For the first time in the UK housing association tenants have become home owners under the new Voluntary Right to Buy scheme.
Sasha Dudley and partner Peter Taylor from Croydon in London are some of the first tenants to benefit from one of the five associations piloting the new rights ahead of the scheme going nationwide.
The voluntary agreement between government and housing associations will give householders the chance to purchase their home with Right to Buy discounts. The pilot is being used to develop the national scheme.
Under the deal reached with the sector, when the main scheme is rolled out every home sold will be replaced nationally with an additional new property increasing the overall supply of housing.
Since the launch of the pilots nearly 800 applications have been submitted by tenants who want to take their first steps towards owning their own home. The first purchases are now beginning to be made.
‘Anyone who works hard and aspires to own their home should have that opportunity to do so. Right to Buy will help lots of people, like Sasha and Peter, go from being a tenant to home owner,’ said Housing and Planning Minister, Gavin Barwell.
The minister visited the family in Croydon to hear first-hand their experience of becoming a home owner. Sasha who works as a business support officer at Croydon Council has lived in her home for 19 years with partner Peter and their children Jordan and Caleb.
Feels more like home
‘We are very excited to be home owners. We’ve lived here for almost 20 years, close to family and friends but now overnight home suddenly feels more important to us,’ said Sasha>
‘It’s always felt like a home but knowing that we now own the place gives that sense of security and ownership that wasn’t there before,’ added Peter.
Barwell pointed out that more than 309,000 households have now been helped into home ownership through government backed schemes since 2010. That is 141 new home owners a day and around 4,350 a month. This includes many through the Right to Buy.
The pilot associations are taking place in Croydon, Greenwich, Haringey, Lambeth, Lewisham and Southwark in London. Also in Liverpool, South Norfolk, Oxfordshire, Guilford, Runnymede, Rushmoor and Woking.
