29.08.13
Shared ownership model could help 1.8 million families
1.8 million “forgotten” families are being failed by current housing provision, the charity Shelter has warned. It is calling for a new offer to help more people buy in a shared ownership model.
At the moment, three quarters of households earning between £20,000 and £40,000 wouldn’t be able to afford a family-sized home, Shelter found. A lack of social housing means they must rent.
Shelter has proposed a model where buyers co-own a property with a housing association. The programme would have prices set to local markets, be available to those who can afford as little as a 12% share, have long-term political backing, and be directly linked to a new supply of homes.
Government investment of £12bn could build 600,000 such homes, helping those currently priced out of the market.
Kay Boycott, director of campaigns and policy at Shelter, said: “Years of piecemeal policies and an alphabet soup of confusing schemes have meant that shared ownership has failed to reach its potential, leaving it nowhere close to meeting the needs of England's forgotten families.
“But for the many young people desperate to do what generations have before them and find a stable home of their own, a national shared ownership programme is the bold and radical solution we need.”
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