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Rent to HomeBuy - who can get help?

Rent to HomeBuy covers certain newly built homes across England.

The scheme is provided through ‘HomeBuy agents’, who will decide if you can rent a home this way. HomeBuy agents are housing associations that have been authorised to run schemes for people who have difficulty buying a home.

You can only get help if your household earns £60,000 a year or less and you can’t otherwise afford to buy a home in your area.

A household is the number of people who are buying the home. For example, a household might be:

• you alone
• you and your partner
• you and a friend

Rent to HomeBuy is open to:

• people who rent council or housing association properties
• first-time buyers (you are a first-time buyer if you haven’t owned a home before)

You can also get help through Rent to HomeBuy if you used to own a home, but can't afford to buy one now.

• Find a HomeBuy agent

How does Rent to HomeBuy work?

There are two ‘HomeBuy’ schemes to help people buy newly built homes. You can follow the links below for more information on each scheme.

For both of these schemes, you will need to take out a mortgage to pay for your share of the home’s purchase price. Most lenders will ask you for a cash deposit before they will lend you money through a mortgage.

If you don’t have enough savings to get a mortgage, the Rent to HomeBuy scheme could help.

With the scheme you rent a newly built home from a housing association for up to five years at a reduced rate. This gives you the chance to save up money so you can apply to buy a share of the home later.

Your rent can’t be more than 80 per cent of the market rate for your home. For example, if the market rent is £900 per month for your home, you will pay a maximum of £720. The housing association will set the market rent for your home.

• Equity loans - how they work

• Shared ownership - how it works

How to buy your home with the Rent to HomeBuy scheme

To buy your rented home, you must go through the shared ownership scheme. This is also known as ‘New Build HomeBuy’.

With the shared ownership scheme, you buy a share of your home and pay rent on the remaining share. You will buy your share with a mortgage and your savings.

When you are ready to buy a share, the value of your home will set the cost of the share. This means you will need to pay for a survey of your home to find out how much it is worth. For example, if your home is worth £100,000, the cost of a 25 per cent share will be £25,000.

Talk to your housing association if you want to apply to buy a share of your home. They will check that you can afford to buy the share.

• Shared ownership - how it works

When can you buy a share of your home?

You can apply to buy a share of your home at any time during your Rent to HomeBuy tenancy. (A tenancy is your contract to rent your home.)

What if you can’t afford to buy a share of your home?

The reduced rent you get through Rent to HomeBuy lasts up to five years.

If you can’t afford to buy a 25 per cent share of your home within five years, your Rent to HomeBuy tenancy will end.

If this happens, the housing association will look at your case and decide if you can continue to rent the home.

How to apply for the Rent to HomeBuy scheme

If you'd like to rent a home through Rent to HomeBuy, contact the HomeBuy agent in the area where you want to live. Each HomeBuy agent has an application form for the scheme, which you will need to complete.

• Find a HomeBuy agent

More useful links

• Buying your home

• Planning for buying a home (money, tax and benefits section)

• Contact the Citizens Advice Bureau Opens new window

Useful contacts

• Home and community contacts