Homestake Extra - November 2007

Welcome to Homestake Extra. The newsletter is produced as part of Ownership Options' Homestake Advisory Service for Registered Social Landlords in Scotland. It will highlight cases of good practice and explore issues which have arisen when Homestake has been used by a disabled person to buy a home more suited to their needs. We welcome your comments which can be emailed to homestake@ownershipoptions.org.uk

Information about the Advisory service can be found at www.homestake.ownershipoptions.org.uk. The advice line for RSLs - the Homestake Hotline - can be contacted on 0131 656 6979.

Ownership Options' specialist advice service on Homestake extended to 31st March 2008

With Communities Scotland support, Ownership Options’ specialist advice service on disability issues for Registered Social Landlords taking part in the Homestake shared equity scheme has been extended until the end of March 2008. The service aims to help RSLs plan for, target and directly assist disabled people to purchase homes under the Homestake scheme.

In addition to the expertise of Richard Hamer, Director and Advice workers, Susie Fitton and Beata Kaczmarek, until the end of March Julia Fitzpatrick (a former Ownership Options Director) will also be providing additional support for the service.

What can we offer? Here are just a few examples of the support we have offered RSLs in the last year:

Advice on incorporating the specialist issues affecting disabled people in your Homestake marketing strategy, reflecting your local market context and strategic objectives.
Integrating the needs of disabled people when identifying appropriate locations, types and prices for new housing developments.
Advice on providing accurate and accessible information, which explains how disabled people can access Homestake, including the ‘exceptions criteria’.
Briefing sessions and training for staff groups.
Working directly to support RSLs in assisting prospective disabled purchasers, who may rely on unconventional income sources, have legal capacity issues, or have particular housing issues, when buying through Homestake.

We’re here to help and would be delighted to hear from you. Contact us on the Homestake Hotline 0131 656 6979 or e-mail homestake@ownershipoptions.org.uk

Opening up the Open Market Homestake Scheme

The open market Homestake scheme started in Edinburgh and the Lothians in September 2005 alongside new build Homestake and has been highly successful as a route to affordable housing and in assisting those who could not otherwise have bought a home. The scheme will be extended from the end of November to Highland, Grampian, Perth & Kinross and Stirling, with a single managing agent for each of these local areas. Communities Scotland has received bids for the managing agent role. The appointments should be made very soon – we’ll keep you informed!

The scheme gives people the opportunity to purchase an existing property on the open market with the help of an RSL. An applicant's eligibility is assessed in the same way as for new build Homestake, but if they are successful they are awarded a ‘Passport’ instead of having an application for a particular house accepted. The applicant can then search for a suitable property, knowing that the ‘Passport’ guarantees them support for the purchase of a property that meets the scheme’s defined criteria.

An evaluation of the first year of the scheme, published by Communities Scotland, records significant successes and makes recommendations for improvements. There have been some great examples of disabled people using the scheme (see Fiona’s story below), but take-up by disabled people has been limited. As with any pilot, there have been some important lessons for the new areas to bear in mind:

The target timeframe of 2 months to find a suitable property needs to be (and can be) flexible for disabled people. Some households may need a particular property type, or a specific location, or a property which can be adapted, which may mean it takes a bit longer to find an affordable property.
Disabled applicants need to know that their cases will be dealt with in a flexible way, and that the scheme can respond to issues such as income from benefits.
Disabled people need to know that they need not be first time buyers. Disabled home-owners living in unsuitable housing may also be eligible.
Other research suggests that disabled people have largely been excluded from previous LCHO initiatives. With greater awareness of, and commitment to equal opportunities, better monitoring is needed of Homestake’s impact on meeting the housing needs of disabled people.

Most of these messages apply equally to both the open market scheme and the new build scheme. You can read more about Communities Scotland’s initial evaluation of the Open Market pilot scheme here.

First Impressions - 'No Entry for disabled people?'

What impression does your Homestake information material – from your marketing strategy leaflets to your website - give disabled people, their families and supporters?

Which sounds like your organisation’s information:

No mention of flexibility for disabled applicants, small (point 9 – 10) font, a serif font, pictures behind the text, pages of the hoops you’ll need to jump through …

A clear message to a disabled person, or the family of a disabled child that “this might be for you, and we are an organisation that is open, willing to listen, customer focused…?”

Lochalsh and Skye Housing Association is one of only two Housing Associations to make Google’s top 10 in a search for Homestake, Housing Associations and disabled people.

Earlier this year, they approached us when they were developing a Homestake marketing strategy. They sent us their draft materials, received advice and suggestions on additions or changes to make sure disabled people are included in the target market and said, “it was that simple”.

This action has made a difference – disabled applicants have been attracted to their development at Home Farm in Portree, where 10 Homestake properties are being sold, and this week a disabled applicant was viewing a property.

Many RSLs are keen to get it right for everyone – considering equal opportunities and accessibility is an integral part of their approach. Over the last year we’ve been asked by several Housing Associations to help them shape their strategy for developing Homestake and their Homestake information and marketing materials to make sure these include and accessible to disabled people. We are really pleased to assist in such a practical way.

Fiona makes the "Link" to an equitable solution

Applicants for the Homestake Open Market scheme are expected to maximise their income and to demonstrate that they have attempted to secure a mortgage. However, as with many other aspects of Homestake, the criteria can be flexible. If it is not possible for a disabled person to raise a mortgage, in certain circumstances applicants can use equity alone to fund a Homestake purchase, as Fiona* and Link Housing Association worked out together.

Fiona* owned a 2 bedroom, top floor, flat which was no longer suitable for her needs as she was recovering from having aggressive treatment for cancer. The long term effects of this meant that Fiona became very breathless when climbing the stairs to her top floor property. She had significant equity invested in her current home, more than enough to make the minimum 51% equity stake needed for a Homestake solution for a person with particular needs. However as Fiona was recovering from cancer, mortgage lenders were not able to offer a suitable mortgage.

Working with Ownership Options and Fiona, Link Housing Association, the Homestake scheme manager, considered how Homestake could be used flexibly to help Fiona to move to a more suitable home. The decision was that she should use the equity she would realise from the sale of her existing home. After her existing mortgage and other debts were repaid she was left with £100,880.

Fiona then identified an ideal property to suit her long-term needs – a 2 bedroom ground floor flat, close to the local amenities which she uses and to her local support networks. The flat was advertised at a fixed price of £158,000, and so was affordable with a Homestake investment of £57,120 (37%) and Fiona’s equity stake of 63%.

Fiona has now moved into her new property and is happy she managed to remain a homeowner – in a home that suits her needs as a disabled person.

*Fiona is not her real name

Homestake Hot Topics

Welcome to a new regular slot in Homestake Extra (and a new section on the Homestake website) responding to Frequently Asked Questions or commenting on a ‘hot topic’.

We’re thinking of building some Homestake properties to wheelchair user standard. Will we need to make more of an effort to market these? And will it cost us more?

As the quotation goes “thinking is hard work... but it will distinguish you from your competitors”. When it comes to thinking about direct and targeted marketing to narrower groups of prospective home owners, such as disabled people; or selling specific house types to a specific market, some RSLs may be concerned this isn’t their area of expertise.

Yet 1 in 7 people is disabled, and there is a massive shortfall in available and suitable housing, so finding the market may not be difficult. In fact some potential purchasers may be current tenants, housing list applicants, your friends, your sister, your brother-in law …

Almond Housing Association (www.almondha.org.uk) is the first Homestake provider to design and build houses suitable for wheelchair users for sale. If you’ve been successful in attracting disabled people to Homestake, please share your experience and ideas with us. You can e-mail us at homestake@ownershipoptions.org.uk

Communities Scotland recognises that this is a new market: disabled people are half as likely to be home-owners as non-disabled people, and one consequence of this is that they may not recognise themselves as being eligible for Homestake. This is the bit that takes the extra effort – preparing attractive, accessible information, placed in the right places and with the right people.

There are additional marketing allowances for RSLs which are investing or want to invest in including disabled people in Homestake home ownership (CSGN 2007/06 - HAG Financial Appraisal)

Particular needs development allowance supports the development of properties aimed at people within client groups prioritised by Councils or Health Boards within community care plans (this will always include disabled people) and which involves significant liaison with other agents on special design features.

Communities Scotland will also include as development allowances the direct marketing costs in pre-agreed locations (which could be where you plan to target disabled people), where these exceed the notional £982 per unit already included in the additional Homestake ‘complexity’ allowance of £1524.

You can find more information on marketing wheelchair accessible properties in our March 2007 Homestake Extra.

We’ve built the house and a disabled person is interested in buying it, but it would need some adaptations. Can an RSL get Stage 2 or 3 adaptations funding?

Stage 2 funding can be made available to RSL's to adapt a previously built house prior to its sale. RSL's should follow the usual guidance for adaptation works. This simplifies and streamlines the process for the disabled person or family. The alternative would involve the Homestake applicant applying to the local authority for an adaptations grant, with potentially lengthy delays and financial implications for the applicant, which could impact on both the affordability of the planned house purchase or seriously delay the sale.

However once the house purchase has gone ahead, arranging and paying for any future adaptations to the property will be the responsibility of the owner, who may be eligible to apply for a local authority grant. Stage 3 adaptation funding is therefore not available.

Reaching out to people with learning difficulties: Easyread Homestake information

Homestake can offer a fantastic way of helping someone with a learning difficulty to become a homeowner. Making Homestake accessible to some disabled people may be as simple as letting them know it exists in their area and it could mean a home of their own.

Ownership Options has developed an Easy Read Homestake leaflet. This is a pictorial booklet explaining the Homestake scheme in simple and accessible language. A sample copy is available to download here. If you would like to discuss how to produce the leaflet for your own Housing Association, or have any comments on it, do get in touch.

Training to make a difference

Recent training sessions for Grampian and Almond Housing Associations helped to broaden their thinking and knowledge about Homestake for disabled people.

'Richard provided a half day’s training - consciousness raising for the whole Association. This isn’t just about development: we involved people across departments, including finance and corporate services. We all need to be aware of the options and that there is an alternative to social rented housing. Disabled people have a right to aspire to ownership.' Neil Clapperton, Director of Housing and Property Services, Grampian Housing Association

Ownership Options can provide free training and facilitation tailored to your needs including:

Briefing and awareness raising training.
Developing your strategy to open up the market of disabled people in your local area.
Making connections, and developing spin-offs, for the Association’s mainstream activities and wider action work.
Developing enough technical knowledge to say ‘yes, we can make this work’.
Strategic and operational action planning

Do please contact us to discuss your aims and requirements.

Gathering good practice

In the next few months Ownership Options and Communities Scotland will be drawing together a ‘Good Practice Guide’ covering key aspects of developing and delivering Homestake properties for disabled people. We are keen to include case studies and good examples and Julia will be contacting those RSLs where we already know good work is happening to seek their participation.

Whether you have a great story to tell, are finding your own local solutions to include disabled people in Homestake, or are so customer focused that ‘it just happens’, we would like to hear from you. Please phone 0131 656 6979 or email homestake@ownershipoptions.org.uk

Look out for the January 2008 Homestake Extra featuring some of these examples.

Homestake Hotline

If you've got a question about how you should operate Homestake in order to ensure disabled people have fair access to the scheme, please give us a call on 0131 656 6979.

Further information is available on the website at www.homestake.ownershipoptions.org.uk