Council could help locals buy homes in Darwen (From Lancashire Telegraph)
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Council could help locals buy homes in Darwen
2:00pm Wednesday 13th March 2013 in News
By Dan Clough, Reporter
DARWEN Town Council is looking at how it can help people in the town get on the property ladder.
Sudell councillor Roy Davies said he wanted to help people get out of the renting market and into their own homes.
Now, councillors have invited a representative from Lloyds TSB bank to their next finance committee meeting to discuss its Lend A Hand initiative.
Under the scheme, the town council would put up to 20 per cent of the property’s value into a savings account while the home buyer would only require a five per cent deposit on their new home.
The suggestion by Coun Davies got a mixed reaction from fellow councillors at last week’s town meeting.
Coun Davies said: “We want to get people into homes. We should put our cash reserves into getting people into houses in Darwen.
“The best investment we can ever make with Darwen people’s money is in the people.
“And what better way is there to invest in people than by helping them on to the property ladder?”
Coun Davies said he had written to the bank inviting them to meet the council’s finance committee to explain how the scheme would work if it was put in place.
Labour opposition councillors were sceptical about the proposal.
Marsh House councillor Tom Evans said: “We would only have enough to pay for one house.
“And if someone defaults on their mortgage it could come back to the town council.
“There is nothing in the literature that says we have any protection.”
Sunnyhurst councillor Brian Taylor said: “This takes the risk away from the bank and on to the town council.
“I don’t think we should be risking the people of Darwen’s money in this way.”
And Sunnyhurst councillor Dave Smith said he felt the council’s budget was not big enough for the scheme to be effective.
Comments(15)
2 for 5p
says...
2:10pm Wed 13 Mar 13
People with mortgages don't go on strike they will scab.
The Tory Game.
enough said
DarwenwithBlackburn
says...
2:39pm Wed 13 Mar 13
Wishingwell
says...
3:22pm Wed 13 Mar 13
DarwenwithBlackburn wrote:Renting is cheaper than buying around here except that after 25 years of keeping up with a repayment mortgage it becomes yours and if it was built out of decent stuff you would still be proud to own it, with only the council tax to pay.
We are the only country in the world obsessed with home ownership.
I suppose that if your life expectancy isn't that good when you 1st buy, there is little point. You would be better off renting, not working and claiming as much as you can.
rozdarwen
says...
5:23pm Wed 13 Mar 13
over-rovers
says...
5:36pm Wed 13 Mar 13
2 for 5p
says...
6:53pm Wed 13 Mar 13
over-rovers wrote:You get a mortgage now and it would be far more than. £200 possibly double that figure.
Who says renting is cheaper than owning your own house for a basic 2 bed house these days in the worst area you prob pay between £425 and £ 475 per month my mortgage is less than £200 and i have something to show for it.
You are then also a slave to your Tory masters a man who wont come out on strike when you are called upon
2 for 5p
says...
6:53pm Wed 13 Mar 13
over-rovers wrote:You get a mortgage now and it would be far more than. £200 possibly double that figure.
Who says renting is cheaper than owning your own house for a basic 2 bed house these days in the worst area you prob pay between £425 and £ 475 per month my mortgage is less than £200 and i have something to show for it.
You are then also a slave to your Tory masters a man who wont come out on strike when you are called upon
darwenTower
says...
7:47pm Wed 13 Mar 13
2 for 5p wrote:2 for 5p is an economic genius.
over-rovers wrote:You get a mortgage now and it would be far more than. £200 possibly double that figure.
Who says renting is cheaper than owning your own house for a basic 2 bed house these days in the worst area you prob pay between £425 and £ 475 per month my mortgage is less than £200 and i have something to show for it.
You are then also a slave to your Tory masters a man who wont come out on strike when you are called upon
I'm going to sell my house and move into a rental. I'd be an idiot not to.
Cheers tuppence, promise to keep dispensing your wisdom.
Valleymen
says...
7:48pm Wed 13 Mar 13
Kevin, Colne
says...
8:46pm Wed 13 Mar 13
In the past many jobs had far greater security than today, offered a clear and recognizable career path and more to the point price inflation was accompanied by wage inflation so that over time the burden of servicing a mortgage fell, subject of course to variations in interest rates. Young adults could stretch themselves with a high degree of confidence that in five years time they would still have a job, quite possibly having been promoted and a wage or salary that would have increased substantially or tracked the rate of increase in prices to a lesser or greater extent. Today very few young adults enjoy the sort of security of tenure and labour bargaining power of past generations and there is now a high likelihood that the burden of servicing the debt will remain elevated for a much longer period than hitherto. If this is so, then we’re into a wholly different game.
If reports in the press are to be believed there are a fair few mortgaged-home-occup
iers just managing to stay afloat through a combination of low interest rates and lenders exercising forbearance. With prices of items essential for everyday living rising rapidly and wages either stagnating or rising by just a little the position of these households must be becoming more perilous by the month, and others must be close to falling into this catagory.
It’s rather ironic that the mainstream political parties having promoted the neo-liberal agenda have unwittingly torn asunder a great many of the old certainties that enabled the system to work, and now they are scrabbling around in a dazed and confused state clutching at straws trying desperately to reignite the boom that led us to catastrophe.
district01
says...
10:30pm Wed 13 Mar 13
But, those of you who did just that will now realise that you may have done the wrong thing after all. Better perhaps to have done what John had done. You do remember John? Left school and did nothing much but was always out on the town getting drunk and was always in trouble with the police. You do remember him don’t you?
Then the New Labour lot got into power under a promise and after making a war and it’s leaders very wealthy they spent our money unwisely and promised with more bribes to keep us happy so we’ll vote for them again. So now the people who lived a respectful life, got themselves a job with a trade after leaving school, a house of their own and to have led a respectful life are now feeling a little bit pinched.
They now find themselves in a house that they have worked hard for that still needs money spending on it that nobody can now afford to buy from them. They’re told that they should be ashamed of themselves for being a pensioner with some savings that they’ve worked dam hard for. They should give to those same people that they used to know who did nothing but get drunk and spend all they could get their hands on for themselves. They’re now also in their later years but are now being looked after by you and me.
“Council could help locals buy homes in Darwen”
Thanks ‘New Labour’ for making life the way it now is!
louderfasterlonger
says...
12:26am Thu 14 Mar 13
happycyclist
says...
12:05am Fri 15 Mar 13
over-rovers wrote:Insurance? Maintenance? It's not just a simple rent vs mortgage payments.
Who says renting is cheaper than owning your own house for a basic 2 bed house these days in the worst area you prob pay between £425 and £ 475 per month my mortgage is less than £200 and i have something to show for it.
King Fabulous
says...
8:12pm Sat 16 Mar 13
happycyclist says...
2:03pm Wed 13 Mar 13