Frequently Asked Questions
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How do I apply?
What is traditional Shared Ownership?
What is HomeBuy?
What is Intermediate Renting?
What properties are available?
What happens if I am registered with Harrow and a property
becomes available?
Who is a Key Worker?
Who is Metropolitan Housing Group / the HomeBuy Agent?
If I am a Key Worker should I register with Harrow Council or with the HomeBuy Agent?
I am an NHS worker, whose place of work crosses the Harrow
borough boundary. Can I still apply?
I am a key worker but my partner is not. Can we still apply
for key worker schemes together?
Are key workers who are in the UK on work permits eligible
for assistance?
What other housing options are available?
What if I want to buy my Council House?
Other Links
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How do I apply?
You can register with both Harrow and Metropolitan (the HomeBuy Agent). 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.
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What is traditional Shared Ownership?
Anyone who lives or works in Harrow can apply to Harrow for the traditional shared ownership
option. This option is also available to key workers under the Government’s Key
Worker Living programme.
Under this scheme, a housing association will sell you a newly built property on
a part buy / part rent basis. This means that you buy a share of the property
in the normal way by means of a mortgage and/or savings, and you pay a
subsidised rent to the housing association on the remaining share. The amount
of share initially purchased is normally between 25% and 75%. If you sell the
property, the percentage of the proceeds you receive is equal to the percentage
of the property you own. If you wish, you can buy further shares in the
property as your financial circumstances improve. Eventually you may be able to
own the property outright.
For example, if you wish to buy a 50% share in a property valued at £180,000,
you must be able to raise a mortgage for £90,000 in the normal way. You will
pay your mortgage instalments in the usual way, and pay rent to the housing
association on the remaining share, which remains in their ownership. Rent is
normally charged at approximately 3 - 4% of the value of the remaining share
per year (this will vary slightly from scheme to scheme). If you buy a flat you
will also have to pay a monthly service charge.
Don’t forget that you will also need some money to cover legal fees and other
costs associated with purchasing a property. The housing association operating
the shared ownership scheme will give you full information about these
additional costs.
In all boroughs, applicants for shared ownership are prioritised according to
need. In Harrow the priorities are:
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Existing Council or housing association tenants.
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People in high priority need on the Council’s Housing Register.
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Key workers who are employed or living in Harrow.
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All other existing Harrow residents, or people employed in Harrow.
(Applicants in priority bands 3 and 4 do not need to be on the Council’s Housing
Register).
Please note that the majority of properties that are available via traditional shared ownership
are 1 and 2 bedroom flats. Click on the ‘available schemes’ link on this website to view properties
available now.
From 1 April 2006 shared ownership will be known as New Build HomeBuy. In future, part rent / part
buy 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.
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What is HomeBuy?
HomeBuy is available in two forms:
- New Build HomeBuy – where you share ownership of your home with a housing
association on a part buy / part rent basis
- Open Market HomeBuy – where you part-buy a property on the open market
and get a loan from a housing association for the rest
Additional costs:
You must have savings or access to at least £4000 to cover the cost of buying a home
New Build HomeBuy:
New Build HomeBuy is the scheme formally known as Shared Ownership. It is 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 council and housing association tenants or to key workers who meet the eligibility rules for the government’s key worker scheme.
Homes are sold as leasehold properties on ‘shared ownership’ terms. The minimum share you can purchase is 25% and 75% is the usual maximum. You will need to be able to raise a mortgage for the share you want to purchase and you will pay rent on the share you don’t own. Rents are calculated to be affordable.
You can buy additional shares when your finances permit, until you own 100%. This is called ‘staircasing’. When you want to sell the property you can sell the share you own to another household nominated by your landlord or you can staircase to 100% and sell it in the normal fashion.
Alternatively, your landlord may want to buy the property back from you when you are selling it, so that it can be offered to other households eligible for low cost home ownership schemes. The property is sold at market value and you will benefit from any equity that has built up on the share that you own.
How do I apply?
Register with the HomeBuy Agent, Metropolitan Housing Group at www.housingoptions.co.uk or contact them on 0845 230 8099
Open Market HomeBuy
Under this scheme, housing associations help people buy a property outright on the open market.
There are two types of Open Market HomeBuy:
Open Market HomeBuy for Public Sector and Council waiting list applicants
This scheme is available to Council and Housing Association tenants and in some areas those considered as high priority on their council’s housing waiting list.
It enables those who cannot otherwise afford to buy a home outright to buy a 75% share of a home of their choice on the open market (terms and conditions apply). The remaining 25% is in the form of an ‘equity loan’ from a housing association.
There are no payments for you to make on the 25% loan, all that happens is that when you sell your home you repay the housing association 25% of the value of the home at the time you sell.
The level of the loan reflects the gap between what you can raise and the average price of a local property that is suitable for your needs. Average equity loans will therefore vary according to local house prices.
Open Market HomeBuy for key workers
‘Equity loans’ of up to £50,000 to help key workers buy a home on the open market. From October 2006, following a major agreement on the private financing loans, lenders will provide a ‘top-up’ equity loan alongside the loan being provided by the Government. This will stretch Government funding, enabling more people to be helped. The new offer has been agreed with HBOS, Nationwide Building Society and Yorkshire Building Society. You will be able to choose the best offer for you. There may be a small charge associated with the private lender’s loan. Full details of the new arrangements are available at www.housingoptions.co.uk
Higher-value equity loans of up to £100,000 for a small group of school teachers with the potential to become leaders of London’s education system in the future are also available.
How do I apply?
Register with the HomeBuy Agent, Metropolitan Housing Group at www.housingoptions.co.uk or contact them on 0845 230 8099.
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What is Intermediate Renting?
Intermediate rental opportunities are currently offered to certain key workers via the Government’s Key Worker programme. An Intermediate rent is a rent which is 80% or less than the ‘market’ rent charged for an equivalent property by private landlords.
Key workers do not need to have indefinite leave to remain in the UK to be eligible for an intermediate rent home.
For more information on intermediate renting opportunities, visit the HomeBuy Agent’s website at www.housingoptions.co.uk or contact Metropolitan on 0845 230 8099
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What properties are available?
You can view details of traditional shared ownership properties that are currently available in Harrow on Available Schemes in the key pages section of this website. This section is regularly updated so please check the site from time to time for new additions.
The HomeBuy Agent’s website at www.housingoptions.co.uk will have details of New Build HomeBuy properties as and when they become available for sale.
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What happens if I am registered with Harrow
and a property becomes available?
The housing association that is selling the property will send property details
to all eligible applicants on Harrow’s Low Cost Home Ownership Register and
will arrange viewing dates. If you are interested and you wish to go ahead with
buying the property, you would pursue your application with the housing
association, who may require a holding deposit from you (often in the range of
£100 - £200). They will need to confirm your eligibility for the scheme. This
is normally done during an interview with you, at which time your documents
would be checked and the financial aspects would be fully discussed with you.
After that you would continue with the normal process of obtaining a mortgage
and buying the property.
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Who is a Key Worker?
In general, the term ‘key worker’ refers to a person employed by the public
sector in a frontline role, delivering an essential public service where there
are serious recruitment and retention problems.
The Government’s Key Worker Living Programme
The Government has appointed some housing associations to market and manage the programme in different areas of London and the Southeast. Metropolitan Housing Group (the HomeBuy Agent) is running the programme for the West London area, including Harrow. To find out if you are eligible for the Government’s key worker programme you should visit www.housingoptions.co.uk or contact Metropolitan on 0845 230 8099
This programme offers assistance to eligible key workers in the form of Open Market HomeBuy and New Build HomeBuy as well as intermediate rental opportunities (see FAQs for details of the above options).
In addition to the properties on offer under the Government’s Key Worker programme, Harrow Council has also developed some local initiatives in partnership with housing associations, to provide traditional shared ownership properties to local key workers.
Individual boroughs will have their own local definition of a key worker. Harrow currently uses the Government’s definition of key workers (above), but also includes transport workers and other frontline public sector employment groups. Harrow gives priority to key worker applicants who are employed or living in the borough. If you work in a frontline public service, you can register with Harrow Council on this website. Please click on New Application in the key pages section for Harrow’s online registration form.
If you need any further guidance on key worker housing in Harrow, you can email your enquiry to keyworker@harrow.gov.uk
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Who is Metropolitan Housing Group / the HomeBuy Agent?
Metropolitan is the housing association that has been chosen to market and manage the Government’s HomeBuy and Key Worker programme in Harrow (as well as in other neighbouring areas in West London). To find out more you should visit their website at www.housingoptions.co.uk or contact them on 0845 230 8099
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If I am a key worker should I register with Harrow Council or with the HomeBuy Agent?
Harrow’s local definition of a key worker includes, but is wider than, the Government’s definition. If you are an eligible key worker under the Government’s definition, you are also a key worker under Harrow’s local definition. In this case you can register with both Metropolitan and Harrow to increase the options and properties which are available to you. However, some employment groups which are accepted by Harrow as being included in the local definition of key workers are not included in the Government’s scheme, in which case the applicant should only register with Harrow to access general and key worker traditional shared ownership opportunities.
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I am an NHS worker, whose place of work crosses the Harrow borough boundary. Can I still apply?
Yes.
You can apply to the Government’s Key Worker programme, which offers help to key workers employed in London or the Southeast. To find out more you should visit the HomeBuy Agent’s website at www.housingoptions.co.uk or contact Metropolitan on 0845 230 8099
You can also apply to Harrow Council. If you do not live in the borough, your employer would need to confirm that you work in Harrow (e.g spend the majority of your time providing healthcare services to Harrow residents. For example, NHS employees from Northwick Park Hospital are generally accepted as local key workers, although the hospital is actually in the London Borough of Brent).
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I am a key worker but my partner is not. Can we still apply for key worker schemes together?
Yes.
If you are a key worker, you will be asked to provide details of your partner’s income as well as your own on the registration form. Your application will be assessed on the basis of your total household income. It does not matter what your partner does for a living.
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Are key workers who are in the UK on work permits eligible for assistance?
Key workers who are subject to immigration control will be entitled to apply for intermediate rented housing via the Government’s Key Worker programme, provided that they meet the particular eligibility criteria for their sector of employment. Only key workers who have permanent leave either to enter or to remain in the UK will be eligible to apply for assistance to buy a property. Applications for indefinite leave by those on a work permit can be made to the Home Office once the key worker has been employed in the UK for 4 years. Key workers from member states of the EU/European Economic Area and those not subject to immigration control are eligible to apply for help in buying a home in the same way as key workers from the UK.
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What other housing options are available?
If you wish to find out if you are eligible for any other
housing options available in Harrow and elsewhere (for instance, council and
housing association rented housing, private sector rented housing (Finder’s Fee
scheme) and moves out of London to council or housing association properties
under the Fresh Start scheme) you should contact Harrow Council’s Housing
Assessment Team who will be able to advise you. (Please note that some housing
options will only be available to high priority housing applicants).
Contact details for Harrow’s Housing Assessment Team (and those
of other West London boroughs) are available on the
Locata website. The Locata site also gives information about the Choice
Based Lettings system, which Harrow uses for the allocation of empty council
and housing association properties.
Alternatively, you can telephone the Housing Assessment Team on
0208 424 1093.
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What if I want to buy my Council House?
If you are a secure tenant of Harrow Council, you may qualify
for the Right to Buy Scheme. Under the Right to Buy scheme, you can purchase
the council property in which you are currently living at a discount. For
further details, please ring Harrow Council’s Leasehold Services Team on 020
8424 1124.
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