Get a LIFT onto the property ladder

If you are a tenant of a Council or Housing Association property, you could be eligible for up to 40% towards the price of a property through the Scottish Government’s LIFT (Low Cost Initiative for First Time Buyers) Open Market Shared Equity (OMSE) scheme.

How does the scheme work? 

The Scottish Government pays between 10% and 40% towards the price of a property you have chosen on the open market.

Example: the property is worth £100,000 and you can afford to contribute £70,000 (through mortgage/ deposit). The Scottish Government could contribute 30% (£30,000). When the property’s sold, 30% of the sale price would be returned to the Scottish Government.

You own the property outright and can increase your equity share over time.

Can I apply? 

Current tenants of Council or Housing Associations can apply to the scheme, even if not a first-time buyer. Visit Link Housing website for a full list of eligible groups.

What property can I buy?

The property must be:

• Advertised for sale publicly e.g. on an Estate Agent’s website.
• The correct size for your household.

Priced within the maximum threshold for the area. Angus thresholds:

 

 

 

An apartment is a habitable room including; bedrooms, living rooms, dining rooms and box rooms. Kitchens, bathrooms and conservatories are not classed as apartments.

How to apply?

Visit Link Housing website to find out more and apply online.

 

Advertisement

New Build Affordable Housing Target Met

We can confirm that we have met our 2018/19 target for new build affordable homes, with 33 Council and 95 Housing Association properties delivered through the Affordable Housing Supply Programme!

The Scottish Government allocates money each year to part fund affordable housing projects to help achieve their target of 50,000 new supply affordable homes over the lifetime of the parliament.  If councils don’t spend their allocated funds, it goes back into a ring-fenced housing fund.

For the second year running our Angus programme was able to claim more than its allocated funding, due to slippage elsewhere.

This year over £8m of grant money was claimed which is a substantial increase from previous years.

To find out what affordable housing is happening in your area, check out our Housing Development pages.

Delivering New Affordable Housing in Angus

Our ambitious Strategic Housing Investment Plan (SHIP) was approved by Councillors this week. It plans to deliver more than 600 new affordable homes in Angus by March 2024. This will be delivered in partnership with our housing association partners to provide affordable homes for social rent across Angus. The investment plan has been submitted to the Scottish Government for approval.

The plans set out how best to use over £44 million from the Affordable Housing Supply Programme for building affordable homes in Angus to meet housing need and create places that people can be proud to call home.

Communities Convener, Cllr Mark Salmond said:

This is an ambitious investment plan, but one that with our housing partners, we are committed to delivering upon. Everyone should have access to good quality, affordable housing and a place to call home. This investment will help us deliver that as well as support plans, also approved by the Council today, to ensure people who experience homelessness can access settled housing as quickly as possible.

We want people and families to feel that where they live provides much more than just a roof over their heads. We are committed to delivering good quality, safe, secure, sustainable and affordable housing within environments that meet people’s needs. That includes adapted, specialist and supported housing.

This announcement is also great news for the construction sector in Angus, bringing the certainty that comes from knowing there will be continued investment in house-building from the Council and our housing association partners.

House Exchange updates

See a previous post for more information about House Exchange and how to sign up. This is open to social renting tenants of the Council and Housing Associations.

The mid year report shows that there are lots of people in Angus looking for exchanges – maybe you’ll be one of the lucky ones!

 

House Exchange option for social tenants

 

There are many different reasons why you would like to move home. Maybe the kids have moved away and you have too many rooms, or maybe you’re expecting another child and you need that extra space. Or maybe you’d like a garden or maybe your garden is too much for you. Exchanging your home with someone else is called a Mutual Exchange.

The mutual exchange allows Council and Housing Association tenants to exchange homes with the permission of their landlords. You can register online and look for a property you like. When you find someone who wants to exchange, you complete this short form and contact your landlord to ask for permission.

You can find more information on the mutual exchange process here.

 

Delivering Houses People are Proud to Call Home

More than 600 new homes will be built by Angus Council and local housing associations in the county over the next five years, with the support of a £25 million Scottish Government funding package.

This significant and ambitious investment in bricks and mortar will see the creation of modern, affordable and sustainable accommodation that people can be proud to call home.

Our communities committee approved the Local Housing Strategy and Strategic Housing Investment Plan on 26 September. Both of these will help to drive the delivery of these new homes for people in Angus.

Communities convener, councillor Craig Fotheringham, said, “We will improve the provision of affordable housing across Angus by building houses of the highest quality in the places where people need them most. Doing so will further enhance Angus’ ever-growing reputation as a great place to live, work and visit. Accessibility and energy efficiency will be the cornerstones of our housing design, so that we deliver homes that will stand the test of time for the benefit of people now and in future generations.”

Our Local Housing Strategy sets out how we will improve housing in Angus – creating homes of which people can be proud – and how the supply of affordable homes will be increased to help match demand and people’s needs, as well as enabling them to live independent lives. It states how the council will improve the quality and energy efficiency of all its housing to help tackle fuel poverty and reduce domestic emissions. Supporting the ambition of the strategy, our Strategic Housing Investment Plan will drive the delivery of the strategic objectives.

Objectives include the delivery of 124 affordable homes each year over the next five years (by Angus Council and Housing Associations), including more than 30 homes each year for people who need adapted or specialised housing. The investment plan shows how those targets, which represent a doubling of new build rates, will be delivered and so contribute to the 50,000 national target of new affordable homes. We are committed to delivering 350 affordable homes over the next five years, including units at Viewmount and Chapelpark in Forfar that are set for completion later this year. Work begins onsite at Abbey Quarter in Arbroath shortly.

Both the strategy and the report have good foundations on which to build. Members of the communities committee heard that 87% of Angus Council Housing tenants are satisfied with the quality of their home with 80% considering that they get good value for money for the rent they pay.

Our communities vice-convener, councillor Lois Speed, said, “We are very pleased that 83% of our tenants are satisfied with the service they receive, but we are determined to ensure that we keep improving.”