Home offers discount on luxury apartments in Ilkley

An affordable housing provider is offering a recession busting deal aimed at preventing first-time buyers from moving away from a popular West Yorkshire town.

Home is offering six luxury two-bedroom apartments in Leeds Road, Ilkey, for just £84,000, under its Discount for Sale (DFS) scheme. This compares to the £250,000 a private developer is selling homes for on the same development.

The DFS scheme is designed to help people who could not otherwise afford to get on the property ladder and ensures that homes remain affordable for future buyers.

As a result, the homes are only available to first-time buyers or people who have suffered a family breakdown and who have lived or worked in the Ilkley area for at least the last 12 months.

As well as buying a modern and stylish two-bedroom apartment for a fraction of the market value, the deal offered by Home also includes free year’s rail travel worth £1,000, which covers trips to Bradford and Leeds.

Steve Cox, Home Sales Executive, explained: “Because Ilkey is such a sought-after town, house prices, even in the current economic climate, are still high and this has driven many first-time buyers who want to stay in the town away.

“However, by offering properties via our Discount for Sale scheme, we are ensuring are target market, which is young professionals and families, can get that very important first foot on the property ladder and remain in Ilkey.

“And by providing a further incentive of one year’s free rail travel, we are ensuring that people who commute to work to places such as Leeds and Bradford will have more money in their pocket as they start out a house-owner.”

Home acquired the properties at the All Saints development in Ilkey under a Section 106 agreement, which requires private developers (in this case Arncliffe Homes) to provide a certain number of homes for affordable purposes.

People who qualify for the scheme and the development will buy the properties at the fixed price of £84,000. This is set by Bradford Metropolitan Council and is essentially aimed at making it affordable to first time buyers on an average income.

The only difference is when people come to sell their home, they will need to advise Home, which will arrange for an independent valuation of the property. The owner is then obliged to sell the property at the same percentage of open market value at which it was purchased.

However, if property prices rise, people will still be able to make a good profit on their home.

Unlike conventional shared ownership no rent is payable on the balance of the value and owning a DFS property comes with the same rights and responsibilities as owning a property acquired on the open market.

Mr Cox said: “The whole aim of DFS is ensuring the property always remains affordable so the next person buying the home also receives the same benefits of low cost home ownership.”

People interested in finding out more about the properties available for sale at All Saints in Ilkley can contact Steve Cox on 01937 547827 or email steve.cox@homegroup.org.uk