Council helps 130 first-time buyers

A TOTAL of 130 first-time buyers have now been helped onto the property ladder through Warrington Borough Council’s trail-blazing Local Authority Mortgage scheme.
The scheme, launched in 2011 and only the second in the country, helped 85 buyers in its first year with £2 million of council funding.
Another 45 were helped over the last 12 months with another £1 million of council cash.
The council is now working with three lenders, Lloyds TSB, Leeds Building Society and Teachers’ Building Society, and has supported altogether £14.2m of mortgage lending over the last two years.
The aim of the scheme is to assist first-time buyers who can afford mortgage repayments, but who do not have the high deposits often required nowadays. The scheme provides a guarantee for 20 per cent of the cost of the house, which enables first-time buyers to put down a deposit of five per cent and still obtain an interest rate similar to those offered to other people who can afford higher deposits.
Cllr David Keane (pictured), the council’s lead member for the environment, said: “I’m absolutely delighted that Warrington Borough Council has been able to help so many people and families to buy their first home.
“This scheme is secure and prudent. None of the borrowers are in arrears, and there have been no repossessions.
“We’re now looking forward to launching a further scheme worth £1.5m.”
The average price of properties purchased under the scheme is around £117,000. The average age of buyers is 29 or 30 years.
More than 95 per cent of those assisted under Warrington Borough Council’s LAMS live and/or work in Warrington.