Birmingham Council got set to introduce its own shared-ownership scheme for tenants who are unable to buy a home outright.
The scheme will allow tenants to part-buy and part-rent their council home by purchasing a share of the property - from 25% up to a maximum share of 75%. Further shares can be bought gradually until a tenant owns their own home outright. Purchasers will be granted a lease and the Council will retain the freehold until 100% of the property is sold.
The new lease will be subject to discounts similar to Right to Buy discounts. This could give tenants up to a 70% discount on a flat, and up to a 60% discount on a house. Discounts are subject to the dates and lengths of tenancies, and a £26,000 maximum.
The purchaser will be responsible for day-to-day repairs, with the Housing Department retaining responsibility for capital, structural repairs, and improvements, for which a charge will be based on the percentage of ownership. The purchaser will pay a reduced rent on the remaining share of their property, which will reflect the repair responsibilities for the portion of the property owned by the Council.
The Government announced that ten councils have been awarded a place on the 2005 arms length management organisation programme:
This latest round takes the number of homes managed by ALMOs to around 870,000.
Waltham Forest Council came to an arrangement with Circle 33, which will keep 300 properties for homeless families in the Borough. The council will lease 300 Warner Estate homes from Circle 33, for ten years. It will also give £1 million to Circle 33 for an extra 134 homes, to be used as social rented housing, rather than being sold. Safety clauses have been included to allow the Council the opportunity to make new arrangements should the agreement fail.
The Council will lease the homes as soon as Circle 33 tenants leave them. It is expected that 40 homes per year will become available; the upper limit is 300 homes.
