This week, local MP Lee Rowley joined leader of the council Cllr Nigel Barker to celebrate a new partnership – the first of its kind in North East Derbyshire. The two met some of the tenants who are moving into their new homes later this month.
Rentplus-UK, the award winning affordable rent to buy provider, is working with North East Derbyshire District Council to offer the new homes on the Woodhall scheme at Clay Lane, Clay Cross.
Steve Collins, CEO of Rentplus explains why Rentplus is needed. “With the average house price for first-time buyers in North East Derbyshire over £211,000, many working households on lower or middle incomes are locked out of home ownership as they are unable to save enough for a deposit, even though they could afford mortgage repayments.
“Our affordable rent to buy provides a much more accessible route onto the housing ladder for those on lower and middle incomes than Shared Ownership as it doesn’t require any upfront deposit. our scheme completely removes the deposit barrier, opening up home ownership to renters living or working in the area.
“Rentplus turn local renters into homeowners.”
Tenants move in without paying an initial deposit and then rent their home at an affordable rent (which includes all repairs and service charges) for between 5 and 20 years whilst they save. When ready to buy, they receive a gifted deposit of 10% from Rentplus towards their savings. Unlike Shared Ownership, tenants purchase their full home.
Funded by institutional investment, new homes are bought from developers either as part of their affordable housing agreement or outside of it. By injecting additional private funding into the affordable housing sector, councils can focus existing grant funding on delivering more homes for social rent.
Over 60 local authorities are already offering Rentplus. across the country and a similar scheme in Bolsover opened in 2022.
Across the country, the majority of Rentplus residents are key or essential workers, and this is true of the Clay Lane residents too. All have a local connection, living and working locally.
North East Derbyshire District Council Leader, Councillor Nigel Barker said, ”I’m delighted we’ve offered such a fantastic scheme to some of our wonderful residents, who will be moving in to these brand new houses in the coming weeks. We’re committed to offering our residents new housing solutions, not only here but in the years to come.”
MP Lee Rowley has also welcomed the scheme. “I’m very impressed with what I have seen today and I’m looking forward to seeing people move into their Rentplus home. The key thing is to give people choices: whether to rent or to buy, or something in-between. What’s so good about this is that it allows people to become homeowners in the medium or long term but doing it in a way that helps people in the short term.”
Rentplus and North East Derbyshire District Council are currently looking for more housing developments where Rentplus can be offered.