Two new affordable housing schemes in Manchester

Manchester City Council will discuss two new housing schemes that will make affordable homes available for first time buyers and lower income households.

With the current average age for first time buyers in Manchester now sitting at 37, Manchester’s Rent to Purchase model will help working households who want to be home owners but don’t have enough deposit to get a high street mortgage. The initial pilot scheme will build 48 new homes across six small infill sites – eight for rent to purchase, 20 shared ownership and 20 for outright sale – to start on site in March 2018.

The pilot scheme will gain insight into the demand for the product and provide learning for scaled up schemes at other sites in the city.

Additionally, an agreement is already in place with Adactus Housing Group to refurbish empty homes for First Time Buyers or owner occupiers and up to 30 homes have already been identified. An initial investment of £2 million could deliver 135 homes if sales receipts are reinvested over several phases.

Bernard Priest, deputy leader of the council, said: “75 per cent of the city’s housing stock falls within Council Tax band A or B, which shows that the city has a significant amount of lower value homes to rent and purchase – but the problem is often around the ease of access to these homes, other than the traditional high street routes for mortgages or market rents.

“To bypass the barriers that traditional housing models present, we have often needed to be creative and work with both the private and public sector to deliver accessible affordable homes at scale, which the council would not be able to achieve without these partnerships. We want our residents to be aspirational and realise an ambition to own their own homes, should they want to. Current routes on to the housing ladder are failing our residents, but Innovative models such as this will make home ownership for First Time Buyers or lower income households a real possibility.”