35 new affordable houses unveiled in Derbyshire under 'save to buy' scheme

The homes have been built in partnership with North East Derbyshire District Council, Rentplus, and Woodall Homes to help fill the need for affordable quality homes.

It provides tenants with the opportunity to ‘save to buy’ – whereby a percentage of rent goes towards the future deposit of the house they are renting.

The average household income of tenants on the scheme is £33,000 and all the properties have been allocated to local residents who otherwise would have struggled to purchase a property on the open market.

Steve Collins, CEO of Rentplus, said: “With the average house price for first-time buyers in North East Derbyshire over £211,000, many working households on lower or middle incomes are locked out of home ownership as they are unable to save enough for a deposit, even though they could afford mortgage repayments.

"Tenants move in without paying an initial deposit and then rent their home at an affordable rent (which includes all repairs and service charges) for between 5 and 20 years whilst they save. When ready to buy, they receive a gifted deposit of 10% from Rentplus towards their savings.”

The scheme has gained the backing of MP Lee Rowley and NEDDC leader Cllr Nigel Barker.

Mr Rowley said: “I’m very impressed with what I have seen today and I’m looking forward to seeing people move into their Rentplus home. The key thing is to give people choices: whether to rent or to buy, or something in-between. What’s so good about this is that it allows people to become homeowners in the medium or long term but doing it in a way that helps people in the short term.”

And Cllr Barker added: “I’m delighted to see such a fantastic scheme for some of our wonderful residents, who will be moving into these brand new houses in the coming weeks. In our Council Plan we have demonstrated our commitment to increasing the number of affordable homes in the district in the years to come ”