Barratt Helps First Time Buyers Onto Housing Ladder In The South West

INSIDE THIS ISSUE:

STAMP DUTY EXPLAINED

2

FEATURE PROPERTY

3

QUIZ TIME 3

DATES FOR YOUR DIARY

4

DOUBLE FIRST FOR FIRSTBUY

4

LENDER LOWDOWN

5

GET IN TOUCH

5

ISSUE 1 WINTER 2011

deposit of just £5,198 in the south west.” said Caroline.

The house builder has set-up a special Armed Forces hotline for any personnel who are interested and is also topping up the offer by giving £500 of furniture vouchers for every £25,000 spent on at home. The offer also applies to ex-Regular servicemen and women who have served for a minimum of six years and also to the surviving partners of military personnel who have died in service.

Among those who have benefitted from FirstBuy with Barratt in the South West is Hannah Page . Read Hannah’s story on page 4

Barratt is reinforcing its

commitment to the armed forces by helping servicemen and woman move into their dream homes with a raft of schemes currently available at its developments in the south west.

The popular homebuilder offers a Special Forces discount scheme and members are also given priority when buying through the government-backed FirstBuy scheme.

The Barratt Armed Forces discount scheme offers £1,000 discount for every £25,000 or part thereof on the cost of the property. In addition the FirstBuy scheme offers priority to qualifying

armed forces members to buy a home of their own, a scheme which is also open to all first time buyers.

The FirstBuy scheme is a Government-backed initiative designed to give first time buyers a route to home ownership at the lowest possible cost and with the lowest possible deposit. Under FirstBuy, buyers will be offered a loan of up to 20 per cent of the price of the property, jointly funded by Barratt and the Government’s Homes and Communities Agency. Buyers then have to find the remaining 80 per cent of the price themselves made up of the mortgage and deposit.

“In practice, this means anyone buying a home under the scheme would potentially be able to get on the housing ladder for a

The Beehive

Welcome to the first issue of The Beehive, the name which was suggested by Sarah Parker and the winner of our Christmas Hamper competition.

All of us at South West Homes loved this suggestion for our new magazine as we felt it summarised our role as the Homebuy agent as being the centre for delivering

affordable housing in the South West, working with developers, housing associations , financial advisors and solicitors to help you achieve your dream of owning your own home. Thank you Sarah!

have to pay any more on the property purchase when you staircase.

• It is of course more beneficial to do this when the total market value of the property is no more than the threshold for paying SDLT. Purchasers should remember that the higher threshold of £250,000 for first time buyers only applies if SDLT is paid on the market value.

If you decide to pay Stamp Duty in stages

• SDLT is initially charged on the premium paid for the grant of the lease. For example, if the market value of your property is £160,000 and you purchase a 50% share for a premium of £80,000, there is no SDLT payable on the premium because its value is below the current SDLT threshold of £125,000.

• However, if the market value of the property were £280,000 and you bought a 50% share for a premium of £140,000 you would

Purchase PricePurchase PricePurchase PricePurchase Price SDLT SDLT SDLT SDLT RateRateRateRate

SDLT First SDLT First SDLT First SDLT First Time Buyer Time Buyer Time Buyer Time Buyer

RatesRatesRatesRates

Up to £125,000Up to £125,000Up to £125,000Up to £125,000 Nil Nil

Over £125,000 Over £125,000 Over £125,000 Over £125,000 to £250,000to £250,000to £250,000to £250,000

1%

Zero for completions

up to 24 March 2012

Over £250,000 Over £250,000 Over £250,000 Over £250,000 to £500,000to £500,000to £500,000to £500,000

3% 3%

The Government has recently announced that they will not extending the First

Time Buyer Relief on Stamp Duty ("SDLT") from 24 March 2012. This seems like a good time to remind everyone of how SDLT is paid on Shared Ownership properties which can seem a minefield at the start of your purchase.

When you buy a new lease through an approved shared ownership scheme you may have to pay SDLT. There are two ways to pay:

• making a one-off payment based on the total market value of the property

• paying any SDLT due in stages

If you decide to pay Stamp Duty on the market value

• Upon completion of your purchase you make a one-off SDLT payment in the same way as if you had bought a property outright from the start which is paid on the full market value.

• Once you've paid any SDLT due you won't

have to pay SDLT of £1,400 on the premium. This is because the value of the premium is above the threshold at which SDLT becomes payable at 1% (and the First Time Buyers discount does not apply)

• If you then buy further shares in the property ('staircase') you don't pay any more SDLT until your share reaches more than 80%. This is the case whether or not any SDLT was paid on the initial transaction. However, once the share of the property goes over 80%, you must pay any SDLT due.

Buyers beware – the above is only a brief summary. Special rules apply in special cases e.g. leases with restricted staircasing, and different options suit different buyers. Always discuss fully your SDLT with your legal advisor.

Do I have to pay stamp duty? Linda Storey, from Penningtons Solicitors , answers your questions regarding stamp duty

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Feature Development PAGE 3 VOLUME 1, ISSUE 1

Advent Dancer Joy

Tinsel Baubles Dasher

Rudolph Toys Blitzen

Merry Santa Tree

Donner Mistletoe Sing

Carols Eggnog North Pole

Sleigh Vixen Chimney

Elves Peace Snow

Christmas Gifts Pine

Cold Holly Prancer

Snowman Comet Ivy

Star Cupid Jingle Bells

Red nose Stocking Pudding

Snowflake Wreath Turkey

Cake December Lights

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Christmas Word Search Words can go horizontally, vertically and diagonally in all eight directions.

Words overlap and share 1 or more letters. When you are done, the unused letters in the grid will spell out a hidden mes-

sage. Pick them out from left to right, top line to bottom line.

Taylor Wimpey are holding a FirstBuy event on 31st January

and 4th February 2012 in Swindon. Visit our website for

further information.

Ideal Home Show, Earls Court, London 16th March to 1st April

2012. Visit www.idealhomeshow.co.uk for ticket information

The Gadget Show Live, NEC Birmingham, 11th to 15th April

2012. Visit www.gadgetshowlive.net

Did you know… You can update your application at

any time, by logging in to you account via our website.

Not sure of your login details? Just calls us on 0300 100 0021 and will be

happy to provide them to you

THE BEEHIVE PAGE 4

Dates For Your Diary

SOMERSET’S Hannah Page has become the country’s first beneficiary with Barratt

of a special scheme designed to provide buyers with an easy route into the property market. Living with parents in the family home, Hannah made the decision to find a place of her own after noticing Barratt’s exciting new Festival development near Bridgwater. And becoming a first time buyer couldn’t have been easier. “I was keen to find my own home and knew of Festival – but I wasn’t sure if it would be possible to own one of the new places there,” said Hannah. “Luckily for me, my Mum helped out a lot. We went to take a closer look and I loved the development and the two bedroom Mermaid

apartment. “Next was the task of making it through the buying process. The best possible news was this new scheme called FirstBuy. So new, in fact, that I’m proud to be the first person in the country to use it.” Under FirstBuy, buyers are offered a loan of up to 20 per cent of the price of the property, jointly funded by Barratt and the Government’s Homes and Communities Agency. The buyers then have to find the remaining 80 per cent of the price themselves with the mortgage and deposit. “It’s fantastic because I have been able to buy a brand new home here at Festival with FirstBuy for less than I ever imagined,” added Hannah’’. First time buyers are spoilt for choice at Festival – with a selection of two bedroom

apartments on offer as well as a range of impressive houses. The development is situated in a magnificent setting alongside the canal – but is just a few minutes walk from Bridgwater town centre. There is very easy access to the M5 north and south – making it ideally located for commuters. Festival offers a number of schemes, designed to help first time buyers secure a brand new home at the development. For further details, visit or contact the Festival sales office, open seven days a week, from 11am to 6pm, on 0844 811 1866 visit www.barratthomes.co.uk

It’s a Double First at Festival... Read how Hannah purchased her first home and became the first to benefit from FirstBuy

recommend to all our clients to have direct debits set up as opposed to paying by post, ensure they are on the electoral role and to check their credit report on Equifax or Experian every couple of years.

Income - Every lender has different affordability calculators, however generally they are 3.5 times joint and 4 times single. So these can be used as a guide to see if the property is affordable

Deposit - If buying on the open market you need a 10% deposit, and what we tell all clients is the bigger your deposit the better the rate. So if you can get a 15% deposit, it is much more advantageous for

a better rate, lower fee and sometimes a free valuation and cash back. The same rule applies for the schemes however the deposit needed is lower. For FirstBuy you need 5% of the sale price and with shared ownership you need between 5%-20% of the share you are buying (dependent on the property).

We are independent mortgage advisors, who are on South West Homes panel for advisors and look after 8 police forces giving free mortgage advice as well as not charging a fee.

The above is a quick outlook on the current mortgage market. Any questions, don't hesitate to contact me.

So a little guide to how the mortgage market is at the moment....

Now is a great time to be getting a mortgage, as rates are the lowest they have ever been, and there are some great schemes out there to help out first time buyers, such as FirstBuy and Shared Ownership. However there are 3 key aspects to be aware of.

Credit rating - in the last few years, a good credit score has become ever so important. Lenders do not like to lend if you are in a debt management plan, Bankrupt, have an I.V.A, defaults or late payments, so keeping on top of your credit arrangement's is key. We

PAGE 5 VOLUME 1, ISSUE 1

POST: Hatfield House Hatfield Road Torquay TQ1 3HF

FirstBuy / Homebuy Direct Team PHONE: 0845 034 3303 E-MAIL: FirstBuy@southwesthomes.org.uk HomebuyDirect@southwesthomes.org.uk

The gateway to affordable housing in the South West

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Lender Lowdown David Dadds, From Warren & Co financial services gives us the lowdown on current lender criteria...

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