Higher Heyes Update – Rural Repurchase Scheme

Torus have been advertising the Shared Ownership properties to those with a local connection to Kingsley since 13 January 2021.

Interest in the properties has been steady, however issues have been experienced an issue in relation to lenders and mortgage availability.

The Affordable Housing Statement for the development was initially drafted to include restricted staircasing at 80%.

However, purchasers have been experiencing difficulties sourcing a mortgage due to this restriction.

Torus have been looking for a solution to resolve this matter. There is an alternative solution which would enable Torus to retain these properties for affordable housing in perpetuity whilst at the same time increasing the number of lenders available to purchasers. This would be through a Rural Repurchase Scheme.

The Rural Repurchase Scheme would remove the 80% restriction and enable purchasers to source a mortgage from all twenty-two lenders currently offering Shared Ownership products. What it would mean is that when a
purchaser staircases to 100%, and wishes to sell their property, Torus would repurchase the property and re-market it on a Shared Ownership basis. Where the purchaser has staircased to 100% the freehold would remain
with Torus to enable them to control this process.

Torus have approached Cheshire West and Chester to highlight this issue and outline the proposed solution.