Weston Homes urges first-time buyers to "get smart"Weston Homes urges first-time buyers to "get smart"
Weston Homes is urging first-time buyers, which it claims are the lifeblood of the housing market, to "get smart".
The housebuilder says that its Smartshare scheme, which involves the cost of the home being shared between the first-time buyer and the developer, is one way of making sure the residential property market does not come to a standstill.
Gareth Jacob, sales director at Weston Homes, said: "Weston Homes decided to look proactively at ways in which we can improve on first-time buyer financing schemes currently on the market."
Smartshare is aimed primarily at those who do not have sufficient earnings and are unable to come up with a large enough deposit to secure a mortgage.
For example, potential buyers at the New Mercia development in Hitchin, Hertfordshire pay 80 per cent of the price, while Weston Homes covers the rest. Purchasers then have a decade in which to repay Weston Homes and this can be done in stages.
Under the Smartshare scheme, apartments at New Mercia start at £136,000.
According to the Council of Mortgage Lenders, the number of mortgage approvals for first-time buyers fell by 41 per cent between May 2007 and May 2008.
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