Understanding FirstBuy

London's leading housebuilder, Barratt London, has secured national funding in order to help first time buyers onto the property ladder in a way that they can afford. A new scheme called FirstBuy, which is administered through the FIRST STEPS organization, has been introduced by the Government to help first time buyers with a housing deposit, providing them with loans specifically tailored to property-buying. FirstBuy makes purchasing your first home a far less financially demanding process that a lot of people believe it to be, and makes homeownership possible for a much wider segment of the population.

Under FirstBuy, buyers will be offered a loan of up to 20 per cent of the price of the property, which is jointly funded by Barratt Homes and the Government’s Homes and Communities Agency (HCA). Buyers must source the remaining 80 per cent of the price themselves, but up to 75 per cent of this could be a mortgage, which leaves a deposit of just five per cent.

In practice, that means that anyone buying a one-bedroom house from Barratt priced at £175,000 under the FirstBuy scheme would be able to get onto the housing ladder with a deposit of as little as £8,750.

The enormous deposit sums needed to secure a mortgage have led many potential first time buyers to give up on the idea of owning a home, but with mortgage payments which can be less than the cost of a monthly rent, it makes financial sense to look at buying through the FirstBuy programme. Maintenance is also less of a concern when buying a Barratt home as they are the only housebuilder to offer a five year guarantee and their services are widely recognized; the Barratt Group was awarded a maximum five star rating for the second consecutive year in the 2011 Home Builders Federation Customer Satisfaction Survey.

Gary Patrick, regional sales director Barratt London says: “For first time buyers in London, FirstBuy represents an outstanding opportunity to take their first step on the housing ladder”.

“Buying a property can be an overwhelming prospect and one that many people will simply believe they cannot achieve due to financial restraints, but FirstBuy can give renters the benefits of homeownership now that they weren’t expecting to achieve for years to come.”

He concludes: “Through our first time buyer events we’ve discovered that FirstBuy is not well understood and could be used by many more people if they were aware of the advantages. Home ownership isn’t an exclusive purchase for the richest layer of society.”

The Firstbuy scheme is available for anyone with a combined salary of up to £60,000 subject to terms and conditions.

Homes currently available from Barratt under the FirstBuy scheme:

Renaissance, Lewisham – one bedroom suites apartments from £165,000.

Evolution, Edgeware – one and two bedroom apartments from £205,000.

Delta, Deptford –one bedroom suites from £189,500.

Great West Quarter, Chiswick/Hammersmith – one bedroom apartments from £222,500.

St Andrews, Bow – one bedroom apartments from £208,000 which are available before Christmas.

Vickers Green, Crayford – one bedroom apartments from £140,000.

Arena, Hayes – one bed apartments from £175,000 which are available before Christmas.

Waterside Park -- one bed apartments from £217,000.

For further information on current availability of Barratt’s developments, visit barratthomes.co.uk.