The new Help to Build Equity Loan Scheme has launched today supported by over £150m in new government funding.
The aim of the scheme is to make it easier and more affordable for people to build their own homes while ensuring that self and custom home building can become a realistic option to get onto the housing ladder through lower deposit mortgages.
With some similarities to the existing Help to Buy Scheme, the Help to Build Equity Loan Scheme allows eligible applicants to undertake a self or custom build project with a 5% deposit.
Andrew Craddock (pictured), chief executive at Darlington Building Society, said: “Throughout its 165-year history, Darlington Building Society’s core purpose has been to help make the dream of home ownership a reality for as many people as possible. The Society, therefore, warmly welcomes the government’s Help To Build initiative, which will make it easier and more affordable for people with low deposits to build their own homes.
“Building sufficient homes to meet increasing demand remains a key challenge for our country and the Society views the introduction of Help To Build as an important step towards supporting the delivery of self and custom build housing at scale.
“We also believe that this initiative supports the green agenda by opening up greater opportunities to build high-quality, well-designed, and energy-efficient homes – thereby making a valuable contribution towards the Net Zero Housing ambitions.
“Over the past 10 years, Darlington Building Society has partnered with BuildLoan to develop a wealth of experience in the self and custom build market and we are delighted that we will be one of the first lenders to offer mortgages in support of Help To Build.
“The beauty of this scheme is that it will not only help more people onto the property ladder but enable them to become the proud owners of homes that have been tailor-made to suit their specific needs and aspirations.”
Earlier today fellow lender BuildLoan came out in support of the scheme.
