Last week, the Secretary of State for Housing set out his response to the Queen’s Speech. In it, he defined the Rentplus ethos.
“No reasonable person in this House, or indeed across the country, can credibly make the case that we should not be building more homes, because all of us in this House aspire to be or are already homeowners, and we aspire for our own children and grandchildren to be homeowners as well.
“The property-owning democracy is one of the foundations of this country—the belief that home ownership should be achievable for all who dream of it, and that young people, irrespective of where they are born, should be able to own the keys to their own home.
“For too many, this uniquely British dream has proved to be out of reach, and we face a generational divide between those who own property and those who do not. By the age of 30, those born between 1981 and 2000 are half as likely to be homeowners as those born between 1946 and 1965.
“Too many young people are being locked out of the benefits of capitalism. As we work hard to level up the country and to bridge this home ownership divide, we must do everything we can to make home ownership accessible to even more people.”
Rentplus exists because a property developer in Plymouth realised his own family and friends – working in good jobs – could not afford to buy their own home. He teamed up with a visionary local Housing Association and approached Plymouth City Council. They proposed a new housing tenure to allow working families to get onto the housing ladder by removing the deposit barrier – the largest barrier to home ownership.
Rentplus-UK was born.
In 2016, the first Rentplus tenants moved in to a speculative Rentplus scheme with Tamar Housing (now Willow Tree Housing), drawn from the local waiting list. They moved in with zero deposit down, and paid affordable rent for 5 years. Over that time, they cleared any student loans or debts, built a strong credit rating and started to save – something they hadn’t been able to do as their previous high private rents had prevented this.
Later this summer, those tenants will buy 100% of their home, with mortgages from high street providers, helped with an additional 10% gifted sum to boost their savings.
The model is proven.
Since then, many, many more have embarked on their homeownership journey with Rentplus across England and we’re in talks to make a further 22,000 homes available for first time buyers, unable to save the huge deposits now required to get on the ladder.
Now, in 2021, Rentplus is working with councils across the country to offer affordable rent to buy and is pushing ahead to deliver the vision of having affordable rent to buy available in every county in the country.
The tenure enjoys cross party, and government support. It has won national awards for being an innovative home ownership scheme. It has a QC’s determination that nothing in planning law prevents local authorities adopting the scheme.
If you’re a forward looking Housing Association, Local Authority or a developer looking for investment in S106 housing on your site, get in touch today by calling your area manager on 0330 229 0035 or visit https://www.rentplus-uk.com/contact-us