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Share of the high life

A PLACE of your own in leafy Cheshire could cost a little bit less than you think.

Housing association bosses are launching a new development in Handforth, near Wilmslow, and is designed for those who previously could not afford to get a foot on the property ladder.

Stanley Park Grange, on Chelford Road, is a tower block which was previously part of a Manchester Council overspill estate, but was transferred to the Contour Housing Group five years ago.

Tenants who lived in the block were rehoused to other nearby properties and the housing association has also turned another nearby block into secure accommodation for elderly people.

They have now spent a year refurbishing the block and, with help from a government grant, are about to make it available as affordable housing, along with other nearby developments such as Woodford Mews and Lyme View.

The basic idea is that people buy only as much of a property as they can afford with the government initially stumping up the rest and then allowing them to staircase up and increase their share as their income and equity in the property increase.

Show homes in the high-rise block are opening on Sunday with studio flats going on sale for £70,000.

One-bedroom flats will cost slightly more but the most expensive two-bedroom apartments will only cost £115,000.

Bosses from the Salford-based housing association say flats in a similar nearby private development recently went on the market for £180,000.

But while they claim this makes their prices very competitive, only 20 per cent of the apartments are to be sold outright.

Housing association managers say they will be making most of the block's flats available on a shared ownership scheme, in which residents buy 50 per cent of the cost of their apartment, while renting the remaining 50 per cent from the organisation.

This would mean that with a 50/50 split on a £100,000 two-bedroom flat, bought last year, the resident would be paying £166 per month rent and around £346 per month mortgage, at a total of £512 per month. Residents also pay a service charge of £69 per month.

The grant Contour received from the government has also ensured that it is cheaper for residents to buy under this scheme than it would be for them to buy their flats outright.

Residents are also able to buy further "shares" in their apartment later on - turning the deal from 50 per cent 75 per cent ownership.

Director of asset management Craig Howard said the association was doing all it could to make sure unscrupulous property speculators didn't cash in on the scheme.

"The shared ownership scheme helps us to make the flats more affordable," he said. "The key thing is to make sure that this affordability isn't taken advantage of by people who can afford to live elsewhere.

"We don't want to be selling shared ownership apartments to people who could afford to buy outright.

"We do try to control it to stop investors from buying up lots of flats and sub-letting them. We vet our customers and we're satisfied we've got measures in place to control that."

Mr Howard said preference would be given to local people, as well as first-time buyers and people who have to move because of their jobs.

This is the first time the association has worked on such a large block but, despite the stigma often associated with high-rise towers, he expected there to be plenty of interest in the scheme.

"With any development you don't know what's going to happen, because you're relying on the market place," he said. "But we're confident because of the prices we can offer.

"It's handy for the airport, the city centre and John Lewis, and there are magnificent views from the flats.

"There's also been a huge amount of work going on. We've completely stripped out what was there before and put in new kitchens, new wiring, new heating."

Anyone wanting more information should call Cheshire Property Services on 01625 527 104.

THE government has announced it is giving £4bn to help more schemes similar to Contour Housing Group's Handforth development.

The money is being distributed through the Housing Corporation to create 35,000 affordable homes for sale over the next two year with Manchester being allocated just over £3m and Lancashire £2.4m

They are made affordable through shared ownership, known as HomeBuy and each of the dozens of different schemes are being co-ordinated through a single agent in an effort to make it easier for people to find a property they want.

Matthew Harrison, below, is deputy chief executive for the Manchester based Great Places Housing Group, which is the Agent for Manchester and Lancashire.

He said: "We are now a one-stop shop for low-cost home ownership across those counties. Our aim is to find people the right property in the right place and we have all the details of the different options available.

"It is filling a critical gap in the market. We have seen no let-up in demand over the last 12-18 months and our hotline is constantly busy, which proves the demand is there."

And the variety of different homes on offer has changed dramatically since the early days of shared ownership where rather bleak blocks could easily be identified and they failed to grow in value to the same extent.

Today, you buy a share of properties in high-profile developments like Countryside's South, at Didsbury Point off the Parkway, Urban Splash's Moho scheme in Castlefield, Sale town centre and later this summer units at the ultra-cool Chips Building in New Islington will be available.

Harrison said: "We now work with a whole range of different developers who build a whole range of different housing and we also commission our own new schemes like the distinctive new housing being built in New Islington.

"Sometimes developers come to us but more frequently we are in at the beginning helping to drive the sort of housing being built. We are also bidding with the developer LPC to be involved with the redevelopment of the Gorton Monastery sit, which is a tremendous opportunity."

The overall thrust is that shared ownership is no longer the dodgy units at the back of the site but the chance to buy in prestigious schemes in key locations.

Harrison added: "As the agent we will co-ordinate what all the different housing associations are doing - and there are now dozens of good companies - and do the hard work so people only have to register with us and have one place to look for all the information they need.

"We will have two years of stability working with this scheme and we hope during that time to help around 200 people and helping first-time buyers will have a wider impact on the property market."

There are basically three different HomeBuy options.

Open Market HomeBuy - If you can raise a mortgage for around 75 per cent of the property you want on the open market then HomeBuy will help you fund the rest. Up until the rules change in October you will not have to pay rent on the loan but after that you will. There are also restrictions an eligibility with key workers, social housing tenants and those in priority housing getting priority. There are also some restrictions on the areas where you can buy.

New Build HomeBuy - New built apartments or houses where you purchase between 25-75 per cent of the price of the property on a mortgage and pay rent on the share you don't own. After 12 months you can increase your share and when you own 100 per cent can sell the property outright on the open market benefiting from any increase in your equity.

Social HomeBuy - Helps existing affordable housing tenants to buy their own properties either outright or a share with the benefit of a discount. The maximum discount varies between £9,000 and £16,000 depending on location.

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