At a recent National Federation Conference on shared ownership, the Homes and Communities Agency (HCA) explained their ethos of working with high street lenders to assist first time buyers purchase affordable homes.

The HCA are already working with national lenders such as Lloyds, Nationwide, Barclays, HSBC and the Royal Bank of Scotland all of which are major supporters of HomeBuy Direct. They are now extending their relationships to include several regional building societies thereby creating a competitive market for low cost housing. A recent success story is East Midlands Melton Mowbray Building Society who are now supporting the HomeBuy Direct equity loan scheme with no deposit required.

As more lenders consider supporting the government’s HomeBuy schemes and confidence surrounding the new-build sector returns, the HCA will continue their work with lenders, registered social landlords and developers so that they can provide the means for individuals to purchase a new home that otherwise would have remained out of their reach.

For the largest selection of shared ownership homes in the UK go to www.smartshare.co.uk