For instance, Government-backed First Homes offers eligible first-time buyers in England a 30 per cent discount on new-build homes from developers involved.
Criteria includes being a fist-time buyer, having a household income of less than £80,000, with a £250,000 limit on the property price.
In London, income must be less than £90,000 and the price limit is £420,000.
The discount stays with the property for ever, so future buyers will also get a helping hand and applicants usually need to be local to the area already, or moving to the area to become whatever the local authority considers a key worker. Applicants who are members of the Armed Forces or recent veterans do not need a local connection.
The problem is finding a suitable development, as not every developer has signed up to the scheme. Those that have include Bellway, Barratt Homes and David Wilson Homes but Pocket Living has its own discount scheme for people in London.
Pocket Living was set up in 2005 to create affordable homes for Londoners who couldn't afford London prices, which resulted in Pocket Homes - not social housing or shared ownership but flats available to eligible first-time buyers for at least 20 per cent less than the market value. Their space-saving, energy-saving, one-bedroom apartments are for sale in East Croydon, Walthamstow, Finchley and Harrow, with another coming in Redbridge.
Among the new residents at Walthamstow's Forest Road E17, is 36-year-old Olivia, whose attempts to buy older flats were thwarted because “one had asbestos and the other was riddled with damp”.
LIVIA was attracted by the 20 per cent discount and says it ma...
Criteria includes being a fist-time buyer, having a household income of less than £80,000, with a £250,000 limit on the property price.
In London, income must be less than £90,000 and the price limit is £420,000.
The discount stays with the property for ever, so future buyers will also get a helping hand and applicants usually need to be local to the area already, or moving to the area to become whatever the local authority considers a key worker. Applicants who are members of the Armed Forces or recent veterans do not need a local connection.
The problem is finding a suitable development, as not every developer has signed up to the scheme. Those that have include Bellway, Barratt Homes and David Wilson Homes but Pocket Living has its own discount scheme for people in London.
Pocket Living was set up in 2005 to create affordable homes for Londoners who couldn't afford London prices, which resulted in Pocket Homes - not social housing or shared ownership but flats available to eligible first-time buyers for at least 20 per cent less than the market value. Their space-saving, energy-saving, one-bedroom apartments are for sale in East Croydon, Walthamstow, Finchley and Harrow, with another coming in Redbridge.
Among the new residents at Walthamstow's Forest Road E17, is 36-year-old Olivia, whose attempts to buy older flats were thwarted because “one had asbestos and the other was riddled with damp”.
LIVIA was attracted by the 20 per cent discount and says it ma...
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Daily Express (Digital) - 1 Issue, March 21, 2025