Once you’ve registered with us we can help you find a home through:

	New Build HomeBuy (formally known as shared ownership) - part buy, part rent a brand new oroccasionally a newly refurbished home of your own
	Resales – part-buy, part-rent a quality home of your own that has been previously owned
	Open Market HomeBuy - buy an equity share in a property on the open market
	Intermediate Rent – quality homes to rent at less than the market rate

If you are in full-time employment but can’t afford to first-time buy on the open market you could be eligible. Details of eligibility rules are available on the website and may vary scheme by scheme.

No, however some schemes are available only to key workers. When you search for a home you can check which homes you are eligible for.

Priority is often given to public sector tenants, waiting list applicants and those in need of financial assistance to find a home.

This can vary depending upon the value of the home you want to buy, we recommend that you have savings of at least £4000 before committing to buy so that you can cover the costs of buying which will include solicitor’s fees, stamp duty and, on older homes, your survey costs.

This is provided in partnership by the Housing Corporation (a Government body) through your local HomeBuy Agent (HBA) and a selected number of mortgage lenders.

The mortgage lenders involved in funding this programme are Advantage (part of Morgan Stanley Investment Bank), Bank of Scotland, Nationwide and Yorkshire Building Society.

Fill in the Housing Options application form, we’ll respond within 4 working days to let you know if your eligible or not. As soon as you are deemed eligible we start getting your details matched to homes to meet your needs.

If you’re buying a home, the whole process can take as little as 12 to 16 weeks from filling in your application form to moving in to your new home although this varies widely as some applicants are prepared to wait over a longer period of time for a home that matches very specific or selective needs whereas others will buy as soon as they can at the earliest possible opportunity.

If you’re looking to rent, the process will depend on the terms of your current tenancy agreement and on what’s currently available but could take as little time as 4 weeks.

The Charter is important. You can use the Charter to find out what you can expect, and check that you are getting the service you should be getting from your housing association. It also tells you what to do if you think your housing association is not honouring the Charter.