On 28 February the government opened registration on the Starter Home website for young first time buyers to register their interest in purchasing a new build property via the starter home initiative which launched in December 2014 and offers a 20% discount to an estimated 100,000 first-time buyers of newly built homes. Under the initiative house builders will be able to develop under-used or unviable brownfield land free from the costs of section 106 affordable housing contributions and Community Infrastructure Levy charges. In return, developers will offer homes at a minimum 20% discount exclusively to first time buyers under the age of 40. To ensure that the savings are passed onto homebuyers, the homes will not be eligible for resale at market value for a fixed period of time.
David Ashworth, Senior Consultant, FoddyConsult
david@foddyconsult.co.uk