Agenda and minutes

To provide an opportunity for Members and Officers to declare any personal and/or prejudicial interests in any item on the agenda

There were no declarations of interest.

In accordance with Procedure Rules Nos.11 and 35 a period of 10 minutes is allocated for members of the public to address the meeting on any matter relevant to the work of the meeting. Individual members of the public may speak for up to 5 minutes but the Chairman will decide how the period of time allocated for public speaking will be apportioned where there are a number of speakers. Members of the public are not required to give notice to use this facility. However, as a matter of courtesy, a period of 24 hours’ notice is encouraged.

Members of the public wishing to ask a question at the meeting should provide three clear working days’ notice, in writing, in order for an informed answer to be given.

There were no questions from members of the public.

To consider the adoption of an Assisted Purchase Scheme for Cheshire East.

The Cabinet Member considered a proposed Assisted Purchase Scheme for Cheshire East.

The former Congleton Borough Council had launched an Assisted Purchase Scheme in 2006 to help first-time buyers to access the housing market. The authority had offered a 25% interest-free loan on open market properties up to a maximum purchase price of £140,000. The loan had not been interest bearing, but was repayable on the sale of the property and the authority would expect to receive 25% of the open market value, which would then be recycled back into the scheme. Cheshire East Council had approved a capital allocation of £600,000 in 2009 to continue the scheme across the new Borough, and it was now proposed that the scheme be re-launched with the following amendments:

§         Applicants could apply for a 25% loan on properties up to a maximum value of £180,000, with maximum assistance of £45,000. 

§         Applicants would be expected to repay the loan in full within a ten-year period from completion. A legal contract would have to be entered into by the applicant and a registered charge would also be placed on the property.

§         If, after a ten-year period, the applicant stated that they were not in a financial position to repay the loan then a financial assessment would be carried out to verify this. The Strategic Housing Manager in conjunction with the Borough Treasurer could then take the decision either to extend the loan period for a further period (maximum of ten years) or to apply interest to the loan at the Bank of England base rate if it was felt that no provision had been made to repay the loan.

RESOLVED

That the Assisted Purchase Scheme, as amended and set out in the Appendix to the report, be adopted and applied across Cheshire East.