Riverside - Riverside urges MPs to back shared ownership

Riverside Home Ownership is supporting a national campaign to promote shared ownership in the run up to the next election.

Nineteen of the largest providers of low cost home ownership in the country have joined forces to urge MPs of all parties to support the building of more shared ownership properties.

Shared ownership involves the buyer purchasing a percentage of a home, normally between 25% and 75% of its market value, and a government appointed housing association or developer owns the rest.

The buyer then pays rent on the portion they don’t own but they have the option of buying a larger share at a later date when they can afford to.

The campaign kicked off with a letter to MPs urging them to continue to back shared ownership after the election - despite predicted cuts in the housing sector.

It emphasises the vital role shared ownership plays in a still expensive housing market, and the need for government to continue with strong levels of funding for shared ownership programmes even as public expenditure is scaled back.

Carol Lavender, Director of Riverside Home Ownership, said: “Home ownership remains unaffordable for large sections of the population, including many key workers, despite the fall in house prices in recent times. Now prices are going up again, reasonably priced mortgages remain hard to find, and it is essential that we are able to keep building good numbers of new properties for affordable home ownership.

“Unaffordable housing is a massive issue in many MPs’ constituencies. It’s an issue that is particularly important to the ‘squeezed middle’, the low and moderate income ‘hard working families’ MPs are fond of talking about.

“As we approach a general election, we believe there is a real opportunity for MPs to show their solidarity and support for constituents struggling to meet their housing needs effectively. By backing new shared ownership development MPs can show they really care about what’s important to their voters.

“Shared ownership is a fantastic product, with an excellent 30 year track record of success. It’s very popular with buyers and it’s a superb value for money investment for the government. Even in pretty tough housing market conditions, high demand for shared ownership has never flagged.”

As the HomeBuy agent for Cumbria, Riverside Home Ownership is responsible for administering all affordable homes applications in the six local authority areas of Allerdale, Eden, South Lakeland, Barrow in Furness, Carlisle and Copeland. Riverside provides a one-stop-shop service to help eligible working people achieve their home ownership dreams.

For more information about shared ownership or other government backed affordable homes schemes visit www.riversidehomeownership.org.uk or call 0845 155 9029.