ‘Frequently Asked Questions’ (FAQ) section.

There are two low cost home ownership options available to help you buy a home in Harrow:

1. Traditional Shared ownership - a part buy / part rent option, available to everyone living or working in Harrow

   Applicants for traditional shared ownership properties should register with Harrow on this site by clicking on the ‘new application’ link. To see the properties that are available now, click on the ‘available schemes’ link.

   From 1 April 2006 shared ownership will be known as New Build HomeBuy. In future, part buy / part rent properties will be developed under this scheme and will be available via the HomeBuy Agent (see below). Traditional shared ownership properties will also continue to be available.

2. Homebuy - This offers:

   • New Build HomeBuy (formerly known as shared ownership) - a part buy / part rent scheme available to anyone who cannot afford to buy a suitable home on the open market (priority is given to certain classes of applicants – see HomeBuy FAQ)

   • Open Market HomeBuy - an equity loan scheme available to existing council and housing association tenants, those in a high priority need on the council’s housing register and key workers (see HomeBuy FAQ).

   Applicants for HomeBuy products should register with the HomeBuy Agent for West London, Metropolitan Housing Group, at www.housingoptions.co.uk Their website contains information about the HomeBuy products and an online application form. Details of New Build HomeBuy properties will appear on the website as they become available. Alternatively you can contact Metropolitan by telephoning 0845 230 8099.

   In addition to the home ownership options above, the HomeBuy Agent, Metropolitan, also offers intermediate rental opportunities to certain categories of key worker - see FAQs).

You can register with both Harrow and Metropolitan (the HomeBuy Agent). (see FAQs). Both offer the shared ownership option, either in the form of traditional shared ownership or as New Build HomeBuy. In addition, Metropolitan offers the Open Market HomeBuy equity loan to certain classes of applicants and the Key Worker intermediate renting option.

You can register for traditional shared ownership opportunities via this website. This site is a central ‘one stop shop’ for information and registration with Harrow Council and saves you having to register your details repeatedly with the individual housing associations offering traditional shared ownership in Harrow.

So, if you live or work in Harrow and are interested in applying for traditional shared ownership, you should enter your details on Harrow’s Low Cost Home Ownership Register by clicking on New Application in the key pages section.

Once you have registered, your details will be saved onto our database and made available to various housing associations whenever they have properties for sale. The housing associations will then send you details of their properties (subject to eligibility). If you are interested in a particular property you can pursue your application directly with the relevant housing association.

You can also view details of all available properties on Available Schemes in the key pages section of this website. This section is regularly updated with new properties, so once you have registered , you can check this website from time to time for new information. If you see a property that interests you, you should contact the housing association that is offering the property. They will deal with your enquiries and handle your application.

If you need a printed registration form, please contact Housing Enabling on 020 8420 9228/9.

Information provided by this new low cost home ownership register will help to inform future decision-making and assessment of local housing need.

In addition to the properties offered by Harrow to key workers through traditional shared ownership, the Government is running a Key Worker programme. If you are a key worker, you should also register with the Government’s programme, which is being managed by the HomeBuy agent, Metropolitan Housing Group. This offers New Build HomeBuy and Open Market HomeBuy to key workers. You will find details of this programme in the key worker FAQ section on this site and at www.housingoptions.co.uk. The Housing Options website has an online application form.

Accommodation provided for health workers by the NHS may be made available to key workers from other employment groups that qualify for the Government’s Key Worker Living programme. For example, accommodation is provided at Northwick Park, consisting of mostly single rooms in shared flats. Where rooms are unoccupied, they can be offered to other eligible key workers. The average length of stay in this accommodation is approximately 18 months. Further information is available from the NHS website at www.accommodation.nhsestates.gov.uk