Cheap deal to help young workers

Author: Evening Standard - Nov 19, 2009

Posted in: Planning, Housing and Economic Development / Reform of the social housing system / Local Government News

Young professionals struggling to get on the property ladder are being offered knock-down rents in some of London's most sought after neighbourhoods.

In a groundbreaking £7 million scheme, Westminster council is targeting those who earn up to £30,000 a year but cannot put money aside for a deposit to buy a house because rents are so high.

Tenants who sign up will pay heavily subsidised rents — up to 67 per cent off the market value. They will be expected to put aside the money they save for a deposit.

Flats will be let out to each person for a maximum of five years. Residents will also qualify for a £500 "incentive payment" each year if they stick to the terms of their tenancy agreement, collectable when they move out. They can only take advantage of the scheme once.

But there is no obligation for tenants to put aside money each month, and nor do they have to spend their savings or bonus payments on buying a home.

The trial — the first of its kind — is open to single people earning up to £30,000 or couples who together earn £40,000. Priority will be given to council and housing association tenants, followed by people on the waiting list, Westminster residents, and those who work in the borough.

The council is buying 30 properties for the trial: tenants will be charged rents as low as £120 a week for period homes in areas such as Bayswater, Pimlico, Marylebone and Westbourne Park. That is less than a third of the £365 average market rent for one-bedroom flats in these areas.

Council officials predict participants could save up to £330 a month, or more than £3,900 a year. It means that after five years, and with the bonus payment collected, a saver could have more than £22,000 for a deposit.

Two of the first flats to be bought are in five-storey Regency houses in Orsett Terrace, Bayswater. No tenant will be charged more than £140 per week.

The first property will be ready to let, fully furnished, in January.

Philippa Roe, Westminster's cabinet member for housing, said: "We have quite a polarised community in Westminster between those people who live on low incomes or on benefits and people who are wealthy enough to buy or rent their own home.

"I estimate you would have to be earning at least £65,000 to afford to live privately in Westminster, and that's wrong. People who are on modest to reasonable incomes should be able to live here. These are people who are key to our community. We hope this scheme will allow them to take advantage of an affordable housing scheme like shared ownership in the future."

Ms Roe said she was "not too worried" if some tenants decided not to save while they lived in the flats, or spent their bonus payments on something other than a home. "It will help with our housing shortage anyway," she insisted.

All the flats involved in the trial are former council properties that Westminster is in the process of buying back from leaseholders for an average £230,000. The council is funding the project itself, but a spokesman said it was "negotiating" a grant from the Homes and Community Agency.

Experts say the housing market is suffering "mortgage apartheid", with only those with big salaries, rich parents or equity in a property able to buy. The average first-time buyer currently puts down a 25 per cent deposit because banks are making it harder to secure loans with smaller sums. To buy a £230,000 flat in London would therefore require a £57,500 lump sum.

For information on the Westminster scheme ring 0845 437 9701.

If someone earns £30,000 a year their maximum net pay is £22,624.

Mortgage lenders estimate people can spend up to 45 per cent of their net pay on rent in a year — in this case £10,181.

This means a tenant would be paying £196 a week on rent. However, under Westminster's scheme, a tenant could pay as little as £120 a week — and save £76 a week, equal to £3,952 a year.

Over five years they could put aside £19,760 and collect £2,500 in bonus payments, giving a total saving through the scheme of £22,260.

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