Housing Secretary Robert Jenerick travelled to the area to launch the new First Home pilot scheme which has been designed to ensure first time buyers are offered new-build homes with a discount of at least 30%.
With a huge increase of people wanting to buy or move home over recent months, and an ongoing shortage of available properties on the market, house prices have risen to an all time high. The new First Home scheme has been designed to be a longer-term strategic approach to ensuring housing can be affordable for first time buyers.
With the pilot being launched in Newton Aycliffe with intentions to roll out similar schemes up and down the country, the government are trying to encourage younger people to enter the property ladder. This scheme offers at least a 30% discount on new properties for first time buyers in order to make it more affordable for those who don’t have the funds available to buy through the traditional means. To ensure this is a longer-term solution, the same discount will be applied for the next first-time buyer once the original buyer chooses to sell. Local authorities will determine which potential buyers are prioritised for the scheme with particular focus on young families and key workers.
Although this scheme is currently only available on a local scale as we speak, the government have made their intentions clear in regard to making schemes of a similar nature available up and down the country.
