Broadland News Summer 2007
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Show House June 2007
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BBC Radio Norfolk. Transcript from:
"Breakfast with Bumfrey" Friday 8th June 2007
An interview with Susan Goodey, a purchaser of a Landspeed home at Little Plumstead.
"Kirstine Thorne takes you around a new estate of affordable homes. You may be pleasantly surprised by what you find".
Kirstine: Well, as you know we have been finding out all this week there's not much that you can buy these days for just over ?100,000. I'm actually sitting in a very nice 2 bedroomed house which has recently been built in Little Plumstead on the site of the old hospital. It's an estate of 29 affordable homes that have been built by Landspeed Ltd in association with Broadland District Council to help those people (that we have been hearing about all week) who are having trouble getting on the property ladder. Susan Goodey lives in this particular house; and you are absolutely thrilled with it understandably?
Susan: Absolutely, I really love it!
Kirstine: And you paid the grand total of?
Susan: £108,750
Kirstine: Now when you told me that I nearly fell off this very comfortable sofa that were sitting on, because originally I thought that you said £180,000 and I thought that that was a bit more like it to be honest.
Susan: I was in a house in Sprowston, we had just finished a 25 year mortgage and then my husband left and went off with another woman and wanted half of the house, which was our only asset really, so I couldn't afford to give him half of what the house was worth then, so I had to sell.
Kirstine: And how did you find out about this scheme to build affordable homes in Little Plumstead?
Susan: My daughter first saw it on the internet and then almost at the same time I saw an article in the Evening News about it and just wondered. I pondered on it for a long time because it was out of Norwich and I'm a city person really and I didn't know if I would be alright in the country but now I just love it. I've got used to it and its no problem at all, I really don't feel that I'm in the country.
Kirstine: The term affordable housing is one that we hear quite a lot and especially in recent times. What were your pre-conceptions of what affordable housing would be like before you saw these homes?
Susan: Oh I thought flats immediately. A flat, I thought that is what I was going to end up with. Housing for single people, first time buyers, which I did look at but they were tiny, which is alright if you are at work all day and you just want a base but I wanted a proper home.
Kirstine: Susan's going to give us a bit of a guided tour now; we're sitting in the living room at the moment. We're going out into the hallway now, we've got some very useful storage space, a very large storage space under the stairs in fact and a light as well and a kitchen - and a kitchen is usually the room where sometimes when the they're building houses they can make the kitchens very small can't they?
Susan: Just enough room to fit yourself in, I've looked at some like that! This is lovely I really love it, plenty of room!
Kirstine: And this is very, very impressive and something that I don't have - a downstairs toilet, which is really high quality finish I have to say and very spacious as well. We're just going upstairs now, 2 bedrooms and another bathroom - and a lot of places will have a fairly decent sized bedroom and a box room, no box rooms here are there?
Susan: No, no box room, both bedrooms are more or less the same size.
Kirstine: So you actually own three quarters of the property, how much of a difference does that make on your life?
Susan: None at all. I have the option to buy the rest if I can afford it but it doesn't make any difference to me at all.
Kirstine: What about your relationship with Landspeed, the company that built these properties? Do you have to get their permission to make any alterations?
Susan: You do yes, if you want to do anything you have to let them know and if I wanted to sell it I would have to let them know.
Kirstine: Does it not make you think how out of control the prices have become if a property of this standard can be built and sold for £108,000?
Susan: Yes of course it does. Yes its terrible, how people can't get on the housing ladder.
Kirstine: Your mortgage is over and done with and paid?
Susan: That's right.
Kirstine: You've paid for this property with the money you made from the sale of your last property; it's a bit of a carefree life now isn't it?
Susan: It's lovely - I'm retired and I love it!
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WhatHouse.co.uk 12 April 2007
"Affordable housing with a difference"
Landspeed Affordable Homes is a developer with a difference. Some 90% of its homes are deemed 'affordable'. That is, they are built to be affordable, and - rather than selling them via a housing association - are sold directly to the buyer on a shared-ownership basis.
Residents don't pay rent on the remaining share, thus keeping payments down, and they don't have to be a key worker to qualify .
So far, Landspeed has two such developments - one near Hastings, the other near Norwich - with another planned for Norwich next year.
Ted Reddick, the company's co-director, explains: "Landspeed doesn't make a big profit - we can't inflate our prices and don't want to. People's ability to afford homes is not increasing."
He continues: "Purchase prices are worked out based on local market values and incomes. They will never be more than 75% of local market price, and can be as little as 40%."
Residents at Little Plumstead can buy a share of the overall value, as in other shared-ownership schemes, but they don't pay rent on the share they don't own, thus keeping repayments down. However, since the property is leasehold, residents must pay a ground rent of around ?260 per year.
Residents do, of course, have the option of 'staircasing' - building up their share until they own the property outright.
Case study
First-time buyers Gary and Jessica Cutting bought a 75% share of a house at Little Plumstead. Gary, 26, is a surveyor for a local construction firm, and Jessica, 22, works in a pet store. Gary talks to What House? about their purchase.
Describe your home at Little Plumstead. What are the local amenities like?
Our home is a three-bedroom, semi-detached house, situated in a quiet, residential area on the outskirts of Norwich. The house has well-sized rooms and a garden, with a carport for off-road parking. There is a local shop and post office, a school, a village hall, playing fields, a public house/restaurant and a hairdresser all within walking distance. Access to the main roads and nearby villages is also good, with regular bus services available.
How did you hear about Little Plumstead?
We saw an advertisement in a local magazine. We knew the area quite well and we then contacted Landspeed for further information and an application pack.
Were you aware of affordable housing and whether you were eligible?
We knew of the affordable housing scheme in general, but were not aware of this specific project, and whether or not we were eligible. The initial questionnaire from Landspeed listed various criteria, which determined eligibility for this scheme.
How was the application process?
The process was well detailed at each stage and efficiently dealt with. We were kept informed of the information we needed to provide to ensure our application could be processed, and we knew fairly quickly when we had been approved.
In your opinion, are there any downsides to affordable housing/shared ownership?
We dont know enough about other affordable housing schemes to compare with this particular scheme. However, the shared-ownership scheme we are part of seems an excellent way for first-time buyers to get on the property ladder.
Are there any restrictions on decorating and other alterations to the property, given that you do own a share?
Any structural alterations or decorations to external faces of the building require the prior consent of the landlord (Landspeed).
Are you able to increase your share of the property, and if so, do you plan to?
There is an option to purchase the remainder of the share, under a process called staircasing, whereby we can purchase a proportion of the remaining 25%, eventually owning a 100% share in the property, which is something that we would be interested in doing.
How did you finance the property?
We had to find a lender suitable to this scheme and, using an intermediary, we found that Halifax came up with the best offer. This was based on a combination of our wages and a reasonable-sized deposit in order to be able to finance the property. The mortgage offer from Halifax also needed the approval of Landspeed to ensure it was compatible and appropriate to this scheme.
How do your mortgage repayments compare with any rent you have paid in the past?
We were living with our families prior to this purchase. However, we consider the mortgage repayments compare favourably with the amount of rent paid on similar properties.
For more information contact Landspeed Affordable Homes on 01329 284 109.
Interview by Sarah Speight
This article was published on 12 April 2007
The Times 19 February 2007
ALTERNATIVE HOME OWNERSHIP SCHEME FOR FTB'S
An innovative scheme which bridges the gap between renting and home ownership is now being seen as a real alternative to traditional housing association developments, following its introduction and success on sites in Hastings and near Norwich.
Landspeed Affordable Homes works closely with developers and local authorities, having devised a privately funded initiative in line with Government guidelines that delivers affordable homes in a more imaginative and productive way.
Its affordable housing solution allows first-time buyers to own a larger proportion of their property than they would on the more traditional basis, but with no rent levied on the remaining share. This is in contrast to housing association schemes, where purchasers pay rent on the un-purchased element.
The purchasers' higher mortgage repayments are more than offset by virtue of them not paying 'dead money' on rent, whilst also owning a larger proportion of the home (by way of a shared ownership lease). There is also an option to increase their share or acquire full ownership as their income rises.
In a nutshell, Landspeed works as the 'enabler' for those in need of affordable housing - working with a housing trust body - to structure an affordable housing scheme during the land acquisition and planning stages.
There's no catch and the schemes provide a win-win solution to all parties, as the homes are fully integrated into the new developments. Typically,
First-time buyers can purchase between a 50% and 75% share with the balance controlled by the housing trust.