HomeBuy

Buying a home with HomeBuy

HomeBuy enables social tenants, key workers and first-time buyers to buy a share of a home and get onto the housing ladder.

Homebuy is the government's low cost home ownership scheme. For many people, HomeBuy provides the best opportunity to own a home in the area in which they want to live and work.

How to participate in HomeBuy

If you are unable to purchase a property on the open market without assistance, you may be eligible for one of the HomeBuy products. Please contact your local HomeBuy agent to find out whether you are eligible and if so, which product is most suitable for you.

Other schemes

Housing association and local authority tenants also have access to the following schemes for buying the home they live in:

• Right to Acquire - for housing association tenants
• Right to Buy or Preserved Right to Buy - for local authority tenants or tenants who have been transferred from a local authority to a housing association.

If you are a social rented tenant, you should contact your landlord to see if you may be eligible for one of these schemes.

Each Local HomeBuy Agent acts as a first point of contact for families and single households seeking to buy a home through the HCA's HomeBuy affordable home ownership products. Agents will first establish whether applicants meet eligibility criteria before assessing applicants' financial circumstances to ensure that they can afford home ownership longer term. Local HomeBuy Agents will also help people to think about their housing options and assist them to make the right choice to meet their housing needs.

A total of 15 organisations, all of which are registered social landlords, have been appointed to cover the 37 zones across England. Two organisations have been appointed as Agents for the first time - Time2Buy, a locally based partnership that will cover the Tees Valley and County Durham zone, and a partnership between Sovereign and West Country Housing who will cover the whole of the South west region.

The new network of HomeBuy Agents took effect on 1 April 2009.