Wake up with a smile from MHO
“Then I heard about the Housing Options website, so I decided to have a look,” says Angela, who works in office design for an engineering company. “There was a comprehensive guide to the HomeBuy scheme on there, setting out the whole process and explaining eligibility. So I rang up and went to an open evening, where there was a presentation on how it all works.”
Under the scheme, eligible people who can’t afford a property on the open market can receive an interest-free or low-interest equity loan of up to 50% of the value of a home they buy. Angela had a meeting with one of Metropolitan Home Ownership’s recommended independent financial advisers to establish the figures, and then was all set to go and find a property.
The place she decided to buy was in the Croydon area, near her friends and family. She agreed a price of £190,000, and paid using a mortgage of £146,000, the equity loan of £34,000, and her own deposit to make up the balance.
“I’ve bought a flat in a converted house,” says Angela. “It’s amazing, because it’s set right on the edge of a park. When my son goes out to play in the park, I can call him back in from his bedroom window.”
Angela first saw the property in November 2007, and had moved in by the middle of February 2008.
“The process was so easy and smooth,” she says. “The people at MHO, and the financial advisors they put me in touch with, were all really helpful.”
Life has changed considerably for Angela since she first visited the Housing Options website and learned about the HomeBuy scheme. Her son is much happier in his new school, and Angela’s commute to work has been cut in half.
“I was paying £400 in rent on the previous place, and now I’m paying just under £1,000 a month,” she says. “But it’s worth every penny, because now I’m paying for my own place and investing in my future. I’m so happy here, I wake up with a smile on my face. I would never have been able to afford a place of my own any other way.”