If you want to buy a home, you must first work out how much you can afford and then find a property. If you are a council tenant, housing association tenant, first time buyer or keyworker the council's Home Ownership Unit may be able to help you purchase a property through schemes such as Right to Buy and Homebuy Schemes. This section provides links to organisations that offer advice and support on home buying and selling and information on how you can buy through the council.
Councils like Wandsworth work across the housing market to develop new affordable solutions for local residents and their families. And although most observers will focus on the supply of new homes these policies attach equal importance to making the best use of the existing stock - whether council-owned, privately-owned or privately-rented.
Because most people prefer to buy rather than rent we have a long tradition of providing opportunities for low cost home ownership for local people. Since the early 1980s over 26,000 people have bought their first home with help from us. Today, former council homes provide a ready market for people looking to buy for the first time. Although prices have risen over the years there are still many examples of properties within reach of people on average incomes. In addition, we continue to run four different schemes which help up to 400 people a year afford the cost of buying in the borough.
Our planning policies seek to achieve a balanced mix of new housing. Over the last ten years nearly one in four of all new homes in the borough has provided affordable accommodation to rent or buy. Indeed, over the last twenty years, we have invested more than £125 million in new housing association homes. Now, thanks to the our continuing support for housing associations and agreements with private housebuilders our programme is on course to deliver nearly 2,000 rented and shared-ownership homes during the next eighteen months. Many are on the Thames riverside sites while others are smaller schemes throughout the borough. Details of major new developments can be found on the news pages of this site. Details of developments currently available for sale can be found on our New Homes pages. If you would like more information you can contact the Home Ownership Unit on 020 8871 6016, by email at housesales@wandsworth.gov.uk or via our Home Ownership pages.
A 'key worker' is someone who works in a key public service and is therefore important to the local community. If you are a keyworker who works in Wandsworth you can register with the Home Ownership Unit for the Wandsworth keyworker properties that become available under the Shared Ownership Nominations Scheme (SONS). These properties have been set aside specifically for keyworkers. If you would like to register or would like more information on the keyworker opportunities available in Wandsworth you can contact the Home Ownership Unit on 020 8871 6016, by email at housesales@wandsworth.gov.uk or via our Home Ownership pages. For access to the other keyworker opportunities available outside of Wandsworth including Open Market Homebuy you should register with Tower Homes. You can apply online at www.housingoptions.co.uk Tower Homes, Some useful sites
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Help with buying