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Buying an affordable home

If you would like to own your home but cannot afford a house at full market price you may want to consider shared ownership or discount sale. To find a new build affordable home see New developments with affordable homes. To find out about the government initiatives to assist with homeownership see New developments with affordable homes.

Affordable home ownership schemes in the Ribble Valley

Discount sale home ownership

Affordable home ownership is designed to assist people (especially first time buyers) in purchasing their own property at a price below the current market value that is affordable. A discount is applied and can be up to 40% off the open market valuation in the rural parishes and 30% in the market towns. The discounted percentage is not owned by anyone else; the properties are sold and remain in the ownership of the purchaser.

The discount is applied to the property in perpetuity and is fixed through a legal agreement applied at the point planning permission was granted. This is called a Section 106 Agreement. All future sales of the property will abide by the same rules of applying the discount to the open market value. Therefore those households that benefit from the discount on the first sale will then pass on that benefit as and when they sell the property and the same for all future sales.

The properties designated as affordable are for the benefit of households in the borough that are in need of affordable housing.

To be eligible to purchase a discounted property you must be able to demonstrate that:

• you cannot afford to purchase at the full market value  
• you have a local connection to the borough; live / have lived in recent years / work or have close family in the borough
• you must be the occupier of the property and the property the only residence owned   

Any future purchasers must also provide evidence they meet the above requirements.

Discount sale properties are sold as any open market housing is sold. To be eligible for a discount sale that is on the market you must complete a discount sale application form. To apply please download the Discount Sale Application Form, complete and return with the evidence requested on the form.

If you are interested in buying a discount sale home, please contact us by email or by telephone (details below) and we will add your information onto the council’s affordable home ownership register.

Affordable homes for shared ownership

These schemes, delivered in partnership with a registered social landlord or housing association, these allow payments to be split between mortgage and rent. The percentage share of ownership will vary depending on the individual circumstances of the person or household in housing need. The household can gradually increase their share of the property to move towards outright ownership. In settlements of less than 3000 population, owners on a shared ownership model can only obtain a maximum 80% share as they do not have the legal right to increase to 100% ownership. The property will therefore remain a shared ownership property for future occupiers. To register for shared ownership you can go online on the Help to Buy North West and view shared ownership properties currently for sale in the borough.

To register for affordable housing schemes please see www.helptobuynw.org.uk

See an example of a Section 106 Agreement.

Affordable homes for rent

On all new development sites in the borough the Council seeks to achieve some affordable rented units so the properties are available for rent at a rent level in line with the local housing allowance. The Council will control the level of rent that can be charged and set eligibility criteria to ensure that properties are allocated to local people in housing need usually through the use of a Section 106 Agreement in conjunction with the grant of Planning permission.

All rented properties are allocated from the Councils housing waiting list. To be on the waiting list see Onward Find a home in Ribble Valley.