100 families take a step up the property ladder
24 March 2008
One hundred families from Oldham and Rochdale whose homes were earmarked for demolition have taken advantage of an innovative scheme giving them thousands of pounds of support to buy new homes.
The Home Plus Plan, offered by the Oldham Rochdale Housing Market Renewal Pathfinder, helps residents to bridge the gap and buy a new home.
The scheme offers people affected by clearance up to £35,000. The percentage borrowed only has to be re-paid once the new property is sold in the future or transferred to a new owner. Unlike other loans, nothing has to be paid before then.
So far, more than £2.5 million has been accessed by Oldham and Rochdale residents. When the loans are repaid, the money from the scheme, which is managed by West Pennine Housing Association, will be recycled in the future to benefit more local people.
The Pathfinder is building thousands of modern homes to encourage people to stay in the area rather than leave, preventing a spiral of decline. The Pathfinder was recently awarded £90 million for the next three years.
Margaret and Vic Quarmby and their granddaughter Alisha benefited from the Home Plus Plan when they moved out of their home in Derker, Oldham to buy a new two-bedroom house nearby which overlooks the park.
“Even just seeing the living room, I knew I’d like the rest of the house,” said Margaret. “It has a lovely garden, which Alisha loves. She used to always want to go to the park, but now we’ve moved she doesn’t want to, as we’ve got our own garden.”
She continued: “Where we were, there was no point spending any more money on the house, as it was getting dingy and things were starting to wear out. I didn’t want to move, but as time went on, we realised we needed to.”
Mr and Mrs Quarmby were helped to move by the Derker Neighbourhood team and Oldham Council bought their home for its market value and made a 10% payment to compensate for disturbance and made an additional payment towards removal and legal fees.
The couple then used the Home Plus Plan and obtained a small mortgage towards the cost of their new home which will only be paid back once the property is sold.
Lee and Michelle Wild, of Kirkholt, are another couple who have benefited from moving to a new home in Nevis Street just a short distance from their previous property. The pair have moved from a two bedroom to a three-bedroom property.
Michelle said, “Knowing how much we had to spend, we could then go house hunting. Once we had decided where we wanted to move to everything was organised for us.” Both Lee and Michelle were very impressed by the service they received. And the move itself went very smoothly.
Housing Market Renewal paid all the couple’s valuations, solicitors and removal fees. Having paid off a mortgage they were glad they didn’t have to borrow more to get the house they wanted.
Lee, an alarm engineer had been born on the Kirkholt estate, and didn’t want to move away. His new next-door neighbour is someone he’s known for 30 years. He said: “In the long term I think the changes will be good for the estate. We’re very pleased with the house.”
Eileen Oldham, from Oldham, also sold her two-bedroom terrace home in Werneth, Oldham and found a three-bedroom property only three-quarters of a mile away. Eileen received £60,000, the market value of her old home as assessed by a District Valuer, as well as a further £6,000 to compensate for the disturbance. Her legal and removal fees were also covered.
Eileen then borrowed £35,000 through the Home Plus Plan to purchase her new house. She said: “I really like it. The layout is very similar to my old house, but with more of a garden at the front and back. I have sisters, nephews and nieces living nearby and the third bedroom helps when the grandchildren come to stay.”
Alastair Graham, Director of Oldham Rochdale Housing Market Renewal said: “It’s fantastic that we’ve reached the 100 milestone and so many people have been able to benefit from the Home Plus Plan. It is a win-win situation as they only pay back the percentage borrowed when they come to sell in the future and that money will then be pumped back into helping more people in the area.”
Photo: Eileen Oldham in her new home