Cambridgeshire and Oxfordshire are listed in the top five of Lloyds Bank research which sets out the UK’s least affordable cities in which to live. Key workers who keep the cities of Oxford and Cambridge ticking are being steadily priced out of owning their own homes. The need for greater provision of truly affordable housing is starkly evident.
Local authorities recognise the scale of the challenge and with the recent devolution deal between Cambridgeshire and Peterborough the devolved authority will have new powers to deliver different types of housing that will provide local people with more affordable homes and, for some, help them fulfil their dream of homeownership.
Richard Connolly CEO of Rentplus believes that rent-to-buy tenures are part of this solution, offering more people the chance of affordable homes and the option of homeownership in Oxfordshire and Cambridgeshire. This is why Rentplus have recently announced two new partnerships to start delivering them in both counties. In Oxfordshire they are currently building 10 rent-to-buy homes with Harrow Churches Housing Association and Mulberry Developments in the growing town of Bicester. These homes are the first phase of a major programme of investment and delivery across Oxfordshire for Rentplus.
In Cambridgeshire Rentplus will be working with King Street Housing Society to build rent-to-buy homes and have identified four potential sites that would be suitable for development across South Cambridgeshire and the Fenland region. Their ambition for the county is to deliver 1,000 rent-to-buy homes by 2020.
Cambridgeshire and Oxfordshire aside, people in every part of the country would benefit from the security of tenure the Rentplus model offers, the affordable rental rate which encourages tenants to save for their deposit and the knowledge that eventually they will own their own home.