Rentplus- Rent, Save, Own
Rentplus is the leading provider of Affordable rent to buy homes, providing an accessible route to home ownership for those who cannot afford a sufficient deposit. Homes are fully funded by Rentplus with institutional investment and managed by Registered Provider, Council or ALMO partners on a 20 year FRI lease.
Tenants pay up to 80% market rent (inclusive of service charges) for defined periods of 5, 10, 15 or 20 years and receive a 10% gifted deposit from Rentplus to supplement savings when purchasing their home.
Rentplus aims to deliver a minimum of 5,000 affordable homes across England by 2020. The company already has completed Affordable rent to buy homes in Devon, Dorset, Gloucestershire and Oxfordshire complementing sustainable mixed tenure developments. Rentplus ambitious plans support accelerated delivery of new market and affordable housing, to address the housing crisis and provide greater local choice of housing solutions.
The struggling affordable housing market in the region is reaching breaking point. The National Housing Federation Home Truths report showed that house prices in Devon are more than 11 times more than the average salary for the region. Many households in the area would need a pay rise of £34,561 to afford a home. Rents in this region account for 43% of the average net pay. These problems combined are creating an environment in which thousands are ‘barely managing’, and getting a foot on the property ladder is notfeasible.
Under Rentplus’ rent-to-buy model, tenants pay an affordable intermediate rent which is substantially lower than market rent in the local area, they then have the opportunity to purchase their home after 5, 10, 15 or 20 years. This includes no service charges, and no maintenance responsibilities, which means occupants have time to save for a deposit and build a credit history that will support their mortgage application. The tenants also receive a 10 per cent gifted deposit from Rentplus when they do so.
Richard Connolly, Rentplus CEO, said: “With house prices spiralling out of control and wages not keeping pace, the aspiration to own a home is unachievable for many in West Devon through traditional means. By combining affordable rent and affordable home ownership, our tenants are able to become home owners over a period of time, without having the disruption of actually moving.
“The recognition from the Government’s Housing White Paper of rent-to-buy and more innovative housing tenures bolsters our long-held belief that new models are best fit to help fix the UK’s housing crisis. Hopefully this should see local councils across the country echo the support that we have had from West Devon, and see our model rolled out more widely.”
Rentplus’ 11 new homes will be constructed by local housebuilder, Wainhomes South West, and will form part of the larger Batheway Fields development in West Devon. The development will include a real mix of tenure types, with 34 homes for private sale, 5 discounted homes for private sale and 8 for affordable rent – as well as the 11 rent-to-buy homes. Tamar Housing, will manage the homes once built and provide further support to new occupants to buy them in the future.
Julie Barnett, Chief Executive, Tamar Housing, said: “The housing situation in the South West is becoming unsustainable, and is preventing many from getting onto the ladder. There is a real demand for innovative rent-to-buy houses which will lead families on a pathway to homeownership and security. We look forward to working with both Rentplus and Wainhomes again in the future to expand the model’s use to fit the region’s needs.”
Rentplus, an innovative provider of affordable rent-to-buy homes, and Tamar Housing, a leading housing association in the South West, announce the first affordable rent-to-buy homes in the village of Sparkwell on the edge of Dartmoor National Park. This latest partnership between the two organisations means they are now working together to deliver affordable housing on six sites across Devon and this is the second scheme of theirs to benefit residents in South Hams.
Wellbeck Manor on the edge of Sparkwell golf course is a 22 home development by Blue CedarHomes, specialist developers of housing for the over 55s. Seven of the homes on site will be Rentplus affordable rent-to-buy, four will be for affordable rent from Tamar Housing and the remaining 11 will be sold on the open market to buyers over the age of 55.
According to the National Housing Federation’s Home Truths report published earlier this year average wages for residents in South Hams are £23,613 while private rent is £767 per month. This means that for renters in the region nearly 40% of their annual pay is spent on housing which in turn makes it difficult for them to save for a deposit and get on the housing ladder.
The Rentplus rent-to-buy model was created to help overcome the deposit barrier by enabling tenants to pay an affordable intermediate rent which is at least 20% lower than market rents in anarea. Tenants are then able to save and work towards purchasing their homes in 5, 10, 15 or 20 years’ time. The tenants receive a 10 per cent gifted deposit from Rentplus to put towards their deposit when they buy their home.
Richard Connolly, Rentplus CEO, said: “This second development shows we are committed to delivering more affordable rent-to-buy homes in South Hams and Devon. The housing crisis here is significant and South Hams is becoming increasingly unaffordable for ordinary hard working people to get onto the housing ladder. These seven properties will be seven opportunities for local families to realise their dream of homeownership.
“In the current climate it is essential that there are a range of housing options and that these are more innovative and flexible to reflect the different needs of the people they are intended for. Affordable rent-to-buy means that tenants have the security of a long-term tenure, an affordable rent, saving pathway and ultimately the ability to own their own home.”
Julie Barnett, Chief Executive, Tamar Housing, said: “We are delighted to be working in partnership with Rentplus to deliver our second affordable rent-to-buy scheme in South Hams where the escalating costs of private rent are make it impossible for people to save for a deposit and fulfil their dreams of homeownership. Providing these affordable rent to buy homes alongside the affordable rented homes that Tamar is providing means we are able to provide a range of housing options for local people who otherwise are finding it difficult to find housing that enables them to continue to live in their community.
“The housing situation in the South West of England is problematic and it’s important that innovative solutions like Rentplus are available to provide additional pathways to affordable homeownership and security, enabling local families to thrive in their local communities. We are looking forward to continuing to work with Rentplus on this and other schemes in the region.”
Rentplus has completed affordable rent-to-buy homes at a number of sites across the country including Plymouth, West Dorset, Oxfordshire, South Hams and the Cotswolds with plans to develop many more over the year. Construction has already commenced on site in Sparkwell and the first rent-to-buy homes are expected to be available in Spring 2018.
Once constructed the two and three bedroom homes at Doddington Grange will be made available to local people and managed by KSHS. This development is the first step in Rentplus’ plans for Cambridgeshire. The innovative businesses is proactively developing opportunities to work with local authorities, developers and housing associations across the region to fulfil its target of building 1,000 affordable rent-to-buy homes there by 2020.
In May, residents in Cambridgeshire and Peterborough elected their first Mayor unlocking millions of pounds worth of investment in the region’s economy from central government. The devolution deal means the new Mayor, James Palmer, has expansive powers which include setting local priorities for housing; he has already committed to accelerate delivery of 100,000 new homes across the Combined Authority in his 100 Day Plan. With research by the National Housing Federation showing that house prices are over 10 times the average salary in the region, it is good news that the Combined Authority will receive £170m to deliver new homes over five years including affordable housing, of which £70m is earmarked to boost housing supply in Cambridge.
Richard Connolly, Rentplus CEO, commented: “The housing crisis is particularly acute in Cambridgeshire and it is great to see the new Mayor’s commitment to alleviating it and supporting more local people on to the housing ladder. Reaching an agreement on this site is the first step in our plan to support his work as we intend to deliver 1,000 affordable rent-to-buy homes in the region by 2020. We are proud to be working with both Larkfleet and King Street on this development and are actively progressingmore opportunities with housebuilders to fulfil our ambitions in the area.”
Rentplus has completed affordable rent-to-buy homes at a number of sites around the country including Plymouth, Oxfordshire, South Hams, West Dorset and the Cotswolds with plans to develop many more over the coming year. Construction has already commenced on site in Doddington and the first rent-to-buy homes are expected to be available from January 2018.
Craig Glasper, KSHS Chief Executive, said: “
“We are delighted to get our first Rentplus affordable rent to buy scheme underway in Cambridgeshire. The Rentplus model is exactly the sort of innovative thinking we need in the area to enable local people toput down roots in their communities and retain key workers. We plan that this will be the first of many such announcements as part of our partnership with Rentplus to provide more affordable rent to buy homes.”
The Rentplus affordable rent-to-buy model enables those that are unable to save for a deposit a route into homeownership. In Cambridgeshire this includes key workers – teachers, nurses and care staff – who are being priced out by workers in other sectors. Rentplus’ model offers tenants an affordable intermediate rent – at least 20% less than the market rent in the area including service charges – and the ability to purchase their home in 5, 10, 15 or 20 years which gives tenants time to save to buy. Rentplus, which is funded by institutional investors and therefore requires no grant or public subsidy to deliver the affordable rent to buy homes, provides tenants with a 10% gifted deposit towards their deposit when they buy their homes.
Rentplus has completed affordable rent-to-buy homes at a number of sites around the country including Plymouth, Oxfordshire, South Hams, West Dorset and the Cotswolds with plans to develop many more over the coming year. Construction has already commenced on site in Doddington and the first rent-to-buy homes are expected to be available from January 2018.
The National Housing Federation’s Home Truths report earlier this year revealed that house prices across Northamptonshire are eight times the region’s average salary of £26,936 per annum. The research also showed that a household would need an income of £49,365 to afford a standard mortgage in the region. This underscores the fact that, for many families in the area, homeownership will remain a pipedream unless innovative new models like affordable rent-to-buy are made available.
Rentplus is already in discussions with a number of local authorities and developers across the region to identify sites for delivering volume of this innovative affordable housing tenures; the partnership with Wellingborough Homes is a significant step forward in making this a reality. Areas they are targeting include Northampton, Wellingborough, as well as nearby Milton Keynes and Bedfordshire
Richard Connolly, Rentplus CEO, said: “Our new partnership with Wellingborough Homes will form the foundation of our ambitious plans for Northamptonshire. These much needed new homes will make a vital contribution to helping the area’s working families onto an affordable pathway to homeownership.
“The affordability of housing is an issue across the country, but the Home Truths report shows just how hard it is for working families to get on the ladder in Northamptonshire. Rent-to-buy is an innovative model that gives people the opportunity to fulfil their dreams of homeownership while offering them the safety and security of a long-term tenure. We look forward to working with Wellingborough Homes to make more of these dreams a reality in the region.”
Jo Savage, Wellingborough Homes Chief Executive, said: “We are delighted to be working with Rentplus to deliver Northamptonshire’s first affordable rent-to-buy homes. At Wellingborough Homes we are committed to exploring innovative tenure models which offer a range of housing options to meet localpeople’s housing needs and aspirations. Our new partnership with Rentplus to manage their affordable rent-to-buy homes fits exactly with this ambition. We’re very pleased that we will be the first housing association in Northamptonshire to be offering this innovative housing option and look forward to working with Rentplus to deliver many affordable rent-to-buy homes across the county.”
Rentplus’ affordable rent-to-buy model offers an accessible route to homeownership for ordinary working people who are unable to save for a deposit or access other forms of affordable home ownership.
Rentplus tenants pay an affordable intermediate rent and have the opportunity to purchase their home in 5, 10, 15 or 20 years with a 10% gifted deposit from Rentplus. The rental period gives Rentplus tenants time to save and then buy their home. Rentplus is funded by institutional investors, providing affordable rent-to-buy homes with no grant or public subsidy; its properties are managed by local housing associations, like Wellingborough Homes, with 20-year operating leases.
Rentplus, the innovative provider of rent-to-buy homes, is urging all of the main political parties to put aspirant home buyers at the heart of their manifestos and back privately funded, affordable housingtenures such as rent to buy which solve the issue of high deposits required for homeownership.
The firm, which has met with 130 potential funders so far, has already raised £110 million of funding from the City to progress its innovative affordable housing model. It says that a further £40 billion of investment is potentially up for grabs if the Government would lend its support to broadening affordable housing models and tenures.
Saving for a deposit while renting continues to be the biggest obstacle to home ownership. More than two thirds of people cited this issue as the primary challenge to buying their home in the Building Societies Association’s Property Tracker. A recent report from Shelter meanwhile found that 75% of renters are unable to save more than £100 per month towards a deposit. It is no wonder then that first time buyers now face an average wait of 13 years to save for a deposit for a house in England and Wales.
Rentplus’ privately funded, affordable rent-to-buy housing tenure addresses both the key issue of deposits as well as ever increasing market rents. The firm offers aspirant home owners an affordable opportunity to purchase their own home through a combination of affordable rents and a 10% gifted deposit. The Rentplus rent-to-buy model offers five year tenancies at an affordable intermediate rent, set at 80% of market rent, with the majority renewable on a 5, 10, 15 and 20 year basis. At the end of their rental agreements, tenants are given the opportunity to purchase their property and are eligible for a 10% gifted deposit from Rentplus to aid their mortgage application.
Richard Connolly, CEO at Rentplus, comments: “It is high time that we seriously consider the role which the private sector is able to play in the provision of affordable rent-to-buy housing. As the sixth richest country in the world we can and must do more to ensure that the correct policies are in place to offer truly affordable housing to more people. In the lead up to the General Election, we are calling on the next Government to lend its support to innovative housebuilding models like rent to buy that actually deliver, regardless of whether they are publically or privately funded.
“Attractive to private investors at scale, our rent-to-buy model has the capacity to deliver new homes today without any reliance on public money. In 2015/16, fewer than 3,000 homes were built for affordable home ownership, but attracting private investment to the sector can provide the capital to build and deliver now.”
The Rentplus affordable housing tenure is attracting significant demand on developments where it is in place, with a recent site in Plymouth receiving 275 applications for just one Rentplus home. The company aims to build a minimum of 5,000 homes across England by 2020 and currently has a pipeline of 10,000. Where Rentplus has already developed, over 60% of tenants have come from local housing waiting lists, with 35% moving out of existing social housing. As well as building new homes, the scheme therefore also frees up social housing for those most in need.
Rentplus brings together local authorities, national, regional and local housebuilders, developers and housing associations in an alliance to build new affordable homes and tackle the nation’s housing crisis.
The event enabled the new residents of Flanders Close to meet their neighbours and celebrate the completion of their new homes, and included speeches from the Mayor of Bicester, Councillor Les Sibley, Councillor John Donaldson, Lead member for Housing (Cherwell DC), Chris Holley, HCHA CEO and Richard Connolly, Rentplus CEO, as well as a ribbon cutting ceremony to formally mark the occasion.
The ten newly built two bedroom homes were constructed by premier regional developer, Mulberry Developments, and forms part of the 125 unit Stratton Park development.
Through Rentplus’ unique model, the new tenants will have the opportunity to rent their homes at a below market affordable rent and save to buy their new homes in 5, 10, 15 or 20 years. When it comes to buy their home, Rentplus will gift them a 10% deposit to assist them with their purchase.
Zoe Blomer is one of the new tenants who moved in with her partner and four month old baby. Zoe said: “Before moving into our new Rentplus home we were living in a two bedroom bungalow with my partner’s father. With so many of us in the house it was getting way too cramped and we really wanted a space of our own. To date, we’ve just not been able to afford getting onto the property ladder in the traditional way.
“I first heard about Rentplus and their rent-to-buy homes through the council. As well as being affordable, the location really attracted me– it is so close to town and we have good schools right on our doorstep, which means that we won’t have to rely on public transport.
“We are aiming to buy our new home after 5 years. The affordable rent means that we are able to save at the same time so we will be able to put more towards the deposit than the 10% Rentplus will give us then.
Richard Connolly, Rentplus CEO, said: “We are thrilled to be able to help Zoe and her family, and other families just like them, and are therefore delighted to be working with Cherwell District Council to bring more affordable housing to the local community. Rentplus has been set up to create opportunities for people on low incomes with little prospect of accessing affordable rented homes let alone to buy a home, to get a first step on the property ladder. This is why it’s so exciting to see this first development in Bicester – hopefully the first of many – as average house prices here are otherwise significantly beyond the reach of many hard working people.
“Our innovative model gives people who are just about managing the opportunity to fulfil their dreams of homeownership while offering them the safety and security of long term tenure and an affordable rent.
“The success of schemes like this will allow us to expand our presence in Bicester, delivering more affordable homes for people like Zoe and her family.”
Chris Holley, HCHA Chief Executive, said: “It is great to see the collaboration between Cherwell District Council, HCHA and Rentplus come to fruition. These new affordable homes will support working families in Bicester who aspire to own their own home but cannot currently do so. It was great to take time to welcome the new tenants to their new homes and celebrate taking their first crucial steps onto the property ladder.”
Rentplus see Oxfordshire as a target area for growth, and through the opening of the Flanders Close development hope to demonstrate how rent-to-buy homes have complemented Cherwell District Council’s strategic housing plans.
Find out more here by visiting the Cornerstone wesbite: http://www.cornerstonehousing.net/news/exciting-new-‘rent-buy’-homes-coming-soon
Outside of Phase 1 houses which are due for completion in 4 weeks
Thousands of tenants are finding themselves in situations which force them to borrow money off friends or family – or worse, take on eye-watering levels of debt after borrowing from payday lenders.
Shelter has also reported that 75% of all tenants are unable to save more than £100 per month towards a deposit.
Both of these findings are shocking, and exemplify an affordable housing market which has reached boiling point. It’s no wonder that first-time buyers face an average wait of 13 years to save for a deposit, and for growing numbers, owning a house is simply unachievable.
Growing unaffordability is nothing new. A recent Resolution Foundation survey found that millennials will spend £44,000 more on rent than their parents did by age 30. However, to reach a situation where hard working families are at risk of racking up enormous debt just to rent a home is simply unacceptable.
It is high time that the Government considers the role in which the private sector can play. The bottom line is we need more affordable homes, and the Government should be exploring every avenue possible to increase numbers, and to relieve pressure on overstretched and underfunded local authorities.
In the run up to the General Election, it is an opportune time to call for change. Clearly tried and tested policies continuously recycled by previous Governments are not working. I urge whichever party (or parties) who form the next Government to seriously consider policy which supports innovative housebuilding models which actually deliver, such as privately funded rent-to-buy.
Tenants in our Rentplus homes benefit from affordable rents (80% of market rent); a 10% gifted deposit when they are able to buy and have the additional benefit of no maintenance responsibilities whilst they are renting their home.
Now at a time when tenants cannot even afford their rent, let along save for a deposit and stamp duty, it is truly time for a Government to take innovative and bold action.
Richard Connolly, CEO of Rentplus