Rural Home Ownership Grant

Rural Home Ownership Grants (RHOGs) are means tested grants intended to help people living in rural Scotland to buy a home in their local area. The grant is primarily for people on low or modest incomes and intended to help first time buyers meet their housing needs or aspirations within their own community. The grant is administered by Communities Scotland.

The grants were devised to help local people who are in employment to afford their first home; however if you have previously owned a home, or are currently an owner then you may still be eligible if you meet other qualifying criteria. See below for further information.

RHOG is intended to fill the gap between the actual cost of a modest starter home and the amount that an individual or family can raise and sustain by way of a mortgage and or savings.

The Communities Scotland office in Inverness is responsible for the grants but the administration is undertaken by a number of Registered Social Landlords (RSLs) who have the information and staff trained in the RHOG process to enable them to deal with any enquiries and applications for specific areas. Their contact details are below, please contact them for further information and to see if you might be eligible to apply.

Here is some summary information about Rural home Ownership Grants, please check with your local RSL if you think you might be eligible.

What types of property qualify for a RHOG?

Properties that are being newly built
Properties that need to be improved to make them suitable for your needs

In certain circumstances, the grants may be available to buy existing properties that don't need to be improved. You must be able to prove that no other option for home ownership exists. Please check with your local RSL office for more information.

What type of costs are covered?

Purchasing a house or a site
Building Warrant and Planning applications
Construction
Installation of services, e.g. electricity, water
Architects and other consultancy fees
Legal fees
Mortgage bridging interest

The grant will only contribute towards the costs of the main property itself. It will not cover the construction costs of building a garage or garden hut for storage, although you may be able to include the cost of the building materials in your grant application

Am I eligible for a RHOG?

Successful applicants must satisfy one or more of these requirements:

be employed or have received a formal offer of employment in the local area where you want to set up home
be a pensioner or are unfit for work due to illness or disability
have resided in the local area for more than a year, have a family or local connection and can meet the majority of the costs involved
prove that they could not afford to become a homeowner without a RHOG due to insufficient funding

Grants are not available:

if you are eligible for the Scottish Executive Rural Affairs Departments' Crofters Building Grant and Loan Scheme
if you already benefit from another form of grant from Communities Scotland or similar local authority
if you intend buying a house built by a developer who has already received a grant from Communities Scotland towards the cost of providing that house.

Other key grant conditions include:

costs will be restricted to provide a house of a size that is suitable for the size of your family, you cannot plan for increases in family size – for example future children (although houses can be designed and constructed to permit additional rooms to be built in future years in the roof spaces).
restricted building costs, each local area has target costs for building a property that applicants should attempt to stay within.
a 10-year ‘clawback' period on the grant, if the applicant sells the house within that period of time Communities Scotland will ask for the grant to be paid back.

How much RHOG would I be likely to get?

RHOGs vary on a project-by-project basis, but a grant of somewhere between £14,000 and £20,000 is typical. The grant will not exceed 33% of the total building and land costs.

A leaflet on RHOG eligibility criteria and the application procedure is available from Communities Scotland or the local Agents (contact addresses below)

CONTACTS

Here are the contact details for RSLs in your area.

Badenoch & Strathspey, Inverness , Nairn, Ross & Cromarty and Sutherland

Albyn Housing Society Ltd
98-100 High Street
Invergordon
Ross-shire
IV18 0DL
Tel: (01349) 852978
Fax: (01349) 853859
Email: office@albynhousing.org.uk

Caithness

Pentland Housing Association
The Cottage
Davidson Lane
Thurso
Caithness
KW14 7HT
Tel: (01847) 892507
Fax: (01847) 893221
Email: pha@pentlandhousing.co.uk

Lochaber

Lochaber Housing Association
30 Fassifern Road
Fort William
PH33 6XQ
Tel: (01397) 702530
Fax: (01397) 702530

Skye and Lochalsh

Lochalsh & Skye Housing Association
Morrison House
Bayfield
Portree
Isle of Skye
IV51 9EW
Tel: (01478) 612035
Fax: (0147) 8613377
Email: info@LSHA.co.uk

Fortwilliam & Lochaber

The Highland Small Communities Housing Trust
10 Guisach Terrace
Corpach
FORT WILLIAM
PH33 7JN
Tel/Fax: (01397) 773119
Email: dialexander.hscht@btinternet.com

Communities Scotland

Communities Scotland can provide more information on RHOGs.

Communities Scotland Highlands and Islands Office
Urquhart House
Beechwood Business Park
Inverness
IV2 3BW
Tel: (01463) 711272
Fax: (01463) 711301
Email: www.communitiesscotland.gov.uk