£3.2m housing deal aimed at increasing home ownership
A Liverpool housing association has paid Liverpool City Council £3.2m for 23 homes on Tunstall Street, in the Picton area.
Pine Court Housing Association will offer 20 homes to local people through its rent to buy scheme.
Three of the terraced houses will also be used for children’s social care services.
Rent to buy is a government scheme designed to help people transition from renting a property, to buying a home.
Customers of the scheme will commit to renting a property for a set length of time – normally five years – and will have the opportunity to purchase it before their tenancy ends.
With more affordable rent – around 20% less than the market price – customers will be able to save towards a deposit and buy the home through shared ownership or, in some circumstances, an outright purchase.
Pine Court Housing Association, part of The Sovini Group, was established in 1986 as a registered social landlord with a mission to provide quality homes and inclusive housing services for those in need.
As one of the Liverpool City Region’s registered social landlords, Pine Court has a customer satisfaction rating of 99% across its diverse communities, which are made up of 56% minority ethnic customers.
David Brown, director of operations at Pine Court, said: “The acquisition of Tunstall Street is delivering on our group’s vision of a better future, as we create opportunities and change lives by helping local people to get onto the property ladder.
“We look forward to welcoming customers into their new homes and seeing them thrive within our communities for years to come.”
Discussions are under way between the registered social landlord and local authority regarding the development of five additional homes on a plot of brownfield land, after several houses were previously demolished due to structural issues.
The development of additional homes would be delivered as part of The Sovini Group’s development framework which aims to combat high housing costs, through the creation of more than 1,000 high quality, affordable homes within the next five years.
