21,000 Co-Ownership Homes
Wednesday 8 September 2010
A landmark 21,000 homes have now been purchased in Northern Ireland through Co-Ownership Housing’s affordable home ownership scheme.
The 21,000th Co-Ownership home is in Antrim, and belongs to young family Claire Scott and Richard Young, with daughter Katie.
Welcoming Ricky and Claire to their new home Social Development Minister Alex Attwood said: “I am pleased to see at first hand the real benefits that settling into their own home can bring to a young family. Through the Co-Ownership scheme, government and the private sector are successfully providing affordable housing to many more people who want a base from which to build their future.”
Claire and Ricky said: “We didn’t think we could own a home, especially at the moment when it is so difficult to get a mortgage but everything went through quickly and very smoothly. We got the first house we had our eye on and the garden’s a great size for Katie to play in.”
Alan Crowe, Chief Executive of Co-Ownership Housing said: “Ricky and Claire applied to Co-Ownership at the beginning of March. Everything was sorted inside 3 weeks and they then fixed their moving date for the end of May.”
“The 21,000th Co-Ownership home is a major achievement for all concerned and proves that, no matter what is happening in the housing market, Co-Ownership can help people into the property of their choice.”
Co-Ownership offers a free, confidential information service. Contact Co-Ownership Housing direct on freephone 0800 333644 or www.co-ownership.org.
Notes
- The Co-Ownership scheme is the Department for Social Development’s flagship low cost home ownership scheme in Northern Ireland. It is operated by Co-Ownership Housing®.
- Co-Ownership Housing is a registered housing association and Northern Ireland’s regional body for shared ownership, operating since 1978.
- The Department for Social Development is enabling Co-Ownership Housing to provide some 1,500 homes over a 3 year period through a unique public/private sector financial model put in place last year.
- The Co-Ownership scheme is a low cost route into home ownership aimed at people who could not otherwise afford to buy a home. Purchasers buy a share in the property of their choice (from 50% up to 90% initially). Every case is assessed individually, and all properties are subject to valuation before purchase.
- Co-Ownership purchasers represented 10% of first time buyer mortgages in Northern Ireland last year (2009).
- In 2009 Co-Ownership Housing invested £26m to support its purchasers in acquiring the homes of their choice on a shared equity basis. The total purchase price of these chosen homes was £60m.
